Photo exhibition "Home from heaven" Automatic translate

Photo exhibition “Home from heaven” opens in Saratov Regional Duma
following the expedition of Saratov artists to Lake Elton

At the invitation of the Saratov Regional Duma, the Volga branch of the Russian Academy of Arts and the TSH of the Saratov Region present the exhibition project “Home from Heaven”. The exhibition is dedicated to the opening of the Year of Ecology in Russia.

The exhibition is demonstrated by the results of the experimental creative workshop of the Volga branch of the Russian Academy of Arts and the Creative Union of Russian Artists. The head of the workshop for PAX and TSHR - Konstantin Khudyakov.

The project manager is Sergey Karmeev.
The project coordinator is Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Project Design - Mikhail Gavryushov.

The exhibition is exhibited in the lobby of the Parliamentary Center of the Saratov Regional Duma (Saratov, 24a Radishcheva St.)
Dates of exposure: March 3-31, 2017.
Vernissage: March 10, 3 p.m.

The participants of the exhibition project are 14 Saratov photo artists-members of the Creative Union of Artists of the Saratov Region (regional branch of the TSHR) who received a scholarship from the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation for the implementation of a creative project: Yuri Nabatov, Mikhail Gavryushov, Ruslan Nurgaliev, Julia Ganke, Artyom Korenyuk, Mikhail Glyzhev, Olga Kochedykova, Igor Solovyov, Alexey Trubetskov, Andrey Golubtsov, Alexander Drozdin, Vadim Fedotov, Alexander Moskvitin, Sergey Karmeev.

In September 2016, an expedition to Lake Elton took place, a series of works arose, united by a single creative concept. A film has been prepared for the opening of the exhibition: about the mysterious Elton Lake, members of the expedition.

In the format of the project, in memory of the Master, one work of the famous Saratov photographer Alexander Miroshnichenko (1942-2016) is presented - Lake Elton, which Alexander Fedorovich saw him in May 2009.

About creative design

Elton Lake seems to be the largest and richest of all known in the world of salt lakes. Unique in origin, chemical composition and medicinal properties, it is located on the territory of the Caspian lowland among the desert Trans-Volga steppe 16, 2 m below sea level, has an oval shape (17, 8 x 14 km). At the bottom of the lake there are salty springs, deposits of salts and mineral hydrogen sulfide mud. It itself is filled with brine - a supersaturated salt solution with a high content of potassium and other macro and micronutrients. It looks like an oily liquid of a golden pink hue, bitter-salty to taste. Along the banks are white crystals of salt. The wind brings stones into the lake, dry stems of grass, which are overgrown with salt and become Elton corals. Where there is no brine, the lake is covered with a sparkling salt crust. Its hardness is such that in some places it is like asphalt and even stone.

Tatars, Kalmyks and Kazakhs called the lake "Altan - Nur", which translates as "Golden bottom" or "Golden Lake". It is named for the beauty and iridescent game of colors. As endless as the sea, the lake, even in strong winds, remains absolutely calm. As if it is a huge piece of polished gemstone raspberry - golden color. During sunset, the lake appears to be a bowl of molten gold. Even from space, Elton has a pinkish tint. Scientists for a long time could not understand the source of such an unusual color, until at the end of the 19th century they discovered the presence of the smallest microorganisms in the water, which survive in a thick oily brine in which all life instantly dies.

Currently, Lake Elton is located in the Volgograd region. But at some point in history it was located within the borders of the Saratov province and was (to a certain extent) “city-forming”. From the middle of the 17th century, salt was mined on Lake Elton, and work continued until 1882. Salt was brought to Saratov, traded, exchanged, and rich. Saratov salt tycoons determined the economic policy of the province. The saline bull has become a symbol of Pokrovskaya Sloboda (now the city of Engels, Saratov Region). Later Elton salt was replaced by Baskunchak salt, which turned out to be cheaper. Today, on the territory of Lake Elton, there is a balneo-mud resort, where they treat diseases of the musculoskeletal system, skin, respiratory organs and many others. The sanatorium has been operating since 1910.

Salt lakes are amazing in nature, they have always attracted creative people, artists and writers. Salt is also a philosophy, an artistic metaphor. That which remains in the dry residue when the water leaves. Salt of the earth. Saratov artists will try to reflect on this topic in this exhibition project. This is a kind of attempt to illustrate the complex process of a difficult return to the purity and sincerity of human emotions, artistic and moral values.

The first show of the exhibition took place in the halls of the Saratov Art College in November 2016. In the Year of Ecology, the exhibition will be presented at several venues - in Saratov, Volgograd, Moscow.