The products of the imagination. Nevelskoy
Map collage, print on canvas, augmented reality


On October 10, the Zarya Center for Contemporary Art opened the interdisciplinary exhibition project, "Metageography – 3: Orientalism and Dreams of Robinsons." This was the third installment of the curatorial project by Kirill Svetlyakov and Nikolay Smirnov, "Metageography: Space – Image – Action," which was developed especially for the Far East and realized in collaboration with the State Tretyakov Gallery.
On June 29, 1850 Gennady Ivanovich Nevelskoy, a researcher of the Far East, raised the Russian flag in the lower reaches of the Amur and founded the Nikolaev post (Nikolaevsk-on-Amur) on Cape Kuegda, without a single shot having attached to Russia the territories of the Amur region and Primorye 36% of the current territory of the Russian Federation. Nevelskoy proved that the river mouth of the Amur is available for entry of ships and that Sakhalin is an island. These events changed the map of Russia and the balance of power, not only in the Asia-Pacific region, but also in the world as a whole. Russia has become the largest country in the world and the only European power with continental access to all the oceans of the world.

The Hero4Hero project "The products of the imagination. Nevelskoy" is the heroic events retelling in the language of modern art to draw attention to the history of the development of the Far East of Russia and the role of the Hero (personality) in history. In the project Nevelskoy gets up in front of obstacles internal political intrigues of Russia of the XIX century, as well as dragons and other local characters of the Far Eastern territory. More about the project on nevelskoy.ru.

Hero4Hero (Vladivostok)
Map collage "The products of the imagination. Nevelskoy"
Print on canvas, augmented reality.

In three parts:
  • Digital copy of the map from the Atlas of the Northern part of the Eastern ocean of Sarychev I-th edition of 1826. Taken from open sources.
  • Digital copy of the General map of Asian Russia in 1859. Taken from open sources.
  • Manga cover "The products of the imagination. Nevelskoy" with augmented reality technology.

Exhibition showcase:
  • Handwritten map of G. I. Nevelsky (photocopy). It is provided by the Museum of the Admiral Nevelskoy Maritime State University (Vladivostok).
  • Pages from the logbook of Baikal transport, filled with G. I. Nevelsky (photocopy). It is provided by the Museum of the Admiral Nevelskoy Maritime State University (Vladivostok).
  • Photo by G. I. Nevelskoy.
  • Pages from the Hero4Hero manga "The products of the imagination. Nevelskoy".
  • The Pallada frigate hull fragment, which was flooded on 31 January 1856 in Constantine Bay (Bukhta Postovaya, Khabarovsk territory). G. I. Nevelskoy protested against it and quarreled with the military Governor of Kamchatka V. S. Zavoiko. The artifact is provided by the Museum of the Admiral Nevelskoy Maritime State University (Vladivostok).