Exhibition "Nothing Special" Automatic translate

From February 24 to March 13, the Gallery of Classical Photography will host an exhibition of the inclusive photo project Nothing Special. The project was implemented by the Adaptive Hockey Federation with the support of the Elena and Gennady Timchenko Charitable Foundation. Mark Nazarov, a well-known photographer, a member of the Union of Photographers and the Union of Designers of Russia, worked on the images and style of each frame. More than 20 children and parents from 12 regions of Russia took part in the project.

Very often you can hear the expression "special children" - it is used when referring to children with disabilities. But even on the example of the players of the Adaptive Hockey Federation, we know that children are talented not only in hockey - most of them have interesting hobbies and lead an active creative and social life. For the project participants, hockey opened up new opportunities, allowed them to believe in themselves, a worthy future, and made life truly rich and vibrant.

The purpose of the photo project “Nothing Special” is to visually and through the personal stories of the wards of the Adaptive Hockey Federation tell about the problems of developing an inclusive society and draw attention to the integration of people with disabilities in different areas of life.

The photo exhibition "Nothing special" is an exposition of 24 photographs. We hope that this project will be another step that will contribute to overcoming the prevailing stereotypes about the life of people with disabilities.

Vladislav Tretyak, three-time Olympic champion, president of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation:

“Dividing people along some lines feeds only fears of being different from others. While inclusion nourishes the spirit of acceptance in people. I am glad that such important processes in society are made possible thanks to hockey, a strong game that unites people of different ages and abilities. Sport helps to realize your potential for growth. And such photo projects can make everyone a little kinder and more attentive to look around and see interesting, enthusiastic people, and not their diagnoses.”

Mark Nazarov, photographer, member of the Union of Photo Artists and Designers of Russia:

“This is an invaluable experience. While working on the project, I noticed an interesting thing, during the filming I never heard the word “I”, but I constantly heard - “we”, “we”, “we”. This is a very strong word that characterizes all project participants. “We” is not one quantity that can change at any moment, it is something unified and fundamental, it is a set of parts that complement each other. I saw very friendly and close-knit families - and this is one of the important points of this project.”

reference

Charitable Foundation of Elena and Gennady Timchenko

One of the largest family foundations in the country. For more than 10 years he has been working in the Russian regions, supporting social and cultural projects in small towns and villages, developing a system for preventing social orphanhood and caring for the older generation, increasing the accessibility of sports for children. In 2021, the Timchenko Foundation launched the Solidarity Communities pilot project, the goal of which is to help bring people together to develop their territories and solve socially significant problems. In 2019 and 2020, the Timchenko Foundation was the leader in the Forbes rating of the best charitable foundations in Russia, in 2021 it took second place, and the founders of the Foundation received the Patron of the Year award for large-scale regional projects.

Timchenko Foundation: “With people. About people. For people".

Adaptive Hockey Federation

A non-profit organization whose main activity is aimed at creating conditions for the development of adaptive types of hockey in Russia among children and adolescents with disabilities. The Federation trains 47 teams in 29 regions of Russia, including 5 hockey teams for the blind and 7 special hockey teams. The Federation regularly holds all-Russian training camps, an international inclusive hockey camp. A youth sledge hockey team has been created, which successfully performs at international competitions. To popularize adaptive hockey and launch new teams in the regions, the Adaptive Hockey Federation conducts training for coaches and team coordinators, internships and an all-Russian conference. In partnership with Russian manufacturers, equipment for adaptive hockey is being developed.