Exhibition 'Folk Celebrations'

About exhibition

Music and painting have much in common. Paintings, like songs, tell stories and convey emotions and mood. No celebration can be imagined without musical accompaniment. Bringing together a wide variety of folk arts, the exhibition explores the theme of the people's love of music and dance. At the heart of the exhibition are paintings by naive artists from different corners of Russia, collected in the museum's collection. Using their distinctive view of the world, they share both personal observations and memories as well as imaginative scenes. For example, Valery Eremenko depicts Kaluga at the beginning of the last century, while Alfrid Shaymardanov sends Salvador Dalí on a journey through Kazan, a city the famous surrealist never had a chance to see. The subjects of the canvases encompass many festive events: secular, state, and religious. Residents of large cities and villages, full of optimism and verve, are ready to share them with visitors, and the large number of musical instruments depicted by the artists creates the impression that the exhibition can be not only seen but also heard, as looking at them calls to mind the familiar melodies of balalaikas and guitars.