Exhibition "Under the Sky of Bizerte"

At the exhibition “Under the Bizerte Sky”, 54 works of thirteen contemporary Russian artists are presented. The works in the technique of oil painting and batik were made following the results of the open air of 2012 in the city of Bizerte.

Bizerte is a seaport in Tunisia, where in 1920-21 the ships of the Russian Imperial Squadron evacuated from Sevastopol in November 1920 embarked on their last stop. Tunisia was under a French protectorate at that time. The Council of Ministers of France agreed to accept Russian ships. At the end of 1922, all the remaining personnel of the Squadron were decommissioned ashore, and warships were eventually sold for scrap. Thousands of Russian people - officers, sailors and their families - were forgotten, but did not lose their fortitude, courage and did not drop the honor of the Russian flag. For many of them, Tunisia has become a second homeland. The French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupery called the colony of our compatriots "Russian Carthage".

The eldest Russian diaspora in Bizert, her soul and symbol of the era was Anastasia Alexandrovna Manshtein-Shirinskaya (1912-2009) - the daughter of the commander of one of the ships of the Squadron. Locals called her "Madame Russian Squadron." She, who had lived in Bizerte for almost ninety years, was destined to become the keeper of the memory of the Squadron.

The historical changes in Russia at the end of the twentieth century rediscovered Bizerte for the Russians, made international contacts possible, and restored the ties that seemed lost forever. The case of Anastasia Manstein-Shirinskaya in preserving and perpetuating the memory of the participants of the tragic Exodus of the Russian Squadron is continued by the A. A. Manshtein-Shirinskaya Foundation for the Preservation of Historical and Cultural Heritage, established in 2008.

In 2012, the 100th anniversary of A.A. Manshtein-Shirinskaya was celebrated. To this date, the Fund. A.A. Manshtein-Shirinskoy organized in June 2012 a creative expedition of contemporary Russian artists to Bizerte. The creative group included 13 very different and vibrant painters. Tunisia, in which many of them have not been, was remembered not only by the exotic of natural and historical beauties. Acquaintance with the events of the tragic Exodus of the Russian Squadron and its last camp in Bizerte was a real discovery for the participants of the open air, and it allowed me to touch the living history of Russian emigration with my heart.

Drawings, sketches, picturesque sketches, travel sketches and notes - all this artistic material - made during the open air - later in Moscow workshops became the basis for creating finished works. Following the open air, exhibitions were held: in Bizerte, St. Petersburg and Moscow, an album was published. And now, with the exhibition “Under the Bizerte Sky”, we invite Kaluga residents to get acquainted.

For the public, the exhibition will begin work on April 22, at the address: Kaluga, st. Lenina, 103, Information-educational and exhibition center - a branch of the KIIII.

Within the framework of the joint project of the KIIA and the A. A. Manshtein-Shirinskaya Foundation for the Preservation of Historical and Cultural Heritage, the following will also be held:

- Day of the A. A. Manshtein-Shirinskaya Foundation for the Preservation of Historical and Cultural Heritage (date to be confirmed)

- competition of children’s drawings "Sea stories" among students of children’s art schools of the Kaluga region (summing up on June 17, 2017).

- a traveling exhibition based on the results of the children’s drawing contest “Sea stories” in the districts of the Kaluga region (2017-early 2018)

- The closing ceremony of the exhibition “Under the sky of Bizerte” on June 3, 2017 at 13. 00.

In the exhibition "Under the Bizerte Sky" all the days of the exhibition you can watch documentaries about A. A. Manstein-Shirinskaya and the activities of the Fund named after her.

Project curator: S. L. Klepova, head of the department of scientific and educational work of the Kaluga Museum of Fine Arts.

Exhibition "Under the Sky of Bizerte": April 22 - June 4, 2017.

Museum address: Kaluga, st. Lenina, 103, Information-educational and exhibition center - a branch of the KIIII.