In Vladivostok, at the Artetage Center for Contemporary Art, will be opened the exhibition “Beslan. A minute of silence”, dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Beslan tragedy.
According to the South Ossetian Embassy in Russia, the exhibition was organized on the initiative of the administrations of the cities of Vladivostok and Vladikavkaz with the support of the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives.
The project will present the paintings, photo and video installations, objects created as part of the Alanika contemporary art festival by the foreign and Russian artists in different years.
The Embassy has noted that the Beslan tragedy demonstrated to the whole world what an evil terror is and how important it is to fight it uncompromisingly and mercilessly.
“The whole world sympathized with the people of Ossetia, faced with the most inhuman manifestation of terror against the defenseless people. These events have become part of the collective memory, part of the country's history. On the 20th anniversary of the Beslan tragedy, it is important to once again turn to the topic of collective memory, the topic of human sympathy and empathy and, of course, to focus public attention on the importance of talking about the methods of countering terrorist threats. Uniting in the face of such a ruthless enemy and countering it is one of the tasks facing humanity today. Only humanism can resist terrorism,” the Embassy has noted.
The exhibition- “Beslan. A Minute of Silence", will feature the works from the collection of the Alanika Foundation, created by the artists from different countries and cities - participants in the key project of the foundation - the Alanika festival. They reflect the deep feelings associated with the tragedy in Beslan.
“The authors of the works are people of different ages, religions, and views. But they are united by compassion for the victims of terror. Each of the project participants experienced the pain of Beslan through themselves, so the exhibition carries a strong humanistic message and leaves no one indifferent. Some people's emotions are directly related to the terrible events in the gym, others went to Ossetia with the desire to touch upon a difficult topic and show it through the works of visual art. One way or another, each project dedicated to Beslan is a kind of civil act, the artist’s human desire to share and alleviate the pain of the Ossetian people,” the message says.
"Beslan. A Minute of Silence” is the name of the project of the artist from Azerbaijan Sabina Shikhlinskaya, which gave the name to the entire exhibition project. It contains the main question, which has no answer yet: what caused the tragedy? How did it happen that adults could not protect children from death? How can such barbarism be prevented in the future? These and other questions must be answered truthfully.
The opening of the exhibition will take place on August 28, 2024 at 17:00. Free admission.
The terrorist attack at the Beslan school, unprecedented in its cruelty, is one of the most difficult pages in the history of Russia. Despite the fact that 20 years have passed since the tragedy, it is not getting any easier. The inhuman cruelty towards defenseless children, women, and people in general continues to horrify. 334 people died in the Beslan school, more than half of them children.
