Street photo exhibition “Tverskaya Street and the surrounding area”
VOS’HOD х Lumiere Gallery
The VOS’HOD development company, which is leading the revitalization of the Central Telegraph building, in collaboration with the Lumiere Gallery, has initiated an exhibition project called “Tverskaya Street and the Surrounding area“, dedicated to the evolution of the architectural landscape of the main street in Moscow – Tverskaya, and its adjacent alleys.
The Central Telegraph building in Moscow, which is an iconic landmark, is still a year and a half away from completion, but it has already become a real art space. For the exhibition, the site was a construction fence that enclosed the building along its perimeter, which has now become the walls of an open-air exhibition hall in the heart of Moscow. Now, as citizens and visitors to the capital pass by the Central Telegraph along Tverskaya Street, they will be able to learn interesting facts from the history of the city and see its past captured by Soviet photography masters.
The exhibition features 30 works from the archives of renowned photojournalists from the late 1920s to the 1970s, including Arkady Shaikhet, Naum Granovsky, Alexander Ustinov, Emmanuil Evzerikhin, and Erwin Volkov. These recognized masterpieces and lesser known images by these Soviet photography classics help to create a vivid image of Moscow’s main street during the dynamic changes of the 20th century. Among the works on display is the “Construction of the Globe at the Moscow Telegraph” (1928), rare footage of Tverskaya Street from 1932, even before its reconstruction, and numerous sketches from various periods of the city’s life, capturing the mood of bygone eras.
“It is safe to say that a new trend is emerging in Moscow at the intersection of art and urban design. The decoration of fences around construction sites and restoration projects is a timely and relevant way to engage the public in the process of city transformation. This practice is gaining popularity, and in addition to its aesthetic appeal, it also serves an educational function by immersing citizens in the city’s history and fostering respect for its rich cultural heritage, – says Marina Rudneva, Managing Partner of the VOS’HOD Development Company. – Our joint exhibition project with Lumiere Galleries celebrates the city, its residents, and guests, as well as the Central Telegraph building, which will soon mark its 100th anniversary. Adhering to the principles of human-oriented development in our work, we first considered how people who pass by a monumental historical building, now wrapped in scaffolding, would perceive the changes happening to it. We had the idea of turning an ordinary construction fence into an artistic statement – a photo exhibition – complemented by historical information about the area and the Telegraph building, which is an iconic landmark for the city.”