History and Culture: Exhibition “Universal Language” held in the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow

The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (Moscow) presents the exhibition Universal Language. The project explores various forms of human interaction, attempts to find a common language through the wisdom of creeds, geographical discoveries, everyday rituals and the incessant exchange of information. The richness of multilingualism is shown through works of art, as well as manuscripts, handwritten books and other rarities reflecting the history of human communication, which has been tested for strength at all times.

The seven sections of the exhibition display works of visual and decorative arts, book monuments and various kinds of written sources, testifying to the attempts of individual people and entire nations to agree among themselves: from Egyptian papyri, cuneiform tablets and Novgorod birch bark letters to debt receipts, private correspondence and diplomatic documents of Modern Era.

A part of the exposition includes three video installations by the director Andrey Silvestrov. The heroes of the videos are the museum’s specialists acting as a link between art and viewers, as the curators’ idea suggests.

The exhibition Universal Language is complemented by a large educational program, which includes lectures and discussions in the Italian Courtyard, meetings with curators, scientific workers of the museum and invited experts. For the first time, regular excursions in Russian sign language with reverse translation for hearing museum visitors will become part of the educational program for the exhibition.

The exhibition will run until March 19, 2023.