Photo: Alena PALAZHENKO
An exhibition of amazing works by photo artist Sergei Larenkov, dedicated to the 79th anniversary of the liberation of Leningrad from the fascist blockade, opened in the Russian House in Ankara.
Larenkov, working in the genre of historical photographic reconstruction (timerography), managed, like a time machine, to combine modern views of St. Petersburg with images taken during the blockade. The colossal temporal contrast that the viewer sees at the same point in space against the same background is mind-boggling. Visitors to the exhibition first wander slowly among strangely ambivalent photographs, and then freeze in front of the screen, where similar works scroll in animation mode, from which it is difficult to look away.
Photo: Alena PALAZHENKO
Severe Russian black bread lies on the buffet tables. Where could the employees of the Russian House get it here in Ankara? They quietly explain to Turkish visitors the meaning of having black bread instead of the usual cakes and canapés. The Turks taste it, imbued with its bitter taste.
The second part of the exhibition is historical documents and photographs related to the blockade period.
– Look, coupons for bread! Imagine, only 125 grams you were supposed to have for a month! – a flock of children huddled on the poster, which depicts a bread card. “Would you be able to live with this for at least a week?
Photo: Alena PALAZHENKO
– And they told us that a girl was walking down the street, and that’s where the bomb exploded, and they tore off her arm. And she, not noticing the hand torn from her, shouted: “Oh, they took the card!”
– That is, a card is more valuable to her than a hand, right? Wow! – schoolchildren whisper.
I approach the Turks, who are carefully examining the posters.
– I worked in Moscow and was in St. Petersburg, – says Erdal Altun. – I love Russia and as a specialist I admire its architecture. I look at these twin photos, by the way, masterfully done! – and I’m already shaking: how terrible it was, that only people had to endure …
Photo: Alena PALAZHENKO
– Of course, the blockade of Leningrad is an example of one of the greatest resistances in the history of mankind, – says another guest of the exhibition, Erendiz Onal. – The inhabitants of the city resisted not only the Nazis, but also hunger, cold and all other troubles. They showed the whole world how strong love for the Motherland can be. I am a history buff and I want to tell you two things that struck me in relation to the blockade. First, Hitler was so sure of the city’s rapid fall that he planned a gala dinner at the Astoria Hotel in Leningrad and even sent out invitations. And the second is Shostakovich’s Seventh Leningrad Symphony. She reminds me that the Russians saved not only their country, but the whole world from the Nazis.
Photo: Alena PALAZHENKO
– The exhibition is designed to once again remind and tell Turkish compatriots and citizens about the blockade of Leningrad, about how great and heroic its defense and liberation was, – says Alexander Sotnichenko, head of the Russian House, to a correspondent for KP.RU. – I myself am from St. Petersburg, my relatives survived the blockade, and my great-aunt died in 1941 during a bombing raid. Those events impregnate us Petersburgers with that important part of our identity, every corner of the city keeps the memory of those terrible events. Therefore, it is important to preserve it and pass it on to the younger generations, to our young compatriots. And to the Turks, because for them this is not a very familiar story, but at the same time it is understandable for the Turkish people, who also went through many difficult trials during the years of their national liberation war.
The exhibition is organized by the Rossotrudnichestvo representative office together with Sergey Larenkov, the St. Petersburg Committee on Foreign Relations and the Leningrad Siege and Defense Museum. It will last two weeks.
