On the eve of the national holiday Day of the Horse, an exhibition-competition was opened at the gallery of the State Academy of Arts of Turkmenistan, in which all interested artists of Turkmenistan, including students of the art school, as well as TV cameramen of the National Television, took part.

The exhibition has been held annually for more than ten years, but interest in it is only growing. This year it was attended by 328 artists who presented 361 works. Traditionally, it is held in six categories: painting, sculpture-ceramics, jewellery, design work, carpet and tapestry products, as well as television work.

And every year artists surprise the audience with their inexhaustible imagination. Of course, most of the works are dedicated to the exquisite beauty of the Ahal-Teke horses. Among them, a picture with a stately white horse standing on snow-covered dunes, merging on the horizon with snow-white clouds, stands out. The only «spot» in the picture against the background of all white is the saddle. An unusually good work, which depicts five dancing horses. The work is magnificent, the author of which used all the colours of paints in the colour of the horses and they began to play, demonstrating the power of the horses.

But, perhaps, the audience is most of all kept by pictures with a slight charming humor. These include a picture that I would like to call Lovers to Talk, in which a horse and a foal communicate with curiosity with a puppy. Or a picture that we would call «Concert in the barnyard». In the picture, the boy, imagining himself a bagshy, plays on a stick surrounded by camels and a foal. Judging by the behaviour of the animals, they liked the concert.

The designers did well. The audience especially liked the installation of horseshoes, which are believed to bring happiness. A very interesting, even somewhat incredible work, in which a group of horses, gallop along the road. The incredible thing is that the horses, the road and the clouds are made of nails by the author.

Jewelleries also distinguished themselves, once again surprising how a horse figurine, even if stylized, can become part of an elegant pattern on a woman's jewellery.

Of the exhibited works, many works of art are worthy of the first place. And the members of the jury will have a difficult task to determine the winner of the competition among talented authors. The results will be announced later.