Exhibition project of the Alexander Ostrovsky Museum (Russia)
External stands of the Russian House in Brussels
Language: Russian/English
“The Snow Maiden” stands apart from other works by Alexander Ostrovsky: the realist and satirist moved away from the socio-accusatory issues and created a fabulous plot based on folk legends. The upcoming exhibition is dedicated to this fairy tale.
We used to think of Frost and the Snow Maiden as of winter characters who traditionally wish everyone a Happy New Year. Ostrovsky’s “Snow Maiden” is exactly a spring fairy tale. The action of the play begins and ends with holidays. In the beginning – Shrovetide. The main thing in the content of this holiday is seeing off winter and meeting spring. The fairy tale ends with the feast of the Sun God, Yarila – this is the end of spring and the onset of summer.
“The Snow Maiden” was created in the happy hours of the playwright’s creative inspiration. The main work on its writing took place in March 1873. Alexander Nikolaevich was in a hurry to finish the play by his 50th anniversary (March, 31, old style), but he did not have time – the last date of work on the play was April, 4.
Visitors will learn how the landscapes and realities of Schelykovo, Ostrovsky’s estate in the Kostroma region, were reflected in this work. For almost four decades, the playwright lived in this estate for several months: he rested, received guests and worked productively. The nature of this amazing place inspired the writer to create the fairy tale “The Snow Maiden”.
The exhibition will introduce the embodiments of the “Snow Maiden” in the works of book graphic artists and theater artists. Initially, the stage fate of Ostrovsky’s play was not very successful. The premiere of the production, the music for which was written by the young Pyotr Tchaikovsky, took place in 1873 – at that time the play was received coldly. The triumphal march on world stages began after Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov wrote the opera of the same name. Later, in the twentieth century, several film adaptations of the play were created, including animated ones.
The exhibition presents works by famous theater artists Anatoly Arapov, Boris Knoblok, Vadim Ryndin and others, as well as illustrations for the play, authored by Olga Pinaeva and Vladimir Nabok. Here you can see Schelykovo’s landscapes, posters and programs of performances based on the fairy tale “The Snow Maiden”, photographs of actors in the roles of the heroes of the play.
