Marking the 350th anniversary of Peter the Great: Pottery of the Peter’s era presented at the exhibition in the “Island-Town Sviyazhsk” Museum-Reserve in Tatarstan

The exhibition About Peter I’s unusual order in China has opened in the Art Gallery of the “Island-Town Sviyazhsk” Museum Reserve (Republic of Tatarstan), marking one of the central memorable dates of Russia in 2022 – the 350th anniversary of the great figure, tsar-reformer Peter I (1672-1725), as well as the vivid page of the history and legacy of Russia and Sviyazhsk, associated with tile art.

The exhibition serves as a continuation of the interregional exposition and research project of the “Island-Town Sviyazhsk” Museum-Reserve The Tile Path, launched in 2013. The exhibition About Peter I’s unusual order in China is a qualitatively new stage of the project, as it connects historical artifacts to modern art works that were specially created for the exposition.

The exhibition reflects the role of Peter the Great in the emergence of the new type of tiles in Russia. The exposition is based on the Peter’s order of tiled stoves in China. The route of delivery of these tiles to Petersburg passed through Kazan Governorate, and the delivery mission was headed by Lev Izmailov in 1719-1722.

The historical section of the exhibition features tiles of the XVII-XVIII c. from the collections of the “Island-Town Sviyazhsk” Museum-Reserve, the Institute of Archaeology RAS, private collections (over 80 items). The authentic complex is complemented by numerous illustrations – reproductions of tiles from the collections of the State Historical Museum and watercolor images of tiles and tiled stoves by famous researcher S. A. Maslikh from the collections of the Shchusev Museum of Architecture. Authentic items and images allow visitors to see the specifics of tiles of the Peter’s era, images and technologies that were developed in the middle – second half of the XVIII century. The historical section of the exposition also displays book monuments from the collections of the “Island-Town Sviyazhsk” Museum-Reserve and the Lobachevsky Research Library of the Kazan University.

The modern section of the exhibition is a result of educational and creative art residence that took place in the first half of 2022. The creative mission was to make pieces on the theme of the exhibition. Exhibited works are the objects of pottery, installations, art pieces and graphics. The exposition features over 30 works by painters from Moscow, Kazan, Sviyazhsk, Kolomna, Gzhel. Most of the creators are young artists, students of the Stroganov Moscow State Academy of Arts and Industry and the Russian State University of Humanities.

The exhibition will run until September 25, 2022.