Photo exhibition "Faces of the Old Believers" opened at AltSU

The photo exhibition, first presented in Barnaul on a full scale, displays 67 works of famous Russian and amateur photographers: Muscovites Oleg Kaplin, Alexei Lopatin, Alexander Pashchenko, Alexander Gorbatenko, Mikhail Balakin from Klintsy, Sergei Usik from the Altai Republic, Alexander Moskvitin from Irkutsk, Barnaul photographers Alexander Kholmogorov, Victor Baumtrog, Konstantin and Alexey Dumnovs. These are portraits, landscapes, genre sketches, ritual sacraments and events from the life of the Old Believer Church.

“We are glad that the exhibition, already well-known in many parts of our country, where unique photographs are presented, very accurately and at the same time in a special way reflecting the world of Old Believers, is presented in our gallery. It is no coincidence that it is called "The Faces of the Old Believers", since these works really create a unique atmosphere that, in my opinion, helps to look into the most secret depths of the soul of a believer. These portraits, as if, the faces on the icons, remind us of what is valuable and important for a person, regardless of the times in which we live," shared her impressions at the opening of the exhibition Director of the Institute of Art and Design of Altai State University, Doctor of Arts, Professor Larisa Nekhvyadovich.

As a gift to the organizers of the photo exhibition, Larisa Nekhvyadovich donated scientific works, including the last collection of poetry of the founder of art education in Altai and the first dean of the Faculty of Arts of AltSU Tamara Stepanskaya. Head of the project "Faces of the Old Believers", photo artist, poet, entrepreneur and philanthropist Alexander Kholmogorov thanked the university for providing support to the action and noted that it is very important for them to present a photo exhibition on the platform  of a classical university, as a focus of moral and cultural values of society, instilled within the framework of natural sciences and humanities.

“The Faces of the Old Believers has been the third exhibition in the Universum gallery this academic year, which presents the works of the best and novice photographers of our country,” said Irina Chernyaeva, Head of the Department of Art, Costume and Textile History at Altai State University. “The culture of the Old Believers is multifaceted, so at this exhibition you can see not only photo images and photographs, but also Old Believer costumes, and authentically reproduced reconstruction of old ritual clothes. As part of this exhibition project, it is also planned to hold an open lecture on the costume of the Old Believers."

We want to add that the project "Faces of the Old Believers" was implemented by the Culture and Craft Foundation for Cultural Cooperation with a grant provided by the Russian Cultural Foundation within the framework of the “Creative People” federal project of the “Culture” national project.