The Story About a Turkmen Portrait for Oleg Kononenko Receives International Award
A report detailing the remarkable story of Batyr Sultanov, a young man from Ashgabat, and his stellar dream has been honored with a special jury prize at the International Youth "Tsiolkovsky Readings" in the Russian city of Kirov.
As a reminder, two years ago—as part of the "Crossroads of the Arts" project—the young man created a portrait of Oleg Kononenko, the Director of the Cosmonaut Training Center, commander of the Roscosmos cosmonaut corps, and a Hero of both Russia and Turkmenistan. He set his heart on delivering the portrait to his idol. This cherished wish was brought to life with the help of teachers and students from Gymnasium No. 23 in the city of Ivanovo. The school’s media center, "#23put," was recognized by Roscosmos in an all-Russian competition for student clubs focused on "Space Education for Schoolchildren." Its members frequently interact with cosmonauts through various channels, including social media, press conferences, and even live broadcasts from the International Space Station (ISS).
Knowing this, Batyr asked his team to get in touch with Star City to arrange for the portrait to be handed over. A video titled "Dreams Come True!" captures the entire story in vivid detail. As ORIENT previously reported, everything went according to plan: the portrait was ceremoniously presented to Oleg Kononenko during his post-flight press conference. The cosmonaut shared his enthusiastic impressions of the Ashgabat-based artist’s work and told that he had learned about the whole affair with the portrait while reading news online about "Crossroads of the Arts."
Interestingly, the renowned cosmonaut—who hails from our own region—also attended art school as a child, so he was well-qualified to offer a thoughtful critique of his "colleague's" work. During the same press conference, Oleg Dmitrievich was asked about his most cherished dream. His answer came as no surprise: having already completed five spaceflights and set an absolute record for the total cumulative time spent in space—1,111 days, or just over three years—the cosmonaut expressed a desire to fly into space once again.
A report on this subject was presented at a prestigious international forum, where it was recognized in the category of "Original Films about Aviation and Cosmonautics." The screening took place in the planetarium of the Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky Museum of Aviation and Cosmonautics—a fitting and delightful setting. The project was presented by Viktoria Belinskaya, a student at a gymnasium. Although she was quite nervous—being the first to take the stage—she handled the task admirably, conveying the moving story of an artist from Ashgabat and his dream of the stars.
During her presentation, she spoke about the "Crossroads of the Arts" project and its initiator, journalist and composer Ayna Shirova. She also highlighted Shirova’s book, Solo on Two Keyboards: From Grand Piano to Computer, which details the story behind a portrait of cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, along with various other international and cross-cultural initiatives that bridge Turkmenistan and the Russian city of Ivanovo.
It is worth noting that the experts for the International Youth "Tsiolkovsky Readings" typically include cosmonauts, prominent scientists, representatives of the space industry, and descendants of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. These individuals also serve as moderators for the forum’s extensive cultural and educational program.
The honorary chairman of the readings is cosmonaut Viktor Savinykh, who took part in the rescue mission for the Salyut-7 orbital station. This year, the forum’s special guest was cosmonaut and Hero of Russia Ivan Vagner—who had previously interacted with students from Gymnasium No. 23 six years ago, answering their questions during a live broadcast from the International Space Station (ISS) and even sending them a postcard.
In Kirov, staff from the Tsiolkovsky Museum organized a solo exhibition of photographs by Ivan Vagner, featuring images that capture the reality of space as seen from aboard the space station. One of Vagner’s photographs—which also happens to include the students from Gymnasium No. 23—was featured in the exhibition. Six years ago, at the request of the author of this piece, the cosmonaut captured an orbital view of Turkmenabat—the hometown of cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko—and during the readings in Kirov, Ivan signed this very photograph. The Amu Darya River, which is visible in the image (along with a bridge crossing it), served as a perfect backdrop for his signature.
Interestingly, on one of the items he signed, Ivan Vagner added a smiley face. There’s a funny story behind this, too: six years ago, during a live broadcast from the ISS, the cosmonaut answered a question I asked about whether people in orbit still draw, much like Alexei Leonov once did. We also asked him to create a drawing for us while in space. Ivan explained that the workload on the station leaves almost no time for such creative pursuits, though he did send a portrait of himself as a gesture of appreciation. We didn’t give up on the idea, however, and asked him to draw something during the autograph session at the readings. That is how the smiley face came to be—or perhaps it’s a… "cosmic kolobok" (a round, bun-like character), or even the planet "Smile." One could go on fantasizing for a long time, and the format of these readings lends itself perfectly to that.
As for the video "Dreams Come True!", it was presented in the spring—coinciding with the 60th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s space flight—by young journalists from Ivanovo, Ilya Akhmedov, Viktoria Belinskaya, and Alexey Kiyashko, at the second "Russian Cosmos" All-Russian Media Contest. The event was organized by the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company in the Samara Region—a region where cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko happens to be an honorary citizen.
Another entry, a program titled "News from Behind the Desk: Space Edition"—featuring exclusive updates about those who have transcended Earth’s gravity—was also shortlisted for the "Russian Cosmos" contest. Notably, this project category had no age restrictions, nor were participants divided into professionals and amateurs; thus, making the shortlist served as a significant mark of recognition from the jury.
"News from Behind the Desk" covers, for instance, a press conference held at Star City with cosmonaut Anna Kikina, during which the students learned how her previous experience as a journalist proved useful during her mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The young reporters also had the opportunity to engage with cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev and Sergey Korsakov during press conferences held at the Sirius Educational Center in Sochi. This same project was also honored with an award at a previous edition of the International Youth "Tsiolkovsky Readings."
For the upcoming readings, the gymnasium students are planning to present a film showcasing their interactions with various cosmonauts. In Kirov, Viktoria managed to ask Ivan Vagner about his childhood dreams; in Khanty-Mansiysk, they spoke with Sergey Ryzhikov; in Samara, members of the “#23 Path” (#23put) media center gathered fascinating details about Oleg Kononenko; and in Ivanovo, they even had the chance to interact with Valentina Tereshkova. These segments could be brought together into a new project—the only remaining task is to figure out how to weave them all together.
Leonid Kiyashko, special correspondent for ORIENT, member of the Guild of Interethnic Journalism and the Russian Union of Journalists, Ivanovo
