The image of a shaman in the works of artists of the Baikal region

The article is devoted to the description of a unique phenomenon – Baikal shamans, who have become indisputable symbols of the region, presented in the works of local artists. The image of the shaman is considered in the context of the depiction of natural phenomena of the Baikal region, since the shaman personifies the original transcendent force and the element of nature, and lives, at the same time, according to the unwritten laws of intuitive mythological and symbolic perception of the surrounding world. Therefore, the image of the shaman is inextricably linked not only with the external image of the material form of things and objects accompanying the ritual, but also with an attempt to sensually convey the primordial state of the otherworldly parallel world of ancient mysteries and beliefs that the shaman translates when encountering the Universe. If we consider the figure of the Baikal shaman in this context, then it is a collective image associated with all the diverse nature and ancient local traditions of the Baikal region, which undoubtedly distinguishes the paintings depicting shamans by local artists imbued with this phenomenon. The presented research is based on the description and analysis of paintings by artists of the Baikal region – A. V. Nikishin, S. E. Moiseenko, V. G. Smagin, whose works, performed in different artistic techniques, create that single collective image of the Baikal shaman.