Vibrant Russia was shown in Berlin

12 October 2017

The Presidential Library offers foreign countries new ways of mutual cultural cooperation with Russia. This was announced at the “Photo View on Russia: From the origins to our days” round table, which recently connected St. Petersburg and Berlin. The event was held in the video bridge mode as part of official opening of the Exhibition of the first color photographs of the Russian Empire at the Russian House of Science and Culture in Berlin.

As it was mentioned, the joint events of St. Petersburg and Berlin shortly before of the Frankfurt Book Fair became traditional for the Presidential Library.

40 exposed in the Russian House of Science and Culture in Berlin works by the founder of color photography Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorsky is only a small part of his work. More than 2,000 digitized images are currently in the collection of the Presidential Library and available for viewing online from anywhere in the world.

The photographs were taken over a century ago, dating from the beginning of the XX century. They depict the unique natural landscapes, architectural and cultural monuments, and scenes of everyday life and work of different strata of the population of the Russian Empire.

Interest in the collection of works of the pioneer of color photography in Russia has not faded until now. During the past few years, the Presidential Library was repeatedly opening expositions with focus on that theme. However, in Berlin such a complex exhibition is held for the first time. Owing to these rare pictures, guests and residents of the capital of Germany will be able to familiarize themselves with Russia, to appreciate its beauty. Experts from the scientific community, prominent cultural and art figures, and the media representatives attended an official opening ceremony.

The exhibition at the Russian House of Science and Culture in Berlin will remain open until October 15, 2017, inclusively. In addition, on October 12, 2017, in Frankfurt am Main, the Presidential Library will present the project “Vast spaces of Russia in color photography by Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky” to participants and guests of the Annual Frankfurt Book Fair. In November this year, the exposition will be opened in Dresden, at the German-Russian Institute of Culture.

In 2018, the Presidential Library plans to digitize and present abroad the creative heritage of photographers of the dynasty of Bulla — Karl, Victor and Alexander. As you may know, Karl Bulla is the founder of the Russian photo reportage, he became famous for thousands of photographs, which captured both members of the royal family, and the everyday life of a “womb” of the capital city of Petersburg/Petrograd.