Exhibition project "Silver Necklace of Russia"

Central Exhibition Hall "Manezh" within the framework of the public art project "Museum Line" with the support of the Committee for Culture of St. Petersburg and the Committee for Tourism Development, the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the North-West Federal District, the Federal Agency for Tourism and the Innovation Support Fund and youth initiatives of St. Petersburg presents a large-scale street exposition "Silver Necklace of Russia".

The name of the project refers to the popular interregional tourist route that unites the regions of the North-West of Russia, famous for their monuments of history, culture and natural attractions. The start of the street exposition is dedicated to the Day of Russia and the holding of the UEFA EURO 2020 games in St. Petersburg.

The authors of the Silver Necklace of Russia exhibition have created an expressive artistic image in the form of a scattering of 11 silver beads that form a necklace. Each bead, as a part of a single semantic and artistic whole, is located in accordance with the geographical location of the North-West regions, embodied in the size of 1.8 meters and made of silver material.

The project unites 11 constituent entities of the Russian Federation: St. Petersburg, Arkhangelsk, Vologda, Leningrad, Kaliningrad, Murmansk, Novgorod, Pskov regions, Nenets Autonomous Okrug, the Republic of Karelia and Komi.

The external appearance of each object artistically interprets a key image associated with one of the regions of the North-West. Outstanding artists, actors, directors, artists and scientists, athletes and astronauts were invited to participate in the project. Each of them created their own thematic design associated with the selected region.

The design development of ten beads was attended by: Andrey Malakhov (Murmansk Region), Mikhail Shemyakin (Kaliningrad Region), Boris Eifman (Leningrad Region), Mikhail Zygar (Novgorod Region), Olga Peretyatko (Republic of Karelia), Polina Osetinskaya (Pskov Region), Karina Razumovskaya (Vologda Oblast), Sergey Krikalev (Komi Republic), Vasily Barkhatov (Arkhangelsk Oblast), Anna Yalova (Nenets Autonomous District).

The eleventh bead is dedicated to St. Petersburg, the city that is rightfully called the cultural capital of Russia. As an "open-air museum", St. Petersburg is invariably associated with historical monuments, palaces, drawbridges and white nights. The bead, whose design was inspired by the image and artistic heritage of the city, became the heart of the art installation and does not have a specific author. It is made in the form of a large mirror sphere, which reflects the city, as well as all the beads representing the Northwest region.