Exhibition "Lighthouses of the Russian North" from February 26 - March 29, 2015 (St. Petersburg. Icebreaker Krasin)

(autotranslated, could have mistakes)

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On February 26, the exhibition “Lighthouses of the Russian North” will open on board the icebreaker Krasin.

The exhibition will feature modern photographs of 25 Russian lighthouses located on the White, Barents, Baltic Seas and Ladoga - unique material created by photographer Yuri Matseevsky as part of many sketch trips and expeditions of the club in the period 2011-2014. All photographs are based on wide-format and narrow slides.

Visitors will be able to see miniature models of lighthouses made of wood by artist Andrey Savrasov.

The postal section will feature historical postcards and postal items of the 19th-20th centuries, including the rare “Our North” postcards, as well as modern lighthouse mail - postcards, cardmaximums and accompanying stamps created by the club’s artists. We will exhibit original watercolors and print cliches by Anna Mikhailova.

The multimedia section will feature a film about the creation of the exhibition and many reportage photographs.

A catalog album is being prepared for publication, which can be purchased at the box office of the Icebreaker "Krasin" and via the Internet.

The exhibition will be open daily from Wednesday to Sunday from 11:00 to 18:00.

Monday and Tuesday are days off.

Admission to the exhibition is free.

If you want to visit the museum itself, then the cost and rules of entry to the museum can be found on the Icebreaker Krasin website

Venue: St. Petersburg, Lieutenant Schmidt Embankment 23

The authors' vernissage will be held on the opening day, February 26 at 16:00

About the exhibition

1. A word about the lighthouses of Russia and the exhibition “Lighthouses of the Russian North”

The very word “lighthouse” has its roots in distant centuries, when only natural landmarks served for navigation - noticeable rocks extending deep into the sea, capes and hills. In the families of sailors, handwritten sailing directions were passed down from generation to generation, indicating places dangerous for navigation and passage routes. Over time, the first man-made signs began to appear on the shores and islands - wooden crosses and other chopped structures, and wood fires were set up in relatively accessible areas. The modern concept of lighthouses originated in Russia from the era of Peter the Great, with the founding of St. Petersburg the light was lit on the lighthouse of the Peter and Paul Fortress, and with the development of the fleet and the development of new trade routes, the active construction of lighthouses on the White and Baltic seas began, the Admiralty was founded, and two years later the Tolbukhin lighthouse was built. In 1807, by decree of Alexander I, the Lighthouse Service was created; another quarter of a century passed and lighthouses reached the coast of Kamchatka, illuminating the last dark waters of the Russian Empire. During the bloody wars of the 20th century, the lighthouses suffered significant damage, they were shelled from all elements, and many of them became ruins. A third of the lighthouse buildings required complete

recovery. In the post-war period, the country carried out large-scale work to reconstruct the damaged buildings and construct new towers, improve lighting equipment; radioisotope installations (RITEKs) were installed on a significant number of illuminated signs, ensuring long-term autonomous operation of lights without human intervention.

By the time of the collapse of the USSR, the working resource of most of these energy sources was exhausted, but the new Russian state did not find the opportunity to maintain them and dispose of them in a timely manner. Hundreds of signs equipped with RITEK have become dangerous to the environment. In pursuit of non-ferrous metals, such objects were subjected to deformation and were plundered by the population, which repeatedly led to radioactive contamination of the area (note Khanhipaasi lighthouse, Ladoga).

The Russian-Norwegian program of the 2000s to reconstruct the lighthouses of the White and Barents Seas and transition to safe energy sources certainly had a positive impact on the environment, but the lighthouses, which were in a deplorable state, were, in most cases, restored without taking into account their architectural features, as a rule, they were sheathed in iron. Just a few years later, the short duration of the cosmetic effect of this repair became obvious.

Today, raising the issue of the future of monuments of the maritime history of our Motherland is especially relevant. As a result of the development of communication and navigation technologies, the maintenance of lighthouses in their current form has become impractical for the state; over the past decade, many previously maintained lighthouses have been closed. Left unattended and unguarded, lighthouse towns suffer from vandalism, theft, arson, and even the dismantling of buildings for firewood. Those lighthouses that are located at a slight distance from human settlements suffer especially great damage (note: the Rombak lighthouse was burned a year after its closure).

The exhibition “Lighthouses of the Russian North” is a feasible step for the Adventure and Arts Club “Nature of Russia” towards preserving the lighthouses of our native country. We strive to attract public attention to the problems of the issue and show the bright, modern face of the luminaries of the Russian seas - monuments of historical and cultural heritage. The lighthouses of Russia have enormous museum potential and arouse tourist interest both within the country and around the world. The architecture of our lighthouses is unique; they are located in completely different climatic conditions and belong to many architectural schools, from pre-revolutionary to Japanese. Their history is just as rich, because lighthouses are witnesses to the destinies of generations, countless human joys and dramas, salvations and losses. Their light flickered on Arctic convoys and merchant frigates leaving on long voyages, and the ringing of foggy bells echoed through the thick northern mire. The feat of the garrison of Suho Island - the soldiers who, at the cost of their lives, defended Leningrad from starvation - is inscribed in eternity; the courage of young Maria Bagretsova, a 12-year-old girl who constantly kept watch at the end of the world during the First World War; doomed to death wintering quarters of the first caretakers of Zhuzhmuy (by the way, on the island of Bolshoy Zhuzhmuy n

This is the only surviving lighthouse cemetery).

Despite the particularly complex (or completely absent transport infrastructure) in comparison with many maritime countries, in Russia there is the possibility of organizing cultural tourism and museumification of a number of architecturally interesting lighthouses, which will certainly lead to increased interest among younger generations in the great maritime history of Russia, will give impetus to the development of currently unclaimed tourist destinations and will have a positive impact on the image of Russia as an open and modern country. Ultimately, lighthouses are an integral part of the history of the development of Russian seas, and their loss is comparable to the disappearance of an important chapter from our past.

We present to your attention the classic light painting by Yuri Matseevsky, airy watercolors and postal graphics by Anna Mikhailova, miniature models of lighthouses performed by Andrey Savrasov and modern lighthouse mail created by the club’s artists for existing lighthouses and memorable events.

The exhibition is based on materials that were the results of a number of cycling routes along the coast and islands of the White and Barents Seas (along the Middle and Rybachy peninsulas - 2011, around Lake Ladoga - 2012, across the Tersky Coast - 2012, along the Solovetsky Islands - 2013), radio expeditions (to Sukho Island - 2012, Svirsky Lighthouse - 2013, Zhuzmuy Islands - 2013), sailing expedition along the throat of the White Sea - 2014, sketch works (lighthouses Heinyaluotto and Osinovetsky - 2014, Rombak Island - 2013, Tolbukhin 2012-14).

Photographing and drawing at the lighthouses of Russia is a real adventure, filled with the romance of the place, the dangers of the path and the incredible inspiration of contact with living history.

2. A word about the Club.

The creative association Club of Adventures and Arts “Nature of Russia” was founded in 2008 by photographer Yuri Matseevsky and artist Denis Krestovnikov. The main focus of the Club’s activities was, as its name directly suggests, the nature of our country, its artistic identification and popularization in society. Over the past seven years, the community has conducted more than two dozen active travels, field studies, and radio expeditions. Initially, the small team of the club was replenished with bright and talented people every year. At different times, Anna Mikhailova, Alexey Doronkin, Vasily Pridatko-Dolin, Victoria Yanis and others joined the club. Our course and desire to study and show Russia as a beautiful, incredibly diverse country has remained unchanged.

We pay special attention to the nature of the Russian north, especially the Republic of Karelia and the Kola Peninsula with their dense forests, hilltops covered with tundra vegetation, fast-moving rivers and pigweed swamps. The first exhibition project of the club “Unknown Legend” was dedicated specifically to Karelian nature - the Vottovaara granite ridge. The exhibition premiered in St. Petersburg in April 2013, and was subsequently shown at six Russian museums, including the State Museum of Vyborg Castle and the National Museum of Karelia. The exhibition was visited by more than 14,000 people. In 2014, we successfully opened the second exhibition "Seydyavr. Spirits Inside", dedicated to the nature and secrets of Seydozerye.

In 2012, the Club conducted an unprecedented cycling trip across the Kola Peninsula and Subpolar Karelia: along the Terek coast from the vicinity of the mouth of the Ponoy River to the Kandalaksha Bay and further through the forest expanses of the Louhi region, through the territory of the Paanajärvi National Park, through Kuma and the former Finnish lands. In the same year, “Nature of Russia” made the first ascent of the Bzyb ridge (Caucasus Mountains), traversing the Chedym Mountains from the Dow saddle to the source of the Bzyb, and further along the Atsgara valley to the Kodori Gorge. Both routes corresponded to V class, and became standards in sports tourism.

The expedition to the Jusmuy Islands in 2013 and the subsequent expedition in 2014 on a sailing yacht to the hard-to-reach lighthouses of the White Sea significantly supplemented the existing artistic material dedicated to the lighthouses of the Russian north, and today we are pleased to present you this exhibition.

The club has always shown interest in Russian lighthouses as striking architectural monuments, witnesses of maritime history and places where dreams meet the reality of foggy islands and the most distant and uninhabited corners of the coasts. The lighthouse is perhaps the most organically built object created by human hands into the landscape. Today in Russia, lighthouses are dying, undergoing depressing “restoration”, are transferred to automatic maintenance, and sometimes their light goes out forever - the lighthouses are closed, the families of employees

are being reduced. Unfortunately, our country does not yet have practical experience, which has become the norm in Europe and America, in creating museums and hotels based on lighthouses, which would allow them to be preserved and organize civilized tourism, giving new life to these full-fledged participants in the development of the Russian seas. We hope that this exhibition and our activities in general will serve to benefit the preservation of Russian lighthouses.

A word about postal traditions.

At a time when communication technologies did not yet make it possible to easily access the global network from anywhere on Earth where there was a satellite signal or even make a call on an old wired telephone, the most reliable and fastest way to communicate information was postal service.   Within a few days or weeks, the postal card was delivered to the addressee. The doorbell rings, a postman with a blue bag on his shoulder: “There’s a registered letter for you, sign it!” It was one thing when a message was sent from a big city, but mail also existed in the farthest corners of our country - at Arctic polar bases, hard-to-reach hydrometeorological stations, and of course at lighthouses. The postman was only the last link in a long chain of sorting and forwarding on the way to the addressee - helicopter lines, opportunities with ships, even dog sleds delivered mail bags to the nearest points of stable communication. And throughout this long journey, the lighthouse/polar mail was accompanied by marks - special/calendar and accompanying stamps, overprints, official seals - witnesses of the long journey.

Often, at the place of departure of correspondence (at a lighthouse or a polar station) there was only a calendar stamp, and it happened that there were no postal stamps created by the responsible organization at all, and a mark indicating that the letter had passed through the postal route was placed only when it arrived at a large sorting center (for example, a card sent from the lighthouse of the island of Bolshoy Zhuzhmuy could only be redeemed in Belomorsk, and the letter from Franz Josef Land remained anonymous until Arkhangelsk), so lighthouse employees/participants of polar expeditions independently cut out accompanying seals using auxiliary materials, such as linoleum or wood, for the design and personalization of postal items. This made it possible to give the envelope informational integrity and mark its origin. This phenomenon has high cultural significance and recognition in the field of collecting polar and lighthouse mail. Due to the significant size of our country, the postal department did not attach much importance to the coverage of the lighthouse service; during the entire Soviet and Russian periods, only 2 series of stamps dedicated to lighthouses, several artistically marked envelopes and other

ecial cancellations, therefore the creative design of this correspondence is the foundation of the existence of the very history of Russian lighthouse mail.

After the lighthouse service fell into decline, amid the development of new means of navigation, many lighthouses were switched to automatic operation or closed altogether, and employees were laid off. Almost all of the accompanying seals that were on lighthouses during the Soviet period have disappeared, and the very idea of ​​sending “live” mail from lighthouses to the mainland is practically a thing of the past. Probably everyone over 30 years old can compare the number of letters and greeting cards in their mailbox 20 years ago and today. But mail continues to exist as a rare forced type of communication, as a cultural element, as a tribute to tradition. “Living” postal correspondence is supported by the tradition of issuing commemorative (artistic) postage stamps and things that have an economic justification, philately, such trends in art as mail art, and in various modern hobbies such as postcrossing mail exchange and the like.

As part of the Club’s project to study and preserve in art the image of the Russian lighthouse service, we continue the traditions of lighthouse mail and create accompanying postmarks for existing lighthouses in Russia, which we deliver directly to the lighthouses, hand them over to the keepers, thereby creating and maintaining modern Russian lighthouse mail. This project is truly alive, because... The seals are located on the lighthouses and the lighthouse staff, like their guests, can always complete correspondence using these seals. We also provide postcards with reproductions of views of a particular lighthouse from our author’s illustrations and photographs to the lighthouses. Postal items that have passed mail from lighthouses/have passed addressless cancellation are presented in the exhibition, and you can also see commemorative sheets of the first day of putting stamps in place.

A word about the expedition to the lighthouse of the throat of the White Sea.

In July - August 2014, as part of the Club's program for the study of Russian lighthouses, we carried out an expedition on a sailing yacht to the hard-to-reach lighthouses of the throat of the White Sea. The lighthouses of the islands Veshnyak and Sosnovets, the Tersko-Orlovsky Cape, the lighthouses of the Zimny ​​Coast - Abramovsky, Intsy and the Zimnegorsky Cape were filmed and sketched. The original plans for the route included a visit to the island of Morzhovets, as well as the lighthouses of the Kanina Peninsula. Unfortunately, due to the peculiarities of walking along the White Sea Throat and a strong storm that caught us near the mouth of the Ponoy, the route was covered in a shortened form.

Walking along the throat of the White Sea is full of dangers; here is a description of the famous traveler V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko:

"A nasty thing, that's what. This lousy White Sea throat often gets away with us such tricks. I need to tell you that we are now entering the kingdom of fogs, wrecks and all sorts of abominations that a ship can encounter at sea, between the two poles. Indeed, the White Sea throat (that is the name of the wide strait of this sea between the Kola Peninsula and the Winter Coast) presents numerous This is worse than the Irish Sea. Here, as early as 1868, up to 86 Pomeranian and foreign ships were wrecked <…> In the spring, the White Sea throat serves as a large road for ice masses, breaking through these defiles with uncontrollable force into the Arctic Ocean. one sliver of ice. The stamukhs (ice islands floating on the sea) will crush it into dust. In May, sometimes even at the beginning of June, colossal ice floes, shrouded in fog, streaked with green cracks, are still moving here, the collision with which no ship would be able to withstand was blocked by these mighty masses <…> The ice will pass, a large one will clear. the road from the White Sea to the ocean, and

from the ocean to the White Sea - a new disaster! Impenetrable fogs begin, lasting for three, four days, even weeks, until strong gusts of the north wind disperse the darkness that has thickened over the sea. All ships here go in both directions, to reduce time; It’s understandable after how dangerous these fogs are! Ringing a ship's bell, beating cast-iron planks on Pomeranian boats, and blowing whistles on steamships are powerless to prevent a disaster. Signals can be heard, but how can one determine which side they are from? Suppose the steamer goes slower, but in this case it will be more difficult for it to get around the ship it meets, because at full speed it is more likely to obey the rudder than at a slow speed. There is only one thing left to do - go for luck, risking either driving into the bow of a pathetic Pomeranian ship, or being crushed by huge British steamers making their way to Arkhangelsk. If it were in England, rescue stations and lighthouses with steam whistles would have been established here long ago to prevent crashes on the harsh inhospitable shores of the Kola Peninsula, starting from Pulonga to the Holy Nose. For now, we have only three lighthouses in this direction, and they are simple, therefore useless in fog, namely: on the Sosno Islands

Vtse and Morzhovets and on Cape Orlov, and the rescue boat is located only in the Dvina Bay, near Mudyuga Island. In the White Sea Throat there are none at all. There are no stations installed anywhere yet. Capes: Orlov, Vorontsov, Iny, and Pulonga, the islands of Morzhovets, Three Islands, Danilov and Sosnovets are inscribed with bloody features in the history of our navigation.”

Nemirovich-Danchenko, V.I. Country of cold. What has been seen and heard./ V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko. – St. Petersburg: Publication by bookseller-typographer M.O. Wolf, 1877.