African art flourishes—in Russia. As the Kremlin has moved to strengthen its trade and diplomatic ties with African countries, rekindling a Soviet soft power campaign on the continent, Russian museums and galleries are also spinning. The flurry of exhibitions partly fills a void as cultural venues have been frozen out of exchanges with their European counterparts since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russian-US museum collaborations have been suspended since 2010 due to a dispute over the Schneerson Library of Jewish Texts.
The trend reflects the boom in African art in recent years in Europe and the US, but is also in line with the Kremlin’s evolving foreign policy. Reverse safari, Russia’s first major exhibition of African art, was held last summer at the Manege Central Exhibition Hall in St. Petersburg, featuring more than 300 works by 49 African and 14 Russian artists. The State Russian Museum, which has been run since April by a Putin loyalist, Alla Manilova, held a parallel exhibition, Africa in Russian art. Both performances were linked to Putin’s second Russia-Africa summit held in the city in July. The declaration of the first summit in 2019 included a commitment to facilitate cooperation in culture, education and tourism, among other areas.
Meanwhile, the international network of “Russkii dom” cultural centers is expanding rapidly in Africa, most recently in Burkina Faso and Chad. The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War reported last month concerns raised by Ukrainian officials that the centers, which promote the study of Russian and cultural exchange programs, are being used to “promote Russian propaganda and conduct “subversive project”. ‘ abroad’. Although often billed as NGOs, they come under the auspices of Rossotrudnichestvo, an agency run by Russia’s foreign ministry that is currently under EU sanctions for “spreading Kremlin narratives” through “agents of influence ».
Reverse safari, a pan-African exhibition featuring artists from nearly 20 countries, has been described as “anti-colonial in its essence”. It moved in October to the State Museum of Fine Arts in Kazan, the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan, where it will run until February 4.
Some artists, such as Mederic Turay from the Ivory Coast, posted on social media about their participation in the St. Petersburg show. Others, including Ghanaian sculptor El Anatsui, said they had no idea their works were included, according to US-funded broadcaster Radio Liberty. Nnenna Okore, an Australian-born Nigerian artist based in Chicago, confirmed The Art newspaper that he had not been informed.
The exhibition is co-curated by Alessandro Romanini, an Italian specialist in African art, and Yulia Aksenova, formerly of the State Tretyakov Gallery and the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art. Triumph, a commercial gallery in Moscow with ties to Russia’s elite, is also listed as an organizer. Lis10 Gallery in Paris and Arezzo, Italy, which represents many of the artists, promoted the exhibition on its website and social media.
Concerns about artists’ lack of consent
In an interview with Radio Liberty, the Ukrainian-born art historian (and collaborator The Art newspaper) Konstantin Akinsha raised concerns about the lack of consent from many of the artists involved because their works come from private lenders and Lis10. He described the report as a “stunningly successful propaganda effort” that offers “politically correct decorations for Russian intentions in Africa”.
Contact from The Art newspaperTurai says he was motivated to participate Reverse safari of the similarities between Africa and Russia and the potential for further cross-cultural collaborations between African and Russian artists. While he acknowledges that the show could be used for political purposes, he says, “It’s not my responsibility as an artist to judge each side, but to have a higher positive statement.”
Ivorian artist Mederic Turay has work in the exhibition Reverse safari
Courtesy of the artist
Triumph Gallery co-founder Emelyan Zakharov told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti that Italian collectors willingly lent works to the exhibition and that “cultural dialogue continues despite political difficulties.”
Reverse safari it also includes pieces from a collection of traditional African art assembled by the Romanian-born Brazilian photographer Eddy Novarro, who was a friend of Pablo Picasso and other modern masters. In 2003, Novarro’s Russian widow, Tatiana, transferred the collection to the estate of Vasily Polenov, a respected Russian landscape painter.
Natalia Polenova, Polenov’s great-granddaughter and director of the museum and his former country house in the Tula region, says The Art newspaper that the “resurgence of interest in Africa” was a boon to the Novarro collection. Eighty-six pieces were recently exhibited at the Yaroslavl Art Museum, and African sculptures and masks from the collection are on display at the Polenov Museum until April 14.
Late last year, a gallery inside the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Moscow exhibited about 200 works from another collection of African art with roots in the 20th century. Most of the works owned by Marina Schmidt date from 1950-80 and were bought by Soviet specialists working in African countries at the time, according to a press statement.
A collection of Soviet-era Congolese art was the subject of a recent exhibition at Moscow’s State Museum of Oriental Art, focusing on the Poto-Poto school of painting. Over the summer, the museum’s director, Alexander Sedov, also announced plans to open a space dedicated to African culture in a former Moscow contemporary art center that had been closed for political reasons.
Russia’s official Tass news agency says the new museum will promote “strategic cooperation” between Russia and the African continent, looking back at the role of the USSR and positioning Russia today as its “successor in supporting the struggle of African peoples for independence ». .