SRF Exhibitions

Exhibitions are held at the Scotland-Russia Institute, 9 South College St, Edinburgh EH8 9AA.  We are open 11-4 Tuesday to Friday, 1.30-4 Saturday. Free entry.

Alison Milner-Gulland: Russian Memories

7 August - 4 September 2010

Alison Milner-Gulland is based in West Sussex and has exhibited widely in England, Wales and France. She writes:
“My first visit to Russia , with an eventful train journey to Moscow to join my husband, was in 1970. Returning, many times since, to different parts of Russia, I always carry a sketchbook. One memorable trip included Vologda, the Kenozero National park, Archangel and St. Petersburg. The adventure formed the basis of a solo show at The Workhouse Gallery, Chelsea. More recently, I have taken part in a DEFRA/ Darwin Initiative exchange to Kalmykia, which was formerly part of USSR. Through my art I was expected to show the ecological problems the Kalmyk people face and draw attention to the endangered saiga antelope. The exhibition was part of the Arundel Festival (West Sussex) : http://www.saiga-conservation.com/saiga_news.html (Issue 6)
I draw rapidly, often on the move, then, when working back home in the studio, the jagged lines recreate the memory of the special moment that inspired me. Remembered colour and texture build up on the canvas. I especially enjoy drawing to music and in Kalmykia scribbled down the movements of the steppe dancers, stopping only when the dance finished. This produced a maze of rhythmical overlapping lines. I use whatever medium seems to be dictated by the subject matter and have recently discovered the tactile quality of clay where I translate my love of drawing into a 3D object.”

Combining the immediacy of a quick sketch, atmospheric colour and tactile texture these works create a personal snapshot of people and places in Russia.
Download exhibition brochure.

The Russian village through British eyes: Photographs of rural north Russia 2004-2009

11 September - 30 October 2010
The subject of this exhibition are the people and daily life of villages in Vologda and Arkhangel’sk provinces in the first decade of the new millennium. It is a way of life rapidly vanishing under the pressures of economic and social change. Through her photographs Elizabeth Warner hopes to create for the future a personal visual archive of a vanishing world. In addition to being a photographer she is a fluent Russian speaker and an academic with a professional understanding of Russian traditional culture. She has spent many months living close to her subjects. As a result she is able to present an intimate and sensitive portrait of individuals - at home, carrying out their daily tasks, relaxing with dance and song, christening children, bidding farewell to the dead. The photographs stress not so much the hardships of life but the resilience and humanity of her subjects.

Download exhibition brochure.

Elizabeth Warner will give a talk about her work documenting the people and traditional culture, spiritual and material, of North Russia on Friday 17 September: see Events.

Previous exhibitions

St. Petersburg: Reflections of a Floating Life.  Photographs by Craig Brandist. 1 June - 2 July 2010 (Scotsman review here)
Paintings from St Petersburg, 1950-2000. 10 April - 22 May 2010
Shelagh Atkinson - A Walk along the Fontanka. Prints and pastel drawings of street scenes of St.Petersburg. 13 March-4 April 2010
Georgia - a Country of Ancient Writing.13 February – 6 March 2010
UK Charities in Russia and neighbouring countries. 26 January - 6 February 2010
William Carrick: a Scottish Photographer in Nineteenth-Century Russia.4 December 2009 – 22 January 2010
St Petersburg Schools Celebrate Homecoming 09: paintings by school pupils. 31 Oct – 28 Nov 2009
Quiet Russia: Photographs by Shamil Khairov. 26 Sept - 17 Oct 2009
Russian Costumes: watercolours by Evgenia Gradova. 8 - 19 September 2009
Gennadii Gogoliuk: Recent Work. 8 August – 5 September 2009
Ballets Russes Anniversary Exhibition. 1-31 July 2009
Painters from Feodosia: Vasyl' Floreskul and Vladimir Astaf'ev. 23 May to 12 June 2009
Exhibition of Turkmen art. 28 April - 15 May 2009
Russia and Scotland in the work of Kirill Sokolov, 1930-2004. 21 March - 17 April 2009
Splendour Perfected: Trade Relations Between Byzantium and the Countries along the Silk Road. 2-28 February 2009
Zerkalo|Mirror: Exhibition of photographs by Ukrainian artist Alina Kisina. 4 Dec 2008 - 15 January 2009. (2010 article about the artist's work here)
“Russia-Britain” Exhibition. From the archives of RIA-Novosti. 4 - 22 Nov 2008
Paintings by Olga Yukhtina-Geoghan. 27 Sept - 24 Oct 2008