Rotterdam-based non-profit art gallery Chrysalid is set to host a compelling exhibition, “Shimmering Land,” featuring the works of Crimean artists Natalia Grezina and Anton Yermolov.
Exhibition Overview
Shimmering Land presents a collaboration between the Crimean artists Natalia Grezina and Anton Yermolov, together with curator Marth van Loeben. The project explores the lost legacy of Crimean culture. The exhibition will open on 29 April 2023 and will be accessible to the public until mid-September 2023.
The Crimean Context
The Allard Pierson Museum's exhibition “De Krim: Goud en geheimen van de Zwarte Zee” (“Crimea: Gold and Secrets of the Black Sea”) closed shortly after the annexation of Crimea by the Russian government, causing historical artefacts to become the centre of a heated legal battle. The people of Crimea have since been deprived of a significant part of their historical past and have not had the opportunity to reconnect with their heritage.
Questions raised by Shimmering Land
The exhibition poses challenging and unsettling questions: To whom do these artefacts belong from an ethical standpoint? If the artefacts are now destined to remain hidden from public view, would it not be more appropriate to return them to the graves from which they were found and to their rightful owners in the afterlife?
Exhibition components
Shimmering Land will consist of a two-room installation featuring both sculptural objects and digital artworks directly referencing the Scythian Gold collection. The reinterpreted artefacts will be given a new form and context within the exhibition, immersing the viewer in a storage-like space where the artefacts currently reside, waiting for decisions about their future.
Shimmering Land exhibition at Chrysalid Gallery in Rotterdam
Discussion on the meaning of the past
The exhibition also aims to initiate a conversation about the significance of the past and its symbols, their contemporary impact, and the “ghost” status of disputed territories and their heritage, with the identity and lives of those connected to them remaining uncertain.
Directions and Location
The Chrysalid Art Gallery is located in the heart of Rotterdam, easily accessible by public transportation. The area is surrounded by a variety of shops, cafés, and restaurants.
.
