MOSCOW, March 19 (RIA Novosti's Elena Titarenko) - Various genres and styles dominating Russian arts and those of the CIS countries as a whole will be brought together at the Moscow International Art Salon "TsDKh-2004. Ecology".
This large-scale arts fair is opening on Friday for the seventh time at the Central Artists' House (TsDKh) - the largest exhibition hall in the capital, traditionally committed to contemporary graphic arts; it is of no coincidence that it gave its title as a brand for the Salon.
Diverse worldviews and constant interaction between painters of the formerly unified "great power" constitute the nerve of the exposition including some 3,000 works. As usual, together with National Art Unions of the CIS and Baltic countries, the Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kiev City Art Unions are represented at the exposition.
For many authors from the provinces, who also gather here every year in significant numbers, the TsDKh Salon is a rare and happy opportunity to present their works on a national scale and to hear opponents' opinions - often unflattering, but important from the professional point of view.
The International Art Unions' Federation acts as an organizer of the TsDKh Salon, which has become an integral part of Moscow's art reality today. This time it formulated its principal task as follows: "To demonstrate the scale and urgency of the ecological problem through the lens of contemporary art." The annual exhibition and fair of contemporary art from the CIS and Baltic countries, which started in 1998, positions itself as "the only art project in Russia oriented to the development of interstate and international cultural links between national art unions of the CIS and Baltic countries, as well as those between other Russian and foreign creative associations as well." This is a unique structure, it cannot be duplicated by any other major art fair in Moscow, Aleksandr Morozov, Deputy Director of the Tretyakov Gallery, professor of arts history and Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Arts, pointed out in a conversation with RIA Novosti. A lot of things, in the art historian's opinion, may "not correspond to the ideal criteria", but the public is provided with lavish "opportunities for comparison and thought." This time the public, which usually is quite eager to visit the salon, will meet again with artists from various CIS countries, Lithuania and Estonia, as well as with those from Italy, Iran and Japan. And Moscow will once again confirm its reputation of a Mecca of contemporary arts for CIS artists - many of them are still attracted by the Russian capital.
It is not easy to orient oneself in the sea of painting, graphics, sculpture, applied arts, design and photography. According to the tradition, however, the "best of the best" - the most interesting and esthetically significant works - are presented in the non-commercial projects zone, including 20 mini-expositions by eminent authors, museums, curators or magazines.
