OMSK, August 16. /TASS/. An exhibition, called The Irtysh Flows to the North, which features 250 objects from museums and archives of St. Petersburg, Omsk and Salekhard, opened on Tuesday at the Vrubel Fine Arts Museum in Omsk. The exposition is a part of Nornickel’s project, dubbed "North’s Development. A Thousand Years of Success," a TASS correspondent reported.
"The exhibition is very expressive," Nornickel’s Head of Humanitarian Projects Yulia Kantor said at the opening ceremony. "We present fine arts objects, crafts, archaeology exhibits and documents."
"The exhibition unites the [Vrubel] Omsk museum, the Shamanovsky Exhibition Complex in Salekhard, the Omsk Regional Archive and the Russian State Archive of the Navy in St. Petersburg," she added.
The exposition, which will work to September 30, presents more than 250 objects, which tell history of the Russian North’s exploration. The project has three parts: Development of the Northern Sea Route, Fighting for the Arctic - the tragic events of World War II near Russia’s northern shores, and the North’s Attraction - in this part, the Soviet times artists tell history of the endless Arctic territories’ industrial development.
The Omsk Region, which is on Russia’s southern border, in the early XX century took a huge territory stretching to the Kara Sea the Ob Bay, is quite reasonably a part of the project, devoted to the Polar Region’s development, Kantor said.
"Omsk has made a lot for the North’s surveys," she told TASS. "Those are the Kara expeditions (the Kara Sea studies - TASS) and further development of the northern territories; and thus it would be only strange to speak about the North’s development without highlighting the role of Omsk - besides, Nikolai Urbantsev’s expedition, which opened the Norilsk deposit, began the voyage from Omsk."
Deputy Head of the Omsk Region’s government Vladimir Kompaneishchikov stressed the exhibition would offer a different view on the region.
"Omsk’s history is very interesting, it still continues (during the Civil War, Omsk was a residence for Admiral Kolchak, who announced the city the capital of White Russia; and in the Soviet times, the city was a closed industrial city - TASS)," he said. "These historic artefacts make us think [about the region’s role in the country’s history], we get a new look at the city."
About the project
The project "North’s Development: Thousand Years of Success" was initiated and continues with support from the Norilsk Nickel Company (Nornickel). It coincides with the 100th anniversary of the Norilsk deposit’s discovery in 1919. During 2017-2019, the country’s nine regions present unique museum collections, telling the history of the North’s development.
In 2017, events of the project’s first stage took place in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Veliky Novgorod. In 2018, the program continues in Vyborg, Omsk and Perm. After that, exhibitions will be organized in Murmansk, Arkhangelsk and Norilsk.