Traditions and Modernity in the Manezh

On Sunday the central exhibition hall of the Manezh closed the sixth Moscow International Festival of Art. The initiators of the forum targeted at approaching arts of various countries and peoples, presentation of the whole range of the world art, and gathering all directions of the modern culture. “The exhibition presents modern artists who do feel a tradition as an acute thing for creativity. That is why the exhibition is representative. I think acute, conceptual and traditional works are presented at the exhibition, and this is very important because it establishes the context in which a contemporary person lives where a tradition and a radical approach to art are neighbors. It is a feature of our life, where everything is moving. I think this exhibition reflects the time of the contemporary world,” Mikhail Svydkoi, presidential envoy on international cultural cooperation of Russia, said.

“The exhibition is a festival, the exhibition is boldness, the exhibition is a continuation of joy in our country. There are countries of business, countries of energy, countries of monarchy, and our country is a country of culture. This is a triumph of our country when the culture of certain various outstanding authors reigns,” Veniamin Smekhov, People’s Artist of Russia, thinks.

According to Polad Bul-Bul Ogly, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Azerbaijan in Russia: “The Fund of Humanitarian Cooperation contributes to it, and I am the head of it. We support this exhibition because it is a very important integration aspect in the post-Soviet area. It is no secret that the Soviet Union had a very strong school of art, art education, prominent artists, and these traditions should go on. Any isolated culture will at least pine away, and at the end will die. That is why it is very important for creative people to have platforms for communication, for the presentation of their works, for experience exchange. So it is difficult to overestimate the significance of such exhibitions, such events. Moreover, the Manezh is a prestigious hall situated in the center of Moscow, which is one of cultural centers, one of cultural capitals of the world.”

Tair Salakhov, Vice-President of the Russian Academy of Arts, People’s Artist of the USSR, Azerbaijan and Russia, stated that “it is a great pleasure for artists to meet at the international exhibition. Artists from Moscow, St. Petersburg, and other regions of Russia are next to works of artists from various republics and regions of the world. This is great. Here, works by ballet-master Vasiliyev, our outstanding artists, are presented. He is a very interesting artist. Along with ballet, he has been painting all his life. Vladimir Naumov, the director who shot “Tehran 43” and “The Coast”, is working here. He manages the festival of arts in the sphere of cinema; he is participating in the exhibition as well. These are people who live for art. That is why many artists, academicians and young artists from various former Soviet republics are here. It is happiness that we have a platform where we can meet, share our experiences, and shake hands.

The Manezh gathered all our friends who live for art. The exhibition gives a strong impulse. It is a spirit of artistic competitiveness, a spirit of consolidation, a spirit of looking into the future and the past. I would like to say that it is nice we meet and talk about art, about the objectives of our Russian and international art, including the CIS countries. It is happiness, because when we meet, we look into the future.”