Wooden Curches:Travelling in the Russian North
10.03.2010 - 30.05.2010
Kasarmikatu 24, 00130 Helsinki, Finland
Postcards from some hundred years back inspired English photographer Richard Davies to travel to northern Russia in 2002 to find out what was left of the wooden churches depicted in the cards. The churches had been photographed by the Russian artist Ivan Bilibin in 1902?04, and already then the photographer had been worried about their condition. The cards had been published in 1911 by a Russian charity in order to raise money for its work.
Davies has made further trips every year. Many churches have been lost. Those that remain are in varying states of decay ? through neglect and the stripping, looting and wrecking of interiors ? and sadly many are beyond repair. Still, much is left to celebrate. The integrity between the landscape and the architecture is as striking as before, the simple log cabin construction with extravagant decorations is just as startling, and even in decay these churches have a spiritual presence commanding respect.
The oldest of the churches and chapels on display have been dated back to the 16th century, the youngest to the 19th, and most to the 17th and 18th centuries. They are located in the Republic of Karelia and in the regions of Archangel, Murmansk, Vologda and Leningrad. The exhibition includes a Finnish contribution comprising art historical research material, such as photographs and measuring drawings, collected by professor Lars Pettersson in war front in Karelia in 1943?44. |
March 2010
