The Centre for Studies in Russian Art (CSAR) - officially inaugurated on March 6, 2011 - is one of the research centres of the Department of Philosophy and Cultural Heritage of the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice.
Upcoming events CSAR 2024/2025
New Museum Installation in Nukus
For a few days now, Uzbekistan has had the most important museum dedicated to 20th-century art in all of Central Asia. This is the State Museum of Arts of Karakalpakstan, named after I.V. Savitsky, where the entire exhibition route has been reorganized. The quality of the works on display, the visual impact created by their arrangement, the extensive educational materials, and the updated use of modern multimedia technologies have set an advanced standard that cannot be compared to previous exhibitions.
The new display coincides with the reworking of the exhibition project "Uzbekistan: Avant-Garde in the Desert" and merges the two exhibitions held in Italy in the spring, at Palazzo Pitti in Florence and Ca' Foscari Esposizioni, which received extraordinary public and critical acclaim. As with these two exhibitions, the Nukus project has been directed and curated by Professor Silvia Burini and Professor Giuseppe Barbieri, directors of the Center for Studies in Russian Art (CSAR), in collaboration with Zelfira Tregulova, former director of the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, and Dr. Maria Redaelli, researcher in the CHANGES Project - Cultural Heritage Active Innovation for Sustainable Society. Architect Massimiliano Bigarello designed and coordinated the renovation of the space. The initiative was promoted and supported by the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation.
The new and important exhibition, which opened on Friday, October 4, brings together the works already displayed in the two Italian stages, while also enriching the collection with additional works, including some exceptional unpublished pieces. It thus offers an expanded and more complete view of the Eastern European Avant-Garde, which represents one of the most significant and fascinating chapters in the international art history of the first half of the 20th century. For the first time in Nukus, the works from the Savitsky collection are put in dialogue with those from the other major collection of Russian Avant-Garde in Uzbekistan, housed in the State Museum of Arts of Tashkent.
This synergy not only opens a new perspective for viewing the works but also marks an important step towards the internationalization of the Nukus Museum, which welcomes thousands of visitors from all over the world every year. Descriptive panels in four languages and multimedia installations, including an interactive one, guide the visitor through the discovery of the artists of the Eastern European Avant-Garde, allowing them to perceive and explore the themes that underpin the entire project in real time.
CYFEST 16 has opened in Yerevan, Armenia
The theme of this year’s edition is Archive of Feelings. A Journey, and it is an expansive exploration of the relationships between the intimate realm of emotions and memories and technological advancements. How do new technologies shape, mediate, and "archive" emotions? How does technology influence our emotional experience and the way it is expressed and remembered? Can we work with technologies within broader artistic, social, and cultural contexts? And how can contemporary art and culture contribute to a more diverse future and environments that are neither technocratically dominated nor reductionist? Through the contributions of internationally renowned artists, curators, and theorists, CYFEST 16 will address these questions from various perspectives, transforming them into installations, multimedia objects, performances, videos, concerts, educational events, and a new, engaging experience for visitors.
You can find the full program on the festival’s website.
November 13—December 1, 2024
Arts in Exile: A Cartography of Russian Diaspora
We are pleased to announce that the project "Arts in Exile: A Cartography of Russian Diaspora", proposed by Professor Silvia Burini, has been selected as one of the winners of the SPIN 2024 call. The call, open to faculty members at Ca' Foscari University, awarded research proposals that meet high international excellence standards while fostering innovation within specific scientific fields.
The project focuses on the cultural emigration of Russian artists and intellectuals who, in opposition to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, chose to leave their country. This migration has given rise to an alternative, transnational space of resistance. Mapping and understanding this cultural phenomenon, with its spaces, narratives, and exchanges, provides an opportunity to examine deeply the concepts of national identity and collective memory.