A photography museum will open in Vitebsk

A museum of photography will open in Vitebsk on June 23 during the Sigizmund Yurkovsky International PhotoKrok Festival, announced the forum's art director Vasily Prudnikov.

The museum will also be named after the famous 19th-century photographer. It will be located in the center of the historical part of the city at 7 Tolstoy Street. Here, visitors will be able to view an exhibition, observe the magic happening in the "darkroom," enjoy a cup of aromatic coffee, and have their picture taken in a vintage studio, receiving a photograph in the style of 19th-century Vitebsk photo studios. Its exhibition concept will be "From Camera Obscura to Digital Pixels." "The Sigizmund Yurkovsky Museum of Photography will be a logical and worthy continuation of the city's museum development concept to immortalize the names of famous citizens who have brought glory to Vitebsk worldwide," said Vasily Prudnikov.

According to him, it will be not just a repository of photo art objects and a research center, but also a new space for urban life. Anyone who donates an old camera, print, or photo album will become an honorary donor of the museum and will receive a commemorative certificate. The PhotoKrok Festival will be held from June 20 to 24.

More than 100 participants from Belarus, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Israel, and the USA are expected to attend. This year, Sigizmund Yurkovsky would have turned 185, and his great invention, the focal-plane shutter, would have turned 135. "We invited photographers to become participants of the festival competition 'Origins' and send in pictures embodying the concept of 'My Small Homeland'."

The exhibition program is also dedicated to the theme of the small homeland. In particular, there will be an exhibition of photographs by Leonid Tugalev from Riga. His parents were born in Vitebsk, and this will be only the second time he visits their small homeland in his over 70 years of life," noted the festival's art director. An exhibition of works by photographer Oleg Klimov from Kaliningrad is also planned. Another Russian photojournalist, Vladimir Vyatkin, will present his works in Vitebsk for the first time ever to viewers, works that the master has been preparing throughout his life.

"The festival's highlight will be an original exhibition of a single photograph, "The City Runner" by El Lissitzky (1926), from the collection of the cultural project "RUSSPRESSPHOTO" – the editorial archive of the "Sovetskoe Foto" magazine.

It is symbolic that the exhibition will be held directly in the building of the Vitebsk Museum of Folk Art, where Lissitzky worked in 1919-1921 at the invitation of Marc Chagall. Another gem of the program will be the exhibition "Medalye Family Photograph. 19th Century, Vitebsk." It is dedicated to the family of Shmaryahu-Leib Medalye (1872–1938) – the spiritual rabbi of Vitebsk, and the chief rabbi of Moscow and the Soviet Union. The uniqueness of this collection lies in the fact that it features photographs of family members taken by all the first photographers of Vitebsk in the late 19th century, including Sigismund Yurkovsky," explained Vasily Prudnikov.

The festival program also includes a number of other exhibitions, master classes, lectures, creative meetings, competitions, and various activities. Photographers will have the opportunity to photograph the city from the observation deck of the town hall. Novice colleagues will be able to present their work to experts and receive an assessment. Based on the results of the competition-festival, the exhibition "PhotoKrok around Vitebsk" will traditionally be assembled – the result of the festival participants' shooting of the city, its residents, and guests. As Vasily Prudnikov noted, the main task of the festival is to show the audience a high level of photographic culture through exhibitions of both classics of photography and the best works of contemporary amateur photographers on a competitive basis. "PhotoKrok" traditionally gathers participants and guests during the City Day celebrations. This is the third forum of photographers. The first was held in 2016.

The Vitebsk Local Photography Fund "PhotoKrok" acted as the festival organizer. Support was provided by the parliamentary corps of the House of Representatives, the Department of Culture of the Vitebsk City Executive Committee, public and cultural organizations, educational and cultural institutions, and a number of commercial companies. 

BELTA.