OPENING: 4 OKTOBER 2024
"CHAROMUSHKI ODYSSEY": between reality and romanticism
Pan Tadeusz Museum, Wroclaw
opening 4 Oktober 2024
October 4, 2024–March 23, 2025
Sometimes, the most exciting time travel experiences happen by accident. Such a journey happened to Andrei Loginov, who heard the story of a photographer's abandoned house in the Belarusian village of Charomushki. Imagine a village where life revolves around the collective farm and the younger generation has moved to the city for a better life. Nevertheless, some villagers still remember visiting the photographer in the valley. When they were children, they would have their photos taken there with family members dressed up for the occasion. They told Andrei Loginov about the strange aura they felt when their faces were captured in photos and led him to the photographer's ruined, abandoned house. The artist found the house in a fast-growing forest with several old fruit trees. Visiting the photographer's house was a romantic adventure in those days.
When Andrei Loginov arrived, the roof of the house had already partially collapsed, but under the photographer's bed, the artist found a real treasure: several boxes of glass negatives and a background with a landscape motif. He felt like a romantic explorer of a lost world who had found a door to another era and an invitation to leave his reality. Some negatives remained intact, while others were broken or mouldy due to the moisture that had seeped into the building. The photographer from the village of Charomushki worked from the 1930s to the 1950s. Over time, the faces and silhouettes of the people he photographed became blurred and indistinct; they seemed to disappear or, on the contrary, to appear like ghosts. The glass negatives show villagers posing in front of a painted landscape. They all have serious expressions, as if they knew they were about to make history.
In this way, Andrei Loginov touched the history of this Belarusian village, literally holding it in his hands. He became an explorer and time traveller, blending the past with the present and reality with romantic adventure. He named the project “Charomushki Odyssey” to highlight the dreamy and romantic aspect of his time travel.
curator: Professor Marta Smolińska
coordination: Agnieszka Śrutwa and the Event Production Section
production: Joanna Poślednia and the Technical Department
arrangement and visual identification: Adriana Myśliwiec
multimedia cooperation: Jarosław Mizera and the Multimedia Section
conservator’s cooperation: Aleksandra Kuklewska
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