Valery Sergeyevich Uleev

Uleev Valery Sergeyevich - artist, master of decorative and applied arts in the technique of marquetry.

A prominent public figure in Kyrgyzstan, director of the human rights organization "Justice" in Jalal-Abad, a bright representative of the movement of Russian compatriots, founder and chairman of the Jalal-Abad regional association "Slavic Diaspora" since 1992, and a publicist.

Born on October 12, 1939, in Omsk. He graduated from a pedagogical college and then from the art and graphic faculty of the Omsk State Pedagogical Institute named after Gorky. Since 1965, he lived in Kyrgyzstan for almost 50 years. He was the founder not only of the compatriots' organization in the south of the republic but also of the Children's Art School in Jalal-Abad. In 1994, at the initiative of Valery Uleev, a training and production workshop for the manufacture of souvenir products in the technique of marquetry (the art of wood mosaic) and a career orientation class for training mosaic artists were opened at the school.

The technique of wood mosaic – marquetry (French: marqueteries – to place, to draw, to mark) – has been known since ancient times and consists of a set of thin plates of wood (veneer) of various species, which are glued together along the edges in the form of a pattern or ornament and then glued onto a base - a flat wooden surface.

Unfortunately, at present, works in the technique of marquetry are quite rare. This technique has become forgotten and irrelevant in our days. V.S. Uleev is one of the few who not only mastered this technique perfectly and created works but also passed on his skills to the younger generation.

Valery Sergeyevich was actively engaged in creativity, was a regular participant and organizer of exhibitions, including folk art exhibitions, and became a laureate of the All-Union Exhibition of Folk Art. Uleev's works adorn several art galleries around the world and the interiors of the Russian Embassy building in Bishkek.

For his principled stance and wisdom, he was called "one of the business cards of the republic." He was considered one of the most authoritative Russians in the Kyrgyz Republic, including in the leadership structures of Russian compatriots in Kyrgyzstan. Although in recent years he passed all his posts to a younger generation, he remained only an informal leader of the art school he founded, the southern "Slavic Diaspora," and the diaspora as a whole.

Uleev initiated the construction of a monument to his beloved Pushkin in Jalal-Abad in 1999 based on his project, as a replacement for the pre-war monument that was later demolished. Uleev himself published books of his poems, remarkable for their sincerity and complex technique of "wreaths of sonnets." His main thought was always: "Interethnic harmony is the foundation of Kyrgyzstan."

He was awarded state and public awards from Kyrgyzstan and Russia.

He passed away on February 16, 2015.