On April 29, 2022, the grand opening of the exhibition “To Peter the Great”, dedicated to the 350th anniversary of the Russian Emperor, took place in the Voronezh Exhibition Hall at 8, Kirov Street.

The organizers of the exhibition were the Department of Culture of the Voronezh Region, the Voronezh Art College and the Voronezh Regional Art Museum. I.N. Kramskoy.

The exposition presents more than 60 works of painting, graphics and sculpture – diploma works of graduates of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts named after Ilya Repin and the Moscow State Academic Art Institute named after V.I. Surikov.

The opening ceremony was attended by: Head of the Department of Culture of the Voronezh Region Maria Mazur, Head of the Department of Culture of the Administration of the City District of Voronezh Andrey Kharitonov Vice-President of the Russian Academy of Arts, Rector of the Moscow State Academic Art Institute named after V.I. Surikova Anatoly Lyubavin, Academician of the Russian Academy of Arts, Director of the Voronezh Art College Sergey Gulevsky, Honorary Member of the Russian Academy of Arts, Honored Artist of the Voronezh Region Olga Dmitrienko, Honored Artist of the Voronezh Region Andrey Losev and Dean of the Faculty of Painting of the Voronezh State Institute of Arts Evgeny Kostryukov.

In her welcoming speech to the audience, Maria Mazur congratulated everyone on the exhibition, thanked the Voronezh Art College and the Voronezh Regional Art Museum. I.N. Kramskoy for preparing the exhibitions “To Peter the Great” and “Vivat, Russia!”, which opened a week earlier at the Kramskoy Museum. The Head of the Department of Culture noted the uniqueness of the exposition, which was made up of diploma works by students of the two largest art universities in the country, and also listed the events that still await Voronezh residents in the year of the anniversary of Peter the Great.

Anatoly Lyubavin, who specially came to the opening, emphasized that St. Petersburg, Moscow and Voronezh are connected by an invisible family connection, as well as living people who remember and love their institutions, and, of course, the personality of Peter the Great himself. Anatoly Aleksandrovich thanked the city of Voronezh and all the spectators on behalf of the Russian Academy of Arts and wished everyone good health and creative success.

Andrey Kharitonov in his speech said that it was a great honor to host such a highly professional art exhibition in Voronezh. He thanked all the organizers of the exhibition and expressed confidence that acquaintance with these works would benefit both professional artists and students who live, work and study in our city.

Sergei Gulevsky noted that cooperation with the Russian Academy of Arts has been going on for more than 15 years. And the fact that the exhibition of the two largest art educational institutions of the country became possible shows the degree of trust in our city.

Olga Dmitrienko, a graduate of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts named after Ilya Repin, noted that the uniqueness of the exhibition, which brings together the work of students from the capital’s educational institutions in the very theme – Peter the Great.

“It is nice that such an event is taking place on our Voronezh land. Here, each artist felt this theme in his own way. All works are different, everything is beautiful and understandable, we see two completely different schools – Moscow and St. Petersburg, which together are a single entity and represent our Russian art,” said Olga Vasilievna.

Evgeny Kostryukov noted that the greatness and significance of Peter is reflected through images, through aesthetic perception, through the talent of artists, and, of course, through fundamental education.

Andrey Losev, who is a graduate of the Moscow State Academic Art Institute. IN AND. Surikov, expressed his gratitude to the ideological organizer of the exhibition, Sergei Gulevsky, as well as the rector of the Surikov Institute, Anatoly Lyubavin, for participating in the opening of the exhibition.

He also stressed that: “Today both capitals were our guests, and this is very important for the younger generation, which today has the opportunity to see everything with their own eyes, and in a combination of two institutions.”

The exhibition will run until May 19, 2022.