Igor Kufayev

Igor Kufayev
Igor Kufayev (2017)
Born	(1966-01-05) January 5, 1966 Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Nationality	British
Occupation(s)	artist, spiritual teacher
Website	www.igorkufayev.org

Igor Anvar Kufayev /ˈkuːfəjɛv/ (Russian: И́горь Анва́р Kу́фаев, IPA: [ˈiɡərʲ ɐnˈvar ˈkufəɪf]; born January 5, 1966), is a spiritual leader, author and British artist of the 90-s generation.

Early years

Igor Kufayev was born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. He was classically trained in art and attended the private studio of the martial artist and painter Shamil Rakhimov. Kufayev was educated at the Art College in Tashkent, and then at the Theater and Art Institute's department of Mural painting. In 1988 he studied at the Academy of Arts (now Imperial Academy of Arts) in St Petersburg, Russia, and in his spare time studied and painted directly from masterpieces of Western art in the Hermitage Museum.

Artist

Igor Kufayev, Kneeling figure, 1993, oil on canvas, 127x127 cm, London, Collection of Sir Elton John

In 1990 Kufayev moved to Warsaw, Poland. An encounter with the art critic Andrzej Matynia led to Kufayev's first solo exhibition, Eternal Compromise at the Monetti Gallery, Warsaw. He was invited to take part in The Meeting of Sacred Images, at the National Museum of Ethnography in Warsaw, with his triptych Compromise alongside works by artists of earlier times.

He moved to London in August 1991, the same year his six-year-old daughter from his first marriage died in a road accident. He remained in a prolonged period of grief unable to paint, but came out of the slump in 1994, with a one-man exhibition entitled Burnt Earth, dedicated to the memory of his daughter; Robin Dutt gave it a favourable review in The Independent. He opened his own studio in London where he held private views of his work annually. From 1995 to 1997 he worked on a series of four tondos under the title Zauber. In January 1996 he was granted British Citizenship.

In 2001, the art critic Brian Sewell described Kufayev as a "driven painter, scrupulous draughtsman, intellect and imagination wrestling with seemingly equal force".

Transformation

An early interest towards spirituality led to his practice of Yoga with initiation in 1996 to Transcendental Meditation. He immersed himself in the study of diverse spiritual traditions with special emphasis on Indian philosophy, Sufi, and Zen. In 2001, at the age of thirty-six, in the wake of the TM-Sidhi Program (an advanced yogic course), Igor describes as having undergone a radical transformation of consciousness. He abandoned his art career and for the next five years, he continued long hours of meditation, integrating expanded state of awareness throughout his daily activities.

He abandoned his art career and for the next five years he continued long hours of meditation, integrating expanded state of awareness throughout his daily activities. During that time he discovered the teachings of Swami Muktananda which led him to the tradition of Kashmir Shaivism.

Spiritual teacher

Igor Kufayev leading a retreat at Gut Saunstorf, Germany, August 2017

Kufayev began teaching in 2002, becoming full-time in February 2008. Since 2012 he has offered online webinars and in-person gatherings and retreats worldwide.

The publication of Camatkāra: The Hidden Path in Spring 2023 launched Igor Kufayev as an author. This book is a collection of discourses delivered over a number of years at live events, transcribed and rendered into written form while keeping with the immediacy of its oral delivery. Therein, he presents the experience of Beauty as a unique path toward direct communion with the Divine and aesthetic rapture as a universal spiritual practice.

Private life

Igor lives with his partner and three children in Mallorca. In 2006 he moved back to Tashkent for almost four years. He has a grown-up daughter who lives in Warsaw.

Publications

Books

• Camatkāra: the Hidden Path, Paperback Exclusive edition, June 2023, SONG Publishing, ISBN 978-94-647527-1-7
• Camatkāra: the Hidden Path, Hardcover cloth, Limited Edition, January 2023, SONG Publishing, ISBN 978-94-647527-0-0

Selected essays

• Der verborgene Pfad, Published by Yoga Aktuell Magazine, October/November, 2023
• Czasami Musimy Dać Się Życiu Ponieść, Published by Newsweek Psychologia, September 20, 2023
• The Path of Beauty & Delight, Published by Watkins Magazine, Issue 74, July 13, 2023
• Kundalini Die Definition Des Undefinierbaren, Published by Yoga Aktuell Magazine, May 31, 2022
• Kundalini: Defining the Undefinable, Published by Watkins Magazine, May 24, 2021
• The World is As You See It, Published by Sufi Journal, Issue 98, Winter 2020
• The Nature of Pain, Published by Science to Sage Magazine, Issue 31, November 3, 2020
• Schönheit ist alles, was ist (Beauty Is All There Is), Published by Evolve Magazine, Issue 27, August–October 2020
• Aesthetic Rapture, Published by InZicht Magazine, Volume 7, May 2015 #2
• Shanta Rasa – der Geschmack des Friedens, Published by Yoga Aktuell Magazine, Issue 105, August/September 2014
• Vibrant Self, Published by InZicht Magazine, Volume 16, May 2014 #2
• The World is As You See It, Published by InZicht Magazine, Volume 15, February 2013 #1
• Vibrant Self, Published by Namarupa: Categories of Indian Thought, Issue 18, Winter 2013-14
• The World is As You See It, Published by Namarupa: Categories of Indian Thought, Issue 17, Summer 2013

External links

• Igor Kufayev's Official Website