#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. The exhibition Explorer and Artist: Art in Expedition has opened in Moscow’s Zaryadye Park. The project is cross-cultural in nature and includes several exhibitions, as well as an educational program. The focus is on expeditions to the Russian Arctic over the past 400 years.
The project unfolded at three sites in Moscow: Zaryadye, the State Darwin Museum and the Russian State University of Art and Industry named after S.G. Stroganov.
“The project consolidated specialists from various fields and several large museums. It’s nice that among the participants there are scientists from the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and participants in the Yakut and Krasnoyarsk biennales of contemporary art, and artists representing science art. Such a community helped us all dive even deeper into the wonderful world of the Arctic. We are very pleased with the interaction and broad dialogue”, said Kirill Gavrilin, Art History candidate, the Russian Academy of Arts’ corresponding member and the project curator.
The idea of the project as the first systematic attempt to rethink scientific research in the Arctic through cultural context and artistic images was supported by Nornickel from the very beginning.
“The triad of science, art and culture is very important for our company. We want the results of our expeditions to be accessible, understandable and interpreted in human language and communicated to as many people as possible. In general, I have never seen such projects before. It’s nice that the objects collected here can show the whole history and all facets of man’s relationship to the Arctic”, said Stanislav Seleznev, Nornickel’s vice president for ecology and industrial safety.
In Zaryadye the exhibition is divided into several locations. One of them is the Reserve Embassy pavilion, where works by representatives of science art are located. Another space, the Old English Court Museum, became a place for historical exhibits.
In the contemporary art zone, the organizers collected unusual installations and interactive works. They are made using modern technologies, but refer to the primordial. One of the largest stories is the performance of Mila Vvedenskaya, which shows the time when man and the world around him represented a single whole. At Zaryadye, Dmitry Minaylov presented the life of plants in the difficult conditions of a changing climate, and thanks to the glass works of artist-researcher Dmitry Platonov, visitors were able to literally touch art and think about the meaning of existence.
“The two art objects presented at the exhibition – Life Circle and Infinite Synthesis – are completely interactive. A person can come up and launch the objects with his movement. And at this moment, when I am next to the viewer, I can understand his mood, his feelings, his emotional state. We can say that these works even have an art therapy effect”, explained Dmitry Platonov, an artist and researcher in the field of art glass.
In the Old English Court, guests appreciated engraved and handwritten maps, drawings and travel diaries of scientists and artists. A special place among the artistic works was occupied by the paintings of the first Nenets artist Tyko Vylka and the works of Ivan Shishkin and Arkhip Kuindzhi’s student, the first artist beyond the Arctic Circle – Alexander Borisov.
“The name of the artist Borisov was known not only in Russia, but also abroad. His exhibitions were held with triumph in Vienna, Prague, Berlin and London. By the way, Borisov showed the Russian Arctic in 1908 in the White House to American president Roosevelt personally, with the support of emperor Nikolay II. In Soviet times, this man, who was the first to build a workshop in the Arctic, was undeservedly forgotten. Therefore, we brought to Moscow 16 original paintings by Borisov, painted on Novaya Zemlya more than a century ago.
It’s very cool that Nornickel has created such a space for dialogue between museum workers, scientists and artists. And within the framework of this exhibition project, we tried to systematize the experience of four centuries of Russian expeditions to the North and Siberia”, said Ivan Katyshev, the head of the Arhangelsk State Museum Association’s Museum of Artistic Development of the Arctic named after A.A. Borisov.
In addition, dishes created according to the sketches of Kazimir Malevich and Nikolay Suetin and the famous bottle of Severny cologne were exhibited in the halls.
“The Arctic today is not only a territory of scientific discoveries, but also a source of inspiration. And the exhibition project Art in Expedition is a real breakthrough. This is a completely new language of Arctic today. This project was implemented at the intersection of scientific thought, serious scientific discoveries and modern technologies”, admitted Vladimir Burmatov, deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Federal Assembly, the State Duma Ecology Committee first deputy chairman.
Exhibition and educational program at the Russian State University of Arts named after S.G. Stroganov and in the State Darwin Museum will begin on February 5 and February 12 respectively.
Previously, Nornickel helped implement the Art Seasons project in Taimyr. We also wrote that a Dolgan balok was opened at the Moscow Museum of Nomadic Culture.
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Text: Angelika Stepanova, Photo: Nornickel’s press service
