Homeless Art
Museums tell the stories of exhibits that couldn't find their place
Homeless Art
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When
March 2025
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Price
Free
Москва и Санкт-Петербург
Москва и Санкт-Петербург
Every person who comes to the Nochlezhka for help has hisown story. This story consists of victories and defeats, changing cities and countries, stages of confusion, uncertainty and the search for one's place inthe world. This also happens in the cultural sphere: paintings and other art objects became «homeless» for various reasons — due to gallery closures, wars,a change of owners, or other circumstances. Looking at a painting or sculpture, we recognize this difficult path as an important episode, but not determiningits value.
We tell you that no one and nothing is safe from homelessness. And no amount of life circumstances can take away a person'sdignity and right to get help, just as it is impossible to take away a work of art's beauty and right to be seen.
Four major Russian museums — the State Hermitage Museum, the Museum of Moscow, the Museum of Russian Impressionism, and the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center — talk about their «wandering» exhibits that moved from place to place, were forgotten, or were thrown away as unnecessary — that is, they faced circumstances that are similar to the causes of actual homelessness. The «Homeless Art» campaign is timed to Homeless People's Day on March, 30. This is a day of solidarity with people who have found themselves on the streets. We designed it together with the creative agency After Agency. Museums are talking about the action on their social networks and museum spaces.
The Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center tells how the doors of the Tulchin house were discovered and bought by ethnographers in 2005.They have become one of the few authentic pieces of evidence of the life in Jewish villages.
Tulchin, a photo from the archive of the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center
The trace of Nikolai Bogdanov-Belsky's painting «Summer» was lost almost a hundred years ago. The artist painted the work in thePozhinki estate of the Udomel region. The painting was exhibited at the 40th Peredvizhniki exhibition. Visitors to the Museum of Russian Impressionism can find out howthe piece returned to Russia ended up in its collection.
«Summer», 1911. Nikolai Petrovich Bogdanov-Belsky. At the exhibition «Depicting the air. Russian Impressionism». Museum of Russian Impressionism
The Museum of Moscow report that the institution haschanged addresses and names more than once in its long history and have eventually found its home in Food Warehouses.
The modern building of the Museum of Moscow in the building of the Food Warehouses on Zubovsky Boulevard
The history of the painting «Lamentation of Christ», one of the accidentally preserved works by Jacques Bellange, isrevealed by the State Hermitage Museum.
Bellange, Jacques-Charles, Lamentation of Christ. France, 1616-1617
«The museum helps people not by moralizing, but by example. Works of art always have a «biography», sometimes messy and difficult. They often wander the world, but museums help them find their home. This is how they set an example for society», said Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director of the State Hermitage Museum. .
And on March 29 and 30, the Museum of Russian Impressionism and the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center will host guided tours where you can learn about paintings and other art objects that were temporarily left «without a home».
«By raising the issue of homelessness, we are opening the door to an important dialogue and breaking down stereotypes about the homeless person. Art helps to talk about this difficult topic through objects that once lost their homes, showing that homelessness can affect everyone», said Ayuna Markhaeva, curator of the Department of Inclusive Practices at the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center.
«Artists often spoke out on important social topics in their work. An art museum today can also do this by referring to art. By highlighting the issues through methods accessible to the museum and raising awareness, we are taking small steps towards solving pressing problems in society», Elizaveta Kabayeva, Curator of Accessibility and inclusion programs at the Museum of Russian Impressionism.
Moving to another city in search of work and the loss of identity documents is the main cause of homelessness. Find out more about how people end up on the streets on the Who are the Homeless.
We tell you that no one and nothing is safe from homelessness. And no amount of life circumstances can take away a person'sdignity and right to get help, just as it is impossible to take away a work of art's beauty and right to be seen.
Four major Russian museums — the State Hermitage Museum, the Museum of Moscow, the Museum of Russian Impressionism, and the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center — talk about their «wandering» exhibits that moved from place to place, were forgotten, or were thrown away as unnecessary — that is, they faced circumstances that are similar to the causes of actual homelessness. The «Homeless Art» campaign is timed to Homeless People's Day on March, 30. This is a day of solidarity with people who have found themselves on the streets. We designed it together with the creative agency After Agency. Museums are talking about the action on their social networks and museum spaces.
The Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center tells how the doors of the Tulchin house were discovered and bought by ethnographers in 2005.They have become one of the few authentic pieces of evidence of the life in Jewish villages.
Tulchin, a photo from the archive of the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center
The trace of Nikolai Bogdanov-Belsky's painting «Summer» was lost almost a hundred years ago. The artist painted the work in thePozhinki estate of the Udomel region. The painting was exhibited at the 40th Peredvizhniki exhibition. Visitors to the Museum of Russian Impressionism can find out howthe piece returned to Russia ended up in its collection.
«Summer», 1911. Nikolai Petrovich Bogdanov-Belsky. At the exhibition «Depicting the air. Russian Impressionism». Museum of Russian Impressionism
The Museum of Moscow report that the institution haschanged addresses and names more than once in its long history and have eventually found its home in Food Warehouses.
The modern building of the Museum of Moscow in the building of the Food Warehouses on Zubovsky Boulevard
The history of the painting «Lamentation of Christ», one of the accidentally preserved works by Jacques Bellange, isrevealed by the State Hermitage Museum.
Bellange, Jacques-Charles, Lamentation of Christ. France, 1616-1617 «The museum helps people not by moralizing, but by example. Works of art always have a «biography», sometimes messy and difficult. They often wander the world, but museums help them find their home. This is how they set an example for society», said Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director of the State Hermitage Museum. .
And on March 29 and 30, the Museum of Russian Impressionism and the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center will host guided tours where you can learn about paintings and other art objects that were temporarily left «without a home».
«By raising the issue of homelessness, we are opening the door to an important dialogue and breaking down stereotypes about the homeless person. Art helps to talk about this difficult topic through objects that once lost their homes, showing that homelessness can affect everyone», said Ayuna Markhaeva, curator of the Department of Inclusive Practices at the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center.
«Artists often spoke out on important social topics in their work. An art museum today can also do this by referring to art. By highlighting the issues through methods accessible to the museum and raising awareness, we are taking small steps towards solving pressing problems in society», Elizaveta Kabayeva, Curator of Accessibility and inclusion programs at the Museum of Russian Impressionism.
Moving to another city in search of work and the loss of identity documents is the main cause of homelessness. Find out more about how people end up on the streets on the Who are the Homeless.
Thanks
We thank the creative agency After Agency for developing the idea and the participating museums: the State Hermitage Museum, the Museum of Moscow, the Museum of Russian Impressionism and the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center for talking about homelessness with us.
