Tatyana Golikova and Assistant to President of Uzbekistan Saida Mirziyoyeva open Light between Worlds Exhibition
Tatyana Golikova and Assistant to President of Uzbekistan Saida Mirziyoyeva open Light between Worlds Exhibition
Tatyana Golikova and Assistant to President of Uzbekistan Saida Mirziyoyeva open Light between Worlds Exhibition
Tatyana Golikova and Assistant to President of Uzbekistan Saida Mirziyoyeva open Light between Worlds Exhibition
Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova and Assistant to the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Saida Mirziyoyeva opened Light between Worlds Exhibition at the New Jerusalem State History and Art Museum in the Moscow Region. Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin, Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky, and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Uzbekistan to Russia Botirjon Asadov attended the opening ceremony.
“The significance of the exhibition lies in its major contribution to understanding the artistic heritage of the 20th century,” Tatyana Golikova said. “It was a time when art sought to interpret societal transformations. Here, we see works of modernism from the 1920s-1930s, and each of them represents a unique language and philosophy of that era. All the works contain something new; they lift the veil on aspects that perhaps were previously unknown to us.”
“The value of this exhibition lies in the fact that it was born out of collaboration between the New Jerusalem Museum and the Savitsky State Museum of Fine Arts of the Republic of Karakalpakstan. This is not just a diplomatic or cultural gesture, but a strategic partnership in the humanitarian sphere.”
The New Jerusalem Museum, in cooperation with the Art and Culture Development Foundation of Uzbekistan, presents a large-scale Light between Worlds Exhibition project dedicated to the scarcely studied layer of Soviet, Uzbek, and Russian modernism of the 1920s-1930s. The exhibition includes over 160 paintings and graphic works by 40 artists, among them Alexander Volkov, Solomon Nikritin, Alexander Shevchenko, and Kliment Redko, to name a few, drawn from the collections of the New Jerusalem Museum and the Savitsky State Museum of Fine Arts of the Republic of Karakalpakstan.
“Today, we are proud to present masterpieces from the unmatched collection of the Nukus Museum, which holds one of the world’s largest collections of Russian avant-garde art. Eighty works of painting and graphic art have come from our country — from the Louvre in the Desert — which became home to the creative legacy of many Russian artists thanks to Igor Savitsky’s mission,” Saida Mirziyoyeva said. “I want to especially highlight the importance of this exhibition in the context of expanding cultural dialogue between Uzbekistan and Russia. Today, our countries are actively expanding cooperation in culture, education, the creative economy, and heritage preservation. We are implementing joint projects, supporting creativity, and strengthening infrastructure for cultural initiatives. Exhibitions like this become points of connection and living bridges between our peoples, especially when they are rooted in a shared history.”
The exhibition is conceived as a meeting place for two major museum collections of the 20th century art. The previous inter-museum project of a similar scale involving the Savitsky Museum, based on the comparison of two collections, took place in 1989 and led to the publication of a book titled “Avant-Garde: Stopped in Motion” resulting from a collaborative effort with the Russian Museum.
The Light between Worlds Exhibition at the New Jerusalem Museum offers a fresh perspective on artistic processes of the 1920s-1930s in all their complexity and diversity.
“I was overcome with positive emotions after viewing the exhibition. Such a profound concept, such beautiful works — they are truly inspiring. I want to thank the people who made it possible for this idea and for the excellent organisation. This is a wonderful cultural bridge that strengthens ties between our country and Uzbekistan. I wish this exhibition to be visited and appreciated by as many people as possible, to inspire them and to lead to further cooperation in other cities across Russia and Uzbekistan,” Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin said.
The fact that, to this day, their place in the museum-building and the contents of their collections remains largely unexplored is a common thread that unites the collections of the New Jerusalem Museum and the Savitsky State Museum of Fine Arts of the Republic of Karakalpakstan. Both collections were formed under the circumstances where many works of art remained outside the official cultural mainstream. This is why a special focus of the exhibition is on the history of “museum-building.”
“I was lucky enough, about seven or eight years ago, to attend the opening of a similar exhibition at the Pushkin Museum — a collaboration between the Nukus State Museum and the Pushkin Museum. I know firsthand how popular it was, how many amazed visitors it attracted. Undoubtedly, after that exhibition, the number of friends of Uzbek culture increased significantly. I’m sure that following this excellent exhibition, which we are fortunate to be opening today, the number of friends of Uzbekistan will grow even larger, because we are united by centuries-old historical ties based on neighbourliness, mutual respect, love for a shared culture and common heritage. From now on, as has been said earlier, yet another beautiful cultural bridge will connect our countries. May there be many more such bridges and connections,” Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky said.
