T h e H a v e n
26.06 — 31.08
“The Haven” — Elina Gusarova’s Personal Exhibition on the Hidden Side of Krasnoyarsk’s Stolby
On the border between city and taiga, among the syenite rock formations, a unique subculture has existed for almost two centuries. Its members share a profound connection with this space, with one another, and with the very concept of freedom. Their life is one of upward movement; their daily existence and folklore revolve around laughter, death, and love. Stolby is their “refuge from now until eternity.”
Elina is a Krasnoyarsk-based artist, photographer, and a stolbistka herself. For over ten years, she has documented the life of this community and its surrounding landscape from within, capturing a side of the nature and culture invisible to many. Her archive has become a local mythology—a collection of cosmic and chthonic images that originated in her artist’s book “Eos” and have now taken shape, unfolding within an exhibition space of mystery and mischief.
Lead Partners:
Museum Centre “Ploshchad Mira”
Production Partners:
About the Artist:
Elina Gusarova is a visual artist, photographer, and designer, currently a student at the Rodchenko School of Photography and Multimedia. In her practice, Elina investigates the relationship between people and their cultural and natural landscapes. She is interested in the forces that shape and transform communities, identity, and history. She works with photography, archives, textiles, and found objects, which she often unfolds within the format of an artist’s book or spatial installations. She lives and works in Krasnoyarsk
About the Project:
The exhibition is heliocentric, constructing an authorial system of Stolby. The first space is that of a natural landscape of rock and light, establishing its scale. The second space breaks this metric and turns everything inside out, revealing the spirits and entities from local tales and songs. The third space grants access to what is most precious, presenting a chronicle of personal memories, specific characters, and stories that, together with freedom, form the foundation of local existence.
The central installation is the sun, which warms everything. This light is that inexplicable force that brings people together, draws them toward potential danger, and yet gives meaning to their existence. Felt casts of the rocks fly toward this sun, placing an invisible Stolb at the very heart of the museum.
Purchase Prints
The works presented at the exhibition are available for purchase as archival prints on museum-quality cotton paper.
Each photograph is available in several sizes as part of a limited edition.
All works are accompanied by the artist’s signature and a certificate of authenticity.
