Society and Culture: Exhibition "Kuzbass!", marking the 300th anniversary of region, presented in the New Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow

The New Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow on Krymsky Val presented the project "Kuzbass!", marking the 300th anniversary of that region. The exhibition features 64 works, including painting, graphic works and sculpture.

The exposition is timed to coincide with the anniversary of one of the major industrial centres of Russia. It presents a selection of the fine arts of the XX and early XXI centuries. The exhibition showcases works of an industrial theme from two leading art museums in that region - the Fine Arts Museum of Kuzbass and the Novokuznetsk Art Museum. The exposition also includes works from the State Museum and Exhibition Centre "ROSIZO", the State Central Museum of Contemporary History of Russia, the Russian State Library and the State Tretyakov Gallery.

The project aims to demonstrate the tradition of industrial topics in the Russian fine arts and a new approach by young contemporary artists.

Kuzbass is not the world's largest coal basins, but also one of the most significant regions of Russia. Its development began in the reign of Peter the Great. The end of the XIX century was marked by a real economic breakthrough associated with the industrial revolution. Then there was the idea to create the country's second coal and metallurgical base after Donbass. It was planned that Kuzbass would become the raw materials base for the entire Ural metallurgy. The realization of these plans was suspended by the First World War in 1914 and the revolution of 1917. After the Civil War, Kuzbass turned into the most powerful industrial centre of all Siberia.

A team of artists decided to arrange a grandiose exhibition "Industry of Socialism", devoted to the incredible construction in Kuzbass. Vasily Rozhdestvensky, Arkady Lobanov, Vladimir Shtranikh, Viktor Perelman and hundreds of other masters have been working on this exhibition for several years. The opening of the "Industry of Socialism" exposition took place in 1939 in Moscow. One of the sections was devoted to the industrial development of Kuzbass. It was an important ideological campaign, which aimed to demonstrate the success of the socialist system and praise the party leadership. But now, when the political component lost its significance, the paintings created in that period reveal the heroic labour of ordinary people who tried to realise their dreams.

Now the main body of works from the "Industry of Socialism" exhibition is kept in the archives and art collections of the State Museum and Exhibition Center "ROSIZO" in Moscow. Using the 1939 catalogue, the specialists of the State Tretyakov Gallery managed to identify several works from the section related to the Kuzbass industrialization. For example, the monumental painting by Amshei Nuremberg "The Stakhanov Workers of Kuzbass" was created after the visit to one of the largest mines of Prokopyevsk. The central part of that triptych is included in the "Kuzbass!" exposition. For the first time, the canvas will appear before the public after the restoration.

The central place of the "Kuzbass!" exhibition project is occupied by the poster by the outstanding Soviet artist Alexander Deineka "Let's Provide Ural-Kuzbass with Proletarian Staff" (1931) from the collection of the Russian State Library. This appeal was formulated by the artist in the early 1930s when the selfless labour of ordinary people raised the country's industry.

The exposition has three main sections. The first one presents artworks from the industrialization period, created by artists in the 1920s and 1930s.

The second section showcases works of the 1960s – 1980s, performed mainly by masters of the local art school. Artists of this generation strove to express the pathos of their time in large and laconic paintings, graphic and sculptural works depicting the man of labour.

The third section is devoted to contemporary art.

The exhibition also presents an installation showing the photographic archive of Spiridon Byvshiy (1891–1937). It is a unique photo report from the construction of one of the main objects of the first five-year plan - Koksokhimzavod in Kuzbass (Shcheglovsk). For several years - from 1929 to 1932 - he had been creating the photo chronicle of the coking plant. It reflects all stages of construction - from laying the foundation to launching the enterprise.

Exhibition "Kuzbass!" will present new names of artists to the Moscow public and introduce them to the works of masters of an industrial theme of different generations. It is the largest art collection reflecting the history and culture of Kuzbass.