I first met Murad Hojakuliev at the Kopetdag Stadium a few years ago when I went for a morning run. Standing on the edge of the football field, he was flying a small model airplane with his full attention focused on it. Murad made his remote-controlled fun flyer do inconceivable aerobatic maneuvers: it suddenly soared upwards, performed figures-of-eight and loops, turned upside down in the air, and flew fast over the green field almost touching it with its fin.
But the most impressive sight of all was when Murad made it hover vertically. Sometimes, the electric battery-powered engine stalled, the pilot grabbed the model airplane in the air, turned off the engine, and changed the battery. Murad did everything with seemingly effortless ease, but then he explained: he had spent many hours practicing before he got any better at it.
Those who know Murad very well say that he tends to strive for self-improvement, be it his technical creativity, or artistic flair, or something else. For instance, when he realized he needed more physical activity, he switched from his car to a sports bicycle and began to ride long distances. He now cycles 50 kilometers and more a day, covering a distance of 100 kilometers on his bicycle on Sundays.
As a child and a teenage boy, Murad Hojakuliev desperately wanted to get into aviation – to be a pilot or to build airplanes. The twelve-year-old took great delight in watching a model aircraft flown by well-known Turkmen aeromodeler Sergey Obraztsov perform aerobatic tricks. Later, Murad joined an aeromodeling hobby group at the Young Technicians Club. He came a long way from a hobby group member who was only engaged in assembling models following step-by-step instructions to Master of Sports in aeromodeling. He became a champion of Turkmenistan and a national cup winner, a member of the national team, and a prize winner of the All-Soviet Union competitions...
I had the chance to see the sportsman before the launch of his airplane. Murad was in his element: dressed in a leather jacket and military-green bib overalls, he was preparing to launch his electric radio-controlled glider.
The steppe around was splashed with scarlet poppies, and a lush carpet of yellow and blue wild flowers. It was hard to believe that this sky-loving man with the model airplane in his hands, ready to fly high at the touch of the transmitter trigger, is a renowned artist, Honored Art Worker, whose works make up the Museum of Fine Arts collection, and private art collections in our country and beyond.
Murad Hojakuliev, a member of the Union of Artists of Turkmenistan, has held five solo exhibitions and fifteen-plus collective exhibitions abroad, including in Turkey, Cyprus, Iran, the capital and regions of Russia, Great Britain, and Uzbekistan. He is a winner of the competition organized by the International Organization of Turkic Culture (TURKSOY). Murad’s spouse, talented painter Maral Hojakulieva, who is a member of the Union of Artists of Turkmenistan too, takes part in exhibitions together with him.
Murad Hojakuliev is now best known as an artist, but everything in his life could have been different… After finishing school, the lad decided to go into aviation. He entered Riga Flight School of the Specialized Civil Aviation Services, where air traffic controllers were trained back then. When Murad completed his first year, he was called up for military service. After completing his military service, he did not return to radar screens, but entered … Shota Rustaveli Art School (presently School of Arts) and successfully completed his education. He has been working as a teacher for more than 15 years teaching the basics of composition and painting to young talents.
Why did his life take such a dramatic turn? As biographers tend to say – “it was in his genes”. Murad was born and raised in a creative environment. His parents - Annakuli Hojakuliev and Sulgun Hojakulieva - are one of those who introduced the art of tapestry weaving into Turkmen carpet making. Together they created many unique works considered as true classics today. Murad’s sister is a famous stage designer, and his brother is an art expert.
Paintings by Murad Hojakuliev amaze and fascinate by the special combination of shapes and colors. They are found side by side with fantastic abstractions and the artist’s desire to transcend the boundaries of reality. His surrealist paintings sometimes look like visual illusions. However, they conform to the rules of academic painting. The sense of freedom and irrationality allows the viewer to consider in a new way entirely familiar objects and phenomena depicted by the artist in these paintings: ‘Moonlight Night’, ‘At Noon’, ‘The Apple Tree’, ‘Wrestling’, ‘My Home’, and ‘The Song of Love’.
Murad Hojakuliev is fifty-one years old. The artist is full of vigor and creative ideas. He is preparing for the aeromodeling competitions this spring, creating paintings, and working at the art school. What makes Murad particularly happy is that six of his former students were admitted to the Academy of Arts of Turkmenistan.
Vladimir KOMAROV
