Dear friends, The audio-visual route “BDT – Hermitage. Antiquity”, presenting figurative art of the Ancient World through the lens of Classical literature and poetry, will run in the halls of the museum until the end of October 2023.
The route features some world-famous masterpieces, including the Taurida Venus statue, the sculptural Portrait of a Syrian Woman, the colossal statue of Jupiter and the Gonzaga Cameo, among many others. Each work is given its own “sound track” with readings from ancient authors or 20th-century poets performed by members of the company of the BDT (Bolshoi Drama Theatre named after Georgy Tovstonogov).
The “BDT – Hermitage. Antiquity” route is the first stage in an ongoing partnership project between the Hermitage and the Saint Petersburg theatre.
In November 2023 visitors will be offered a new audio-visual route – “BDT – Hermitage. The East” – in the halls displaying the art of the countries of the Middle East on the top floor of the Winter Palace.
The 15 exhibits covered in the route come from a variety of geographical areas and historical eras, spanning a period from the late 8th century to the mid-19th. They include works of applied art that have become known worldwide: a bronze aquamanile in the form of an eagle, a lamp carved from rock crystal set in a precious mount, a faience dish from Mashhad with painted cobalt decoration and a number of other pieces that are the pride and glory of the Hermitage's Eastern collections.
Each exhibit featured is revealed more fully through readings from celebrated texts by Eastern poets, philosophers and scholars – Nizami, Hafiz, Nasir Khusraw, Avicenna, Jami, Nedim and others. The works of literature that conveymuseum visitors into the world of the Islamic East are read by actors of the Bolshoi Drama Theatre named after Georgy Tovstonogov: People's Artist of Russia Yelena Popova, Honoured Artists of Russia Anatoly Petrov, Dmitry Vorobyev and Vasily Reutov, and company members Victor Bugakov, Varvara Pavlova, Olga Vankova and Gennady Blinov.
The collaboration between the Hermitage and the BDT in a project presenting notable works of Islamic art through the creative imagery of the literature and poetry of the East, not only unites the museum and the theatre, but also involves a modern-day audience in a dialogue of the arts performed in the best manner possible.
