Tchavdar Georgiev, Amanda Pope|Russia, U.S., Uzbekistan| 80 mins
UK Premiere + Panel Discussion featuring
Dr. Seth Graham, (UCL SEESS)
Dr. Alisher Ilkamov, (The Open Society Foundation/SOAS)
Dr. Aliya de Tiesenhausen, (Central Asian painting expert)
Dr. Sarah Wilson, (The Courtuald Institute)
The saga of a treasure trove of banned Soviet art worth millions stashed in a far-off desert of Uzbekistan develops into a larger exploration of how art survives in times of oppression.
Despite threats of imprisonment, torture, even death, a small group of artists remained true to their vision during the harshest periods of Stalin’s regime. Their plight inspires a frustrated young painter Igor Savitsky to daringly rescue 40,000 forbidden artist’s works and create a museum in the desert of Uzbekistan, far from the watchful eyes of the KGB.
Amassing an eclectic mix of Russian Avant-Garde art, his greatest discovery is an unknown school of artists who settled in Uzbekistan after the Russian revolution of 1917. Located in one of the world’s poorest and least politically stable regions, Igor Savitsky’s Nukus Museum is as endangered as when Savitsky first created it. The question remains whose responsibility it is to preserve this cultural treasure.
Come join a discussion about this exceptional collection and its still uncertain future.
INFO AND TICKETS: http://www.lidf.co.uk/event/the-desert-of-forbidden-art/