Art and Love

Exhibition of Salvador Dali masterpieces was amazing! There were no advertisement in mass media... And it was held in a really strange place, something like bad quality business centre... So at first I thought that it was fake. But it was really Dali!!! And the guide was owner of the collection. He made us laugh while telling about people who wanted to touch sculptures. "Agony of Love" is extremely popular among people who like to touch everything :)

After the excursion I bought book about Dali and Gala. He really adored this woman. And when I was coming back home today I was looking through album with her photos. She wasn't beautiful... It's really a mystery. And Lilia Brick who drove Mayakovsky mad wasn't beautiful... And lover of last russian Tsar Nickolay II Matilda Kshesinskaya wasn't beautiful... It's a phenomenon!!!

Day ended with a brilliant lecture about Edvard Munch, famous norwegian painter. He was really crazy, but I do like some of his works: Madonna, Vampire, Ashes. His style reminds me of Van Gogh. And there is a really close connection between this painters. I mean they have common pr-agent ;))

Night at the museum

It was a great night! And I managed to visit a lot of exhibitions. Most funny was Parade of Hares organized by Avangard Museum. It was the craziest museum this night... There was sound installation of Velemir Khlebnikov poem. In XIX century he was a member of Russian Futurist Movement. And the most beautiful museum was St.Isaac's Cathedral (in the photo). I adore it's decoration! I got really tired this morning... But I'm waiting impatiently for the next Museum Night.

Oh! And I have great news! Today our favourite football team ZENITH won the Cup of Russia! It's great and everybody is celebrating today :)

Roerich and Konchalovsky

Wednesday and Thursday were really full of events. Yesterday I had an excursion to Nicholas Roerich exhibition. I were never interested in his paintings or his biography, but when I visited this really big and full exhibition I decided to read about this wonderful artist. He was a traveller also and liked India very much. He also created Roerich Pact or Treaty on the Protection of Artistic and Scientific Institutions and Historic Monuments. I hold this artist in high respect for such thing and for his philosophy also! His paintings of mountains impressed me. So last night I was watching his masterpieces in the internet and went to bed very late.

No wonder that today I woke up late and had no time to drink coffee. I was trying to read Virginia Woolf while travelling by subway. But I was too sleepy and couldn't understand a word... I had rather interesting lection on Modern Philosophy and I had a really nice walk to the city center.After a cup of coffee there I felt much better and finally woke up.

After that I went to State Russian Museum and had a very interesting excursion to Petr Konchalovsky exhibition. Our guide Alexey Kurbanovsky is an amazing man. I have heard about him before but today I had a chance to listen to him myself. Excursion was rather long but after it I could made my opinion about Konchalovsky. I mean that I visited this exhibition some weeks ago alone. And then I couldn't understand my feelings about his paintings. After our wonderful guide told us that most of Konchalovsky's works were painted under the strong influence of other famous artists (Matisse, Picasso, Van Gogh and others) I realized why I dislike him. It seems to me that he isn't really an artist because almost every picture was painted in someone's manner.

Then I and my friend Mary decided to attend lecture on modern art by Kurbanovsky. I don't like modern art, but I always happy to get new information. And also I got added evidence that lecturer is an amazing narrator. Without any doubt I will attend his next lecture.

I got really tired today. And my foot hurts. I should have a rest tomorrow and stay at home.

Mother's skin, Father's skin...

It was rainy today and really cold. But it couldn't prevent me and my friend Kate from getting new experiences. This morning we were trying to find the former Dutch Church on Nevsky Prospect to see Flower Festival. But we couldn't. Wind was really strong so we decided to have a cup of coffee in the nearest cafe.

Then we went to the Al-Gallery. And watched installation art there. It was an exibition by Vita Buyvid, famous photographer. I like her "Skins of the Bobrovy Family". You can see it on photo. All skins are made of plush and look really nice. As a part of installation there were tv sets. Different women on the screen were repeating: "I'm a bitch", men were complaining: "She is a bitch".

Also there were portraits of families. In the pictures some people were bleeding or had black eyes. Author wanted to show that sometimes we hurt our relatives with words. And wounds we leave in their souls can't be seen. But these wounds are never healed.

Later we attended a lecture about Nabokov. Writer Vyacheslav Kurizin showed some interesting pictures somehow connected with Nabokov's life. And later Kurizin read his "Christmas Story" written in the Nabokov manner. It was interesting because there are few places where prose can be heard.

When I was going home the wind almost blew me away. Weather was really nasty, but it didn't spoil my day.

The Artefact Exhibition

One of the most exciting museum I've ever visited in my life is "Titanic: The Artefact Exhibition" in Madrid. As it's written on its official page the exhibition has ended. And about 100 000 people have seen it.

I think everybody knows this tragic story of the largest passenger steamship. It was going from England to the USA, but it sank in the Atlantic Ocean. As you see the history of the ship has no connection with Madrid. So when I was walking through Plaza de Colon and suddenly saw a poster advertising the exhibition I was deluded...

But I bought a ticket and got a boarding pass. The same as all Titanic passengers were given.

The exhibition opened with history of building the ship. Also the cabins of the first and third class were shown. And a big collection of dishes and other artifacts recovered during the expeditions. Among the things belonged to the passangers were bags, books, jewellery, etc. But the most exciting thing for me was perfume oils set. It's unbeliviable but you can still feel the smell of them!