Viktor Ivanovich Burduk (born November 10, 1957, in

Baltiysk Baltiysk ( ); ; Old Prussian: ''Pillawa''; ; ; is a seaport town and the administrative center of Baltiysky District in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the northern part of the Vistula Spit, on the shore of the Strait of Baltiysk separ ...

Kaliningrad Oblast Kaliningrad Oblast () is the westernmost federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of the Russian Federation. It is a Enclave and exclave, semi-exclave on the Baltic Sea within the Baltic region of Prussia (region), Prussia, surrounded by Pola ...

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

) is a Russian artist. Honoured Artist of Ukraine, director of the Ukrainian Handcrafted Wrought Iron and Forge Company “Hefest”, the head of Ukraine Blacksmiths Art Masters department in Donetsk since 2009, the head of Donbas Blacksmiths Guild, Donetsk representative at the Ring Of The European Cities Of Iron Works and the head of Donbas Darts Association. He is a project author of the Forged Figures Park and hotel “Ispanskiy dvorik” and the participant of Millennium World Exhibition in Hannover in 2000.

International Blacksmith Arts Festival and the Forged Figures Park

Forged Figures Park project is taking a special part in the art life of Victor Burduk. It's not only a unique park but also a place for sightseeing in

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; ; ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin, and Stalino, is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine located on the Kalmius River in Donetsk Oblast, which is currently occupied by Russia as the capita ...

. Forged Figures Park is the name and the venue of one of the biggest international blacksmith arts festivals in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. First festivals, called "Rose of Donetsk" were a part of Donetsk City Day celebrations. Then in 2001 under the aegis of the

Donetsk City Council Donetsk City Council () is the municipal council governing the Ukrainian city of Donetsk. The council has been temporarily suspended since 2014 due to the War in Donbas and subsequent Russian occupation of the city. Leadership Until its suspen ...

, Victor Burduk founded the Forged Figures Park in the public garden of the City Council building. As Donetsk is called "the city of a million roses" the first sculpture of the Forged Figures Park was the flower too. Festivals are annual and held in September.
Actually during more than ten years there was created an open-air museum of blacksmith arts. Over one hundred works of various styles and sizes crafted by blacksmith masters from all over the world are presented there. In 2016 he and other blacksmiths from the unrecognised

Donetsk People's Republic The Donetsk People's Republic (DPR; , ) is Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, occupied territory in Ukraine that the Russian Federation has claimed to annex and declared as a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia, comprising parts o ...

installed a sword made from brass cases of fired ammunition.

“Ispanskiy dvorik”

Another important project of Viktor Burduk is a boutique hotel in Donetsk called “Ispanskiy dvorik” (en. Spanish patio) with 12 key rooms and a restaurant. Hotel interior and furniture design are full of blacksmith art and technologies. There is a lot of handicraft and unique design and it took him only two years to build and open this hotel

Darts

In 1998 Darts Federation in Donetsk region asked Viktor Burduk to make a challenge cup for Journalist league. The cup is a tankard stylized like a three darts which hit a target. Winner teams etched their names on darts fletching. The team of Forge Company “Hefest” took part in competition and became a winner five times. As there were a lot of women teams in the competition Viktor Burduk decided to start a woman cup called “Wrought Rose”. “Wrought Rose” looks like a rose stalk that goes into a dart hit the target.
In 2003 a new cup for the professional players called “Wrought Dart” was founded. It is stylized like a one-meter dart standing on a target. This target is also a place for the name of the winner.
In 2004 darts tournament became an international one. In 2008 the tournament took place in a salt mine in

Soledar Soledar (, ; , ; ) is a destroyed city in Bakhmut Raion, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. Situated in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, the city was formerly highly important for its salt mining industry, from which its name Soledar is derived. The ...

at a depth of 300 meters.
In 2010 under the Donbass Darts Association request Viktor Burduk a new cup was created. New cup is a small copy of the Earth with schematic map of Ukraine and the dart stocked into the Donbass region. Parallels and meridians are made in the style of desk for the darts game. Viktor Burduk took part in that tournament and won it twice in 2009 and 2010.Donbas Darts Association's official website
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burduk, Viktor 1957 births People from Baltiysk 21st-century Russian sculptors 20th-century Russian sculptors 20th-century Russian male artists Russian blacksmiths Living people 21st-century Russian male artists