The mosaic project “CovidOff Summer” has finished recently (in August)) at the Belyaevo Gallery in Moscow.
Mosaic review magazine publishes a slightly belated review of the past mosaic event.)
Unfortunately the global COVID-19 pandemic continues in 2020 and is not going to stop.
A lot of exhibition projects the organizers were forced to either postpone for an indefinite period, or even cancel this year. This has happened with many mosaic exhibitions and other mosaic events planned for the period from this spring.
The mosaic exhibition “Mosaic Collections. The islands.”, which opened on March 6 at the Belyaevo Gallery in Moscow, accidentally escaped such a fate. Of course, the planned course of the exhibition, which, according to the organizers’ plans, included not only the exhibition itself, but also a number of conferences dedicated to mosaic as an art, as well as a series of mosaic master classes, the organizers of the exhibition had to cancel due to the difficult situation with the spread of the virus.
This situation demanded from Irina Kuchmenko, the chief curator of the exhibition, to look for new ways to promote the project. Moreover, because of the quarantine, the exhibition dates were extended until mid-summer.
A way out of the situation was the project “CovidOff Summer” – a mosaic exhibition reflecting the attitude of mosaic artists to the pandemic, their personal experiences associated with the new conditions of existence in which humanity found itself this year.
In a short time the artists created a mosaic work, which became their contribution to the artistic comprehension of the new reality, a reflection of their thoughts, experiences, disappointments, losses and the joy of recovery.
Like Irina says:
“- We do not yet surely know what the world will be like as a result of the outbreak of the pandemic. But, definitely, it will be somewhat different than we used to see it in recent decades. What it will be – so far we can only imagine in our fantasies based on the practice of using means of protection, limiting communication with loved ones, limiting free movement and other innovations that have entered our lives for an unknown time. “
The idea of an additional mosaic project “CovidOff Summer” was supported by all the participants of the large mosaic exhibition “Mosaic Collections”. The opening of the project took place on July 9. That time quarantine restrictions had already been partially lifted in Moscow, but people had not yet become accustomed to the new situation with the expansion of the possibility of moving and attending mass events.
Nevertheless, the opening of the project was successful. The mosaic artists who participated in the project were happy to see their colleagues and feel that life does not stand still, and the art of mosaic tries to keep up with the times.
The mosaics participating in the project, in our opinion, reflect the artists’ feeling of general uncertainty about the future, the immense fragility of our world, and at the same time try to give hope to artists and all the people for prompt resolution of the pandemic crisis.
As it turned out, it is very difficult for the human psyche, especially the psyche of the artist, to perceive what is happening in the world without humor. Therefore, the part of the mosaic works is clearly inherent in challenge and ridicule. Let’s hope that this kind of performance can really keep people in the mood and look at the problems around them with humor.
