2023
Staff and volunteers from Manege Central Exhibition Hall, Museum of 20th–21st Century Art of St Petersburg and the Children of St Petersburg Foundation worked on a summer programme for children with migration experience.
We spent unforgettable summer holiday days from 24 to 28 July. This time the main theme of this fascinating journey was the symbiosis of different cultures in the city of St Petersburg. We talked about the diversity and wealth of African culture through the prism of contemporary art in Manege, in the context of the exhibition Upside-Down Safari. On the first day of the summer camp, the curator of educational projects Ekaterina Bespalova conducted an interactive tour of the exhibition Upside-Down Safari and told about the unusual artistic techniques used by African artists. After the tour of the exhibition, project curator Margarita Abbasova told children at the lecture about the history of African countries. Creative workshop on making an African mask finalised the first day of the summer camp.
On the second day, children learnt at Margarita Abbasova's walking tour Multinational Petersburg how Italians and French contributed to urban architectural design. Children solidified their knowledge at a workshop on creating a traveller's sketchbook.
The next day children spent at the Museum of 20th–21st Century Art of St Petersburg. The day started with the painter Daniil Troianov tour of Vladimir Yashke's exhibition Sky, Hat, Girl. After the tour, Troianov delivered a study session for children. Specialists Sofia Kucheryavenko and Anastasia Streblyanskaya also helped in setting up and running of interactive games.
On the fourth day, children made their own works themed on the exhibition Upside-Down Safari and inspired by a series of assemblages by the artist Vasily Vlasov. Acting workshop on elocution with the actress Marina Vasilieva was held at Museum of 20th–21st Century Art of St Petersburg.
Festive presentation of assemblages, when each child introduced his or her own project like a real artist, took place on the final day.
The summer camp ended with an exhibition of children's works in the Museum of 20th–21st Century Art of St Petersburg lecture room. So children learnt how different cultures are connected and interact with each other, this helped to widen their horizons and allowed them to understand the significance of cultural intercommunication.
