Фота: CityDog
A new venue has appeared on Minsk’s cultural map: a Museum of Naïve Art has opened on the second floor of the Arena City shopping centre, CityDog reports.
Naïve art is created by self-taught artists without formal artistic education. These creators express their vision of the world through simple and direct forms.
The museum says it plans to exhibit works by both artists recognised in Europe and homeless artists who were “found literally on the street.” Visitors will also be able to see works created by residents of the Minsk Psychoneurological Care Home.
Our expert noted that the exhibition at the new cultural venue conflates the concepts of kitsch and naïve art. “The term ‘naïve art’ was coined for the works of artists such as the French painter Henri Rousseau, who were concerned with the search for style and self-expression. ‘Naïve’ artists create a new artistic reality through a search for identity and a distinctive way of perceiving the world.
Kitsch, which is strongly represented in the new museum, exploits naïve art and indeed any form of art, creating a surrogate of it. Although kitsch is no longer perceived exclusively negatively today — serving as a language of dialogue between professional and mass culture, and in contemporary art often regarded as a form of ‘new sincerity’ — this does not justify the eclectic nature of the exhibition or the inaccuracy of the museum’s name,” the expert believes.
The museum is located on the second floor of Arena City shopping and entertainment centre (84 Pieramozhtsau Avenue) and is open from Tuesday to Sunday, from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.