Elohovskiy Gallery presents the project «Travel Diary. Africa», created with the participation of the State Museum of Oriental Art and the Moscow Museum of Contemporary Art. The exhibition will run from December 19 to February 16.
The exhibition invites the viewer to take a journey to the sunniest continent on the planet following in the footsteps of the great 20th-century artist — Alexander Yakovlev. The journey is based on the archive of Yakovlev’s travel diaries and drawings; he was invited to join the trans-African expedition La croisière noire ("The Black Expedition"). During the trip the artist not only made sketches but also kept detailed ethnographic notes about villages, appearance, everyday life and customs of the local inhabitants.
Expanding its research practice, Elohovskiy Gallery delves into the history of the holdings of the State Museum of Oriental Art and into the study of contemporary African and Russian art. Tracing a route from Algeria to Madagascar, the exhibition’s curators defined clear territorial boundaries for the research and selected a time frame beginning in the early 20th century — when Africa began to attract the attention and interest of Russians — up to the present day.
Works created within the framework of the research laboratory by contemporary Russian artists address layers of meaning related to the history, mythology and cults of African countries. The authors appeal to both personal and global human experience. The project reveals the multifaceted culture of Africa, paying special attention to issues of interethnic, religious, aesthetic and humanistic discourse. The focus is on the person and their relationship to the surrounding world: both as an observer and as a creator of culture.
Also, for the first time in Russia the project presents African artists Sibusiso Gcaba and Mariuskarl Ene.
Representatives of the South African Embassy attended the gala opening of the exhibition, which took place on December 18.
Exhibiting artists:
Anastasia Asparagus, Madu Akhmedova, Sibusiso Gcaba, Liza Glushkova, Evgeny Egorov, Katya Emelyanova, Pavel Leonov, Olga Mikhalchuk, Alexander Podobed, Svetlana Rastebina, Elizaveta Rukavishnikova, Maria Suvorova, Katya Sysoyeva, Alyona Troitskaya, Vasily Shukhaev, Mariuskarl Ene, Alexander Yakovlev.
Curators: Maria Dubodel, Viktoria Sharova
When: from December 19, 2024 to February 16, 2025
Where: Moscow, Elohovsky proezd, house 1, bldg. 2
Age: 18+
Admission by ticket
