Miniature books by Anatoly Konenko

Anatoly Konenko

Microminiaturist Anatoly Konenko is a person of Omsk, Russian and world fame. His achievements in this interesting field of art are included in the Guinness Book of Records. On New Year’s Eve, he opened a unique museum of the world’s smallest books in Omsk. In the museum you can find both books by Konenko himself and exhibits from the library fund. Pushkin, which were collected for 100 years. The oldest is dated 1883. This is an Anthology of Polish Poetry.

Guinness Book of Record holder Anatoly Konenko published a microminiature book with pages made of ice

Miniature books by Anatoly Konenko

Among his creations – a series of microbooks entered in the Guinness Book of Records. The beginning of 2021 is marked by the release of three works by Kononenko, one of which is made of ice.

This year, in October, the bicentennial of the writer Dostoevsky will be celebrated. In honor of this event, the Omsk artist made two unique microminiature books. They are connected with the fact that the writer was in hard labor in Omsk. We are talking about “Notes from the House of the Dead” and “Crime and Punishment”. The sizes of the books are 55 × 66 mm and 22 × 30 mm. The covers of the microbooks are wooden, decorated with acacia thorns, bulging in all directions. The books contain full texts that can only be read with a magnifying glass.

Miniature books by Anatoly Konenko

Ice Microbook

In addition, Anatoly Konenko created an unusual microminiature ice book. On its pages, which comprise eight spreads, the fairy tale “The Snow Maiden” is recorded. According to the artist himself, the technology of page ebb is not so simple. First you need to melt the crystal clear ice, and then pour the water into the molds.

It makes no sense to freeze ordinary water because of its inappropriate structure. After that, the resulting pages are combined into a block using a special technology. The book can be freely opened and closed, as well as leafed, after wearing gloves. Otherwise, it will simply melt. At the moment, Anatoly keeps the ice book in an ordinary freezer at home.

He said that he was considering how to present this unusual piece to the general public. This will require a freezer with glass for good visibility. According to Konenko, if this can be realized, then the work will be exhibited and will be able to hold out for about six months. But if you leave the book in the freezer and do not touch it at all, then it will be stored for quite a long time. And for this you need a case made of plexiglass. In it, the microbook will be blown with air, and the humidity will not change.