Facts And Exhibitions At The Mayakovsky Library in St. Petersburg
Facts And Exhibitions At The Mayakovsky Library in St. Petersburg
This past week I had the pleasure of viewing two exhibits at a branch of the Mayakovsky Library (Библиотека Им. В.В. Маяковского) on Nevsky Prospekt in St. Petersburg.
History
The library has a long history as a symbol of knowledge in the city of St. Petersburg. Today, it operates in several locations within the city center on Naberezhnaya Reki Fontana (Набережная реки Фонтанки), Nevsky Prospekt (Невский проспект), Grazhdansky Prospekt (Гражданский проспект), and Moskovsky Prospekt (Московкий проспект).
The Mayakovsky Library was originally opened on Nevsky Prospekt in 1868 and quickly became popular among the local intelligentsia. It was nationalized in 1919 as the central municipal library in Petrograd. The library remained open during the Siege of Leningrad and took on the name of the famous poet Vladimir Mayakovsky in 1953 on the 60th anniversary of his birth.
The library’s building on Nevsky Prospekt 20 serves as its Informational Center for Art and Music (Информационный Центр по искусству и музыке – БИКЦИМ), and is currently showing two free art exhibits.
Exhibitions
The first exhibit, НЕ БО (NE BO), will be displayed on the ground floor until June 17. It features the eerie black-and-white photography of Dmitry Tykvin (Дмитрий Тыквин), who was born in Leningrad in 1965. Displayed around a small room, each photograph shows city buildings shot from below, with varying degrees of clarity and a focus on the space between the buildings (thus the title of the exhibit, which when put together translates to “sky” in Russian). See below for an example:
The second exhibit, Город и таланты (City and Talents), is located upstairs — make sure you check out the posters of contemporary local poetry on the walls as you head up! This exhibit features the portraits of Aron Zinshtein (Арон Зинштейн), who was born in the Ural Mountains in 1947 and now lives in St. Petersburg. The portraits mainly display his friends, many of whom are fellow artists. The room in which the portraits are exhibited is also noteworthy — look up for an amazing view!
On Wednesday, June 17th, there will be a special evening of music at this location starting at 19:00. It will be a perfect time to check out the art on display in a great atmosphere!
This post was brought to you by Amy, currently studying Russian at Liden & Denz
