Artyom Kirenskiy

Artyom Alekseyevich Kirensky is a Yakut blacksmith and khomus maker from the village of Kobyay. He was born in 1962 in the village of Dyupsya in Ust-Aldansky District and has practised blacksmithing for more than thirty years. Kirensky is a People’s Master and an Excellent Worker of Culture of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), a recognised master of folk arts and crafts, a member of the Association of Blacksmiths and Metallurgists of Yakutia, and an honorary citizen of Kobyaysky District. He was awarded a Medal for Valour after saving a school from a fire.

Kirensky studied under Boris Fyodorovich Neustroev — Mandar Uus and Ivan Fyodorovich Zakharov — Kylyady Uus. Neustroev taught him not only blacksmithing techniques but also the meaning and appropriate use of Yakut ornamentation. In addition to khomuses and Yakut knives, Kirensky creates objects from wood and birch bark, traditional household utensils, jewellery, and works in non-ferrous and precious metals.

Kirensky developed a distinctive “Kobyay style” of khomus. Its characteristic features include the design of the reed and the treatment of the instrument as a unified object with its case. Decorated with Yakut patterns and protective symbols, it can be worn on the chest as an ornament. For his daughter Noyabrina Kirenskaya, who became a virtuoso khomus player, he created an unusual two-reed khomus designed to be played with both hands.

Kirensky passes his craft on to younger makers. While working at the Kobyay school, he led the “Uran Tarbakh” workshop, attended by seventeen students, and also taught his brothers and sons. In 2023, he conducted a republican seminar on the techniques used to make exclusive Kobyay-style khomuses.

The Kirensky khomus featured in the Oberton Pro catalogue had a classical form, a melodious, singing sound and high responsiveness. Its clean fundamental tone was accompanied by noticeable mechanical side-tones, particularly on outward strokes.

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