100 th Anniversary of Russian Revolution. Exhibitions
Someone 1917
New Tretyakov Gallery, until January 14, 2018
Quite unexpectedly, the large and important exhibition about the revolution at Tretyakov doesn’t look like an exhibition about the revolution. The organisers have brought together a vast collection of paintings created circa 1917, but the exposition has almost no works directly associated with the revolutionary events, no Lenin and no red propaganda. There are portraits of the noble and the peasants, abstract art, landscape scenes and interiors. The paintings are grouped by such themes as ‘The Myths about the People’, ‘Away from this Reality’, ‘The City and its Residents’, and others. A special part is dedicated to Marc Chagall and the Jews in Russia.
The exhibition presents 117 paintings, 27 graphic works, and 3 sculptures by almost all the renowned Russian artists who worked at the eve of the 20th century, including Kazimir Malevich, Wassily Kandinsky, Aleksander Rodchenko, Boris Kustodiev, and Zinaida Serebryakova. The works have come not only from the Tretyakov Gallery’s collections, but from the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg, Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, Tate Modern in London, and other museums.
The audio guide is only available in Russian, but there are comments in English next to the paintings.
Address: 10 Krymsky Val
For location, opening hours, and prices, please visit the New Tretyakov website.
Energy of the Dream. On the 100th anniversary of the Great Russian Revolution
State Historical Museum, November 3, 2017 – February 19, 2018
The exhibition unveils the archives of the former Central Lenin Museum, which have been in storage since the collapse of the Soviet Union. It includes historical objects and documents dedicated to the lives and activities of the first Soviet leaders. This large-scale project sheds light on the first decades of the country’s history after October 1917, on the first Soviet dreamers, first great achievements, human tragedies, and tectonic shifts in the society’s spiritual and cultural life.
Address: 1 Red Square
For location, opening hours, and prices, please visit the State Historical Museum website.
1917. The Code of Revolution
Museum of Contemporary History of Russia, until November 12, 2017
The exhibition presents personal belongings of the participants of Russia’s revolutionary events, the notes of the world proletariat leader Vladimir Lenin and other unique exhibits - from the porthole from the legendary cruiser “Aurora” and the telephone apparatus from the headquarters of revolutionaries to weapons from the place of execution of the royal family and works of art born under the influence of these epoch-making events. Visitors will be able to see rare archival documents, many of which are being shown for the first time, magazines and propaganda posters of a century ago. Thanks to modern technologies and interactive programs developed for the exhibition, visitors will have the opportunity to see what a particular newspaper wrote on different days and months of the fateful year, learn more about the main actors of the events, hear the memoirs of witnesses and direct participants in revolutionary unrest.
In total, the exhibition presents more than 1500 rare historical artifacts from the collection of the Museum of Modern History of Russia and the Russian State Archive of Social and Political History.
Address: 21 Tverskaya Ulitsa
For location, opening hours, and prices, please visit the Museum of Contemporary History of Russia website.
Cai Guo-Qiang. October
Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, until November 12, 2017
The Pushkin Museum has chosen an unconventional way to celebrate the anniversary of the revolution. It has attracted Cai Guo-Qiang, a renowned Chinese contemporary artist, currently living in the United States, to create massive installations on the theme of the Russian revolution and its role in the global history. The exhibition starts outside the museum with a huge installation made of cribs and birch trees, and continues through the central hall. Hovering over the central staircase is The Sound,a 20 metre long piece of silk scorched with gunpowder calligraphy. The ceiling of the White Room is covered by a silver mirror, multiplying the already expansive space. Two 20m-long gunpowder paintings on the facing walls, River and Garden, surround the field of Land in the center of the room.
Address: 12 Volkhonka Ulitsa
For location, opening hours, and prices, please visit the Pushkin Museum website.