MOSCOW: In the coronavirus lockdown, Russians can’t go to their beloved and renowned museums. So they’re filling the holes in their souls by recreating artworks while stuck at home and posting them on social media.
The Facebook group where the works are posted has become a huge hit. The art recreations range from studious and reverent to flippant and goofy. They’re done both by Russians and Russian-speakers abroad.
Some 350,000 people are following the group, where thousands of photos are posted, each showing the original work and the mockup made at home. The rules say it must only use items on hand and can’t be digitally manipulated.
There are some impressive surprises in the collection. Vitaly Fonarev carefully recreated the clothes and headdress of Johannes Vermeer’s “Girl With a Pearl Earring” and captured the Dutch artist’s famous glowing light. The work is so convincing that it takes a few moments to notice that the “girl” actually is a man with a few days’ worth of beard stubble.
Irina Kazatsker found the project perfect for her skills. The Canadian photographer had the lights and the backdrops to do a loving recreation of Picasso’s “The Frugal Meal”— with the sly twist of putting a roll of toilet paper on the table.
“I decided to add a provocative detail that corresponds to the spirit of the time,” she said.
Unlike the hours of work that went into elaborate recreations, some appear to have been knocked off in a matter of minutes but are no less appealing.
Natalia Rubina’s rendition of Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” involved simply making a hole in a poster of the painting at the spot showing an anguished man’s head, then getting a dog to stick its head through. The dog appears nonplussed.
Katrusya Kosilkova employed an extensive palette of paints and careful brushwork to make her face a copy of the garish colors and fractured perspective of Picasso’s “Weeping Woman.” It was time well-spent, in her view.
“I really think this is a megacool idea. It gives people unbelievably positive emotions and develops creative thinking,” she said. “It helps people from different parts of the world to communicate with one another, to discuss new topics, mechanisms, and on top of this it increases our knowledge about art.”
Katerina Brudnaya-Chelyadinova, a co-founder of the project, is pleased by the wide attention it has received.
“A boy from Italy wrote a post in English saying that our group brought him out of the depths of the tragedy that is happening around him. I was sitting there and I couldn’t hold back my tears because if this can bring happiness to someone, somewhere on the opposite side of the world, then all of this isn’t for nothing,“she said.
Russians decorate isolation by recreating artworks
https://arab.news/nr8zw
Russians decorate isolation by recreating artworks
- The art recreations range from studious and reverent to flippant and goofy. They’re done both by Russians and Russian-speakers abroad
- Unlike the hours of work that went into elaborate recreations, some appear to have been knocked off in a matter of minutes but are no less appealing
Cambodia takes back looted historic artifacts handled by British art dealer
- The objects were returned under a 2020 agreement between the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and the family of the late Douglas Latchford, a British art collector and dealer who allegedly had the items smuggled out of Cambodia
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Cambodian officials on Friday received more than six dozen historic artifacts described as part of the country’s cultural heritage that had been looted during decades of war and instability.
At a ceremony attended by Deputy Prime Minister Hun Many, the 74 items were unveiled at the National Museum in Phnom Penh after their repatriation from the United Kingdom.
The objects were returned under a 2020 agreement between the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and the family of the late Douglas Latchford, a British art collector and dealer who allegedly had the items smuggled out of Cambodia.
“This substantial restitution represents one of the most important returns of Khmer cultural heritage in recent years, following major repatriations in 2021 and 2023 from the same collection,” the Culture Ministry said in a statement. “It marks a significant step forward in Cambodia’s continued efforts to recover, preserve, and restore its ancestral legacy for future generations.”
The artifacts were described as dating from the pre-Angkorian period through the height of the Angkor Empire, including “monumental sandstone sculptures, refined bronze works, and significant ritual objects.” The Angkor Empire, which extended from the ninth to the 15th century, is best known for the Angkor Wat archaeological site, the nation’s biggest tourist attraction.
Latchford was a prominent antiquities dealer who allegedly orchestrated an operation to sell looted Cambodian sculptures on the international market.
From 1970 to the 1980s, during Cambodia’s civil wars and the communist Khmer Rouge ‘s brutal reign, organized looting networks sent artifacts to Latchford, who then sold them to Western collectors, dealers, and institutions. These pieces were often physically damaged, having been pried off temple walls or other structures by the looters.
Latchford was indicted in a New York federal court in 2019 on charges including wire fraud and conspiracy. He died in 2020, aged 88, before he could be extradited to face charges.
Cambodia, like neighboring Thailand, has benefited from a trend in recent decades involving the repatriation of art and archaeological treasures. These include ancient Asian artworks as well as pieces lost or stolen during turmoil in places such as Syria, Iraq and Nazi-occupied Europe. New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the prominent institutions that has been returning illegally smuggled art, including to Cambodia.
“The ancient artifacts created and preserved by our ancestors are now being returned to Cambodia, bringing warmth and joy, following the country’s return to peace,” said Hun Many, who is the younger brother of Prime Minister Hun Manet.
