A photo exhibition in honor of the 77th Anniversary of the Great Victory opened at Russian House, Chennai

Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, in collaboration with Russian House, Chennai inaugurated “Twice Rescued”, a photo exhibition featuring photographs of artefacts from the Renaissance collection that have been restored by the Pushkin State Museum’s Conservation Department. The event was dedicated to the 77th Anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. The Exhibition ‘Twice Rescued’ is open at Russian House Chennai from 10 May to 11 June, 2022, 10:00am to 5:00pm.

The photographs of ancient artefacts have been restored over decades. ‘Twice Rescued’ tells a story of art rescued once by Soviet soldiers from debris and fire and, a second time by conservators to restore them to their original glory.

“At the end of the war in 1945, the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts received artworks brought from Germany to the Soviet Union as restitution. Many of them required conservation treatments. Out of 2.5million objects brought by the Soviet troops nearly 1.5 million were returned to East Germany,” Mr. Oleg Avdeev, Consul General of the Russian Federation in South India said in his welcome address.

He spoke about the specially created page on the website of Pushkin State Museum Department of Conservation for this project, where the history of the museum’s collections, the fate of individual objects and the remarkable results of the work done by the conservators can be explored. He mentioned that Russia luckily has many specialists and conservators who are capable of undertaking such a task, and hence today we are able to see them on display in the Museum or in photos. 

Mr. Ilia Doronchenkov, Deputy Director for Research, Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts said that for many years the work of restoration has been going on for many years.

Mr. Mohamed Ibrahim Khaleel, Regional Director, Indian Council for Cultural Relations, MEA, Govt of India, in his address said that history should never be destroyed. He commended the tremendous efforts of the conservators of Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts for their excellent work in giving  masterpieces a second life. 

The before and after photos of some of the artefacts were shown to the audience, along with a video on the restoration of the statue of St John, the Baptist. 

The program was attended by Mr. Oleg Avdeev, Consul General of the Russian Federation; Mr. Ilia Doronchenkov, Deputy Director for Research, Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (virtually); Mr. Mohamed Ibrahim Khaleel, Regional Director, Indian Council for Cultural Relations, MEA, Govt of India; Mr. P. Thirunavukkarasu, Lecturer, Govt. College of Fine Arts, Chennai and State Award Artist; Mr. Supun Deshaprema, Second Secretary, Sri Lanka Deputy High Commission; faculty and students of Government College of Fine Arts (Chennai), Loyola College and Annai Velankanni College; and art lovers in the city.

The work of documentation and restoration was carried out by the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts. By 2010, more than 750 objects were restored by more than 30 specialists and technicians. Photographs of thirty of these objects are on display during the exhibition.