An exhibition, "Wooden Lace", has opened in the city of Irkutsk
in East Siberia. It reflects the history of Siberian architecture embodied
in wood. In Irkutsk there are buildings erected more than two centuries
ago. However time is merciless, and beauty is given to fading. The present
exhibition is designed to expose the inimitable wooden architecture that
can be found solely in Irkutsk.
Our ancestors believed that in a beautiful house life was destined
to be happy. They adorned their dwellings with love. They preferred decorative
doors, broad fanciful gates, cosy porches, intricate windows and towers.
All this sported wood carvings and wooden sculpture. Not a single house
was like its neighbor, not a single street looked like the next one.
Time has spared much of this wooden lace, but it failed to preserve
the names of the talented people who created it. The present exhibition
pays tribute to them. Contemporary masters have recreated dozens of old
houses in Irkutsk, which present historic and artistic value. They paid
special attention to the estate of the former Irkutsk mayor Vladimir Sukachev,
well-known patron of arts and keeper of Russian antiquity. He set up a
picture gallery, one of the biggest museums in Russia today, in Irkutsk.
Sukachev was fond of Oriental arts, and so he built his home and the picture
gallery in the Oriental style combined with Russian. Today Sukachev's estate
is under restoration, and soon everyone will be able to admire a wooden
miracle of last century. Many other dwellings, public buildings and churches
are also under restoration.
Time is cruel not only to wooden, but even to stone structures, and
it's important to preserve all this beauty - the wooden lace of an old
city - to the joy of our children and greatchildren .
SIBERIAN PORCELAIN
The village of Khaita in Irkutsk region has a porcelain factory that
has been making wonderful articles for 120 years now. Many of them were
included in the magnificent collection of Irkutsk's Arts Museum. Some of
the exhibits are truly unique. They include two porcelain iconostases made
in Khaita. The factory was founded in the 1880s by well-known Siberian
merchants, brothers Perevalov. The local craftsmen were skilled in creating
marvelous articles from fine snow-white porcelain, and in adorning them
with amazing pictures. Inimitable ornaments graced their tea and coffee
sets, vases and cups, plates and boxes.
Artistically-made porcelain iconostases were meant for home chapels.
Their artistic value is enormous. One of the iconostases is cobalt, with
a gold design, severe in its aspect. The other one is more decorative,
made in the pseudo-Russian style, with a gold design and red moulding.
Today the two unique works of art are under restoration. Soon they will
be exhibited in all their glory.
In the meantime the museum exhibits works by the young artists of Khaita,
the followers of old masters. This continuity of traditions makes the exhibition
particularly attractive. Young artists Olga Vakhrusheva and Svetlana Bogdanova
boldly introduce their own motives to the art of their talented forebears.
Their creations are remarkable: made in the form of unusual vessels or
sea shells,they exude light and the spirit of womanliness. The young artists
decorate their works with their beloved Siberian landscapes: snow-covered
hills, Lake Baikal, transparent mountain streams. Each of the young artists
has her own manner of painting. Working together, as if supplementing each
other, they create the unique image of their native Siberia.
The past and the present, traditions and innovations are always inseparable,
and this harmony gives birth to masterpieces - in our days, as 120 years
ago .
A DOCUMENTARY FILM "CATHERINE
THE GREAT"
A documentary about the life of the outstanding Russian Empress in 13
episodes
As the world prepares to make its entrance into the third millenium,
Russia is living through an unheard-of-before social upheaval which has
once again put the entire future of the Russian people on the line. What
are the values we are going to take with us into the next century? This
depends on many things, including the need to take a new look at our past.
To move forward, we need to reconsider the events that literally reshaped
the course of the European civilisation.
The history of the Russian state knows only two Great Emperors and these
are Peter the First and Catherine the Second.
"Catherine the Great" is a documentary about the life of the
outstanding Russian Empress (1729-1796). The 13-part series brings back
the times of Catherine's majestic reign and her remarkable reforms which,
according to contemporary accounts, amazed the Universe and brought about
an unprecedented upsurge in Russsia's economic and military might.
Following is a brief description of the film: Episode One. "Who
Are You, Empress Catherine?" - about Catherine's enigmatic and controversial
personality and the mysteries of her 34 year-long reign.
Episode Two. "The Cast" - about the royal retinue, the friends
and foes of the great Empress.
Episode Three. "A German Princess Arrives In Russia" - about
the childhood years of the future Russian Empress.
Episode Four. "The Mysteries of the Royal Court" - about Catherine's
unhappy marriage to the Grand Duke Pyotr Fyodorovich, who later succeeded
the throne as Emperor Peter the Third.
Episode Five. "The First Lessons" - Catherine gets involved
in Russian court politics.
Episode Six. "The First Victory" - Catherine wins her first
victory against her ill-wishers.
Episode Seven. "The Coup" - about the events leading up to
the 1762 coup d'etat.
Episode Eight. "Ah! Heavy Art Thou, Crown of Monomakh!" -
about the participants in the July 9th palace coup, about Catherine's friends
and foes, her first months in power and about how they killed Emperor Peter
the Third.
Episode Nine. "Lights and Shadows" - about the problems that
plagued the first months of Catherine's reign.
Episode Ten. "A Baptism of Fire" - about Russia's resounding
land and sea victories against the Turks and during the Crimean War.
Episode Eleven. "Her Secret Husband" - relating Catherine's
relationship with Count Grigory Potemkin, their secret marriage and political
alliance.
Episode Twelve. "Favorites" - about the role the Empress'
lovers played in her life, about their fate and place in the political
life of this country.
Episode Thirteen. "The Undisputed Witnesses of Truth" - shedding
light on the many mysteries hidden in Empress Catherine's archives.
The film's scriptwriter and presenter is historian Vyacheslav Lopatin
whose book "Catherine the Second and Grigory Potemkin. Private Correspondence"
which came out last year shed light on many theretofore-unknown sides of
Catherine's life. The documentary was directed by Grigory Ilgudin whose
feature films "The Dissidents" (1991) and "The Long Night
of Menachem Beilis" (1993) have won prizes at a number of international
film festivals. Featured in this film are nearly 300 portraits of Catherine
the Great, her close associates and other leading 18th century politicians.
Some of these paintings from the Hermitage, The Russian Museum, the Tretyakov
Picture Gallery, the Moscow Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, the State History
Museum, the "Tsarskoye Selo" and "Peterhof" museums,
the Kremlin's Diamond Collection and art depositaries have never been displayed
before.
Each episode runs for 26 minutes. Produced by INTER-ROS Company.
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