Boris Ravilyevich Akbulatov is a graphic artist, painter, and book illustrator. He has participated in All-Union, All-Russian, zonal, regional, republican, and international exhibitions. He became a member of the Union of Artists in 1977. Akbulatov was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the Republic of Karelia in 1997. The artist was born in Karelia in the ancient village of Ladva in 1949. However, in his childhood and adolescence, he lived in Petrozavodsk, where he attended the art studios of the painters Andrey Andreyevich Derevensky and Mikhail Shlyomovich Yufa. He later graduated from the Leningrad Art School and Moscow Polygraphic Institute.

Since the 1970s, after serving in the army, Boris Akbulatov has been very active in the art scene of Petrozavodsk. His first works were exhibited at republican and later all-Russian exhibitions. The range of his interests is extremely broad, encompassing easel graphics and book illustration, as well as the genres of history, landscape, and portrait painting.

Boris Akbulatov considers the myths of the “Kalevala” among the central themes of his work. He began making illustrations for the Karelian and Finnish national epic poem in 1985 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of its first publication.

The artist portrays the transformation of the character Aino, a young maiden, into a fish. Aino falls into the water and is considered dead by the human world, yet she remains alive as a fish, becoming a sister to whitefishes. In the artwork on display, the beautiful features of the young woman’s face are still clearly visible, but her hair, floating on the water, begins folding into the tail fin of a school of fish. Another moment, and the transformation would be complete.

Boris Akbulatov was born in Karelia, in the land of his ancestors. Engaging with the “Kalevala” became as essential to the artist as observing the nature of Karelia, its forests, lakes, birds, and animals. The wisdom of universal human motifs, poetic fantasy, mystical symbolism, and the rich folk language of runes awakened his imagination, providing Akbulatov with the necessary energy that fueled his creativity. The rhythm and power of spells from the poem mesmerized him. First subconsciously and then deliberately, the artist imitated a technique reminiscent of a carpenter’s work: by his use of colors, he “carves” into the paper sheet the figures of people, boats, homes, waterfalls, and forests.