Among many other consequences, the war between Russia and Ukraine has also led to one of the most significant intellectual migrations of our time. Hundreds of thousands of people, mostly young, have left the Russian Federation. Among them are hundreds of artists from various fields, including architecture, music, cinema, and visual arts. For this reason, the Center for Russian Art Studies (CSAR) at Ca’ Foscari University in Venice initiated an international scientific project in collaboration with CYLAND and the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice in February of last year: Mapping Diaspora: Russian Art in Exile, with the goal of mapping and continually updating what these artists have created or are currently developing. The project is under the scientific direction of Silvia Burini and Olga Shishko, and it has been endorsed by leading specialists in Russian art in Europe and the USA. It consists of various sections (Contexts, Dialogues, Chronicles, Grants) and includes exhibition activities, not only in Venice.
Sergey Kishchenko: Hortus Conclusus. Memory, Biodiversity, Migration, from September 14th to October 14th at the Magazzini al Sale, is the first of these exhibitions and also Sergey Kishchenko’s first solo exhibition in Italy. Sergey Kishchenko, born in Stavropol’ in 1975, presents a significant collection of works that are part of research initiated over the last ten years. These efforts gained momentum after the artist’s decision to leave Russia and his arrival in Italy, where he was granted political refugee status.
