Russian culture abroad: History of Russian photography goes on display in Bratislava

Within the framework of the 20th International Festival “Month of photography” Bratislava (Slovakia) has launched an exhibition “Photographic history. 1840-1950. From holdings of the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art”. The exhibition has been organized by the Federal Archival Agency of Russia, the State Museum and Exhibition Center ROSIZO of the Ministry of Culture of Russia and the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art following the invitation of the Central European House of Photography.

The exposition covers 316 works, which cast the light on the history of the Russian photography in the context of development of the world photographic art. The exhibition brings together photographs of different styles, genres and techniques ranging from gala and psychological portraits to the landscapes, ethnographic photographs and reportages, spanning more than a century.

The “Photographic history. 1840-1950” exhibition reflects influence of political changes on the development of not just the photography, but art as a whole: side-by-side are displayed the portraits of A.P. Chekhov, I.A. Bunin and a “revolutionary poet” V. Mayakovsky,  P.I. Tchaikovsky and D.D. Shostakovich, photographs of the Sheremetyev family, S. Budyonny, K. Stanislavsky, V. Meyerhold, outstanding dancers and ballerinas of 19th-20th cc., actresses of silent movies, “leading Socialism builders” and ordinary Soviet citizens.

The core of the exhibition is made by souvenir photographs of 19th c. The 1920s have been represented by the works by Alexander Rodchenko and Mikhail Kaufman. Special focus is brought to unique experimental photos by El Lissitsky.

According to the exposition’s curators, the photo exhibition in Bratislava is a significant contribution to the development of the Russian-Slovakian dialogue of cultures and a remarkable event for all connoisseurs of art: major part of works will be put on show abroad for the first time.