Ministry for Culture of the Russian Federation
Danish Cultural Institute in St.-Petersburg
Royal Danish Consulate General in St.-Petersburg


KEEN HEICK-ABILDHAUGE
ONE HUNDRED YEARS. THE RUSSIAN PORTRAIT

26.05.2012 – 30.06.2012

Opening: 25 May 2012, 18:00
Front Building exhibition hall, 3 floor

Soon after the young Danish photographer Keen Heick-Abildhauge first came to Russia in 2009, he became sure that the common European understanding of Russians as «a nation of sullen and unfriendly people» could be wrong. Keen gradually arrived at an idea of creating an integral art project that could convey his impression of this country. It took three years for the project to be completed in a series of a hundred black-and-white photographic portraits of Russians aging 1 to 100 years.
The Danish photographer went to many places in Russia, spoke with the people he pictured and wrote down their stories. Each photograph in the exhibition is accompanied with a short text indicating profession, social status and dreams of the character. There is a 33-year old fireman from Sinegorye settlement in Magadan region who hopes to make a photograph of his daughter with a white bear on Spitzbergen Island, a 59-year old woodworker from Novorossiysk dreaming to learn to use the Internet. A 82-year old excavator operator from Vologda region dreams of creating a family, and an elderly woman (100 years old) from Smolenskaya village just wants to live on. The majority of people on the portraits dream about the revival of the country, increase of their salary and pensions, about being healthy and being able to travel.