The third meeting of the Disability Studies colloquium at the Tretyakov Gallery

On the March 16, the third meeting took place within the framework of the Disability Studies colloquium at the Tretyakov Gallery. This time the tour and lecture were devoted to the images of caring in Russian art of the late 19th - early 20th centuries.

Examining the canvases of Ivan Kramskoy, Mikhail Klodt, Nikolay Schilder, the participants, together with the curators of the colloquium, Nikita Bolshakov, a leading researcher at MLISI, and Maria Galkina, a specialistt for educational activities of the Accessibility and Inclusion Department of the Museum, discussed metaphors of illness and dying, love and hope, care and medical intervention.

In her lecture, Elena Iarskaia-Smirnova focused on several turning points in the depiction of illness and care in the history of European art. In medieval images, the care of plague patients was embodied by the Saints, Sebastian and Roch. Many romantic images of children, boys and girls, sick and dying of consumption, were created in the 19th century by artists who themselves suffered tuberculosis and often experienced more than one loss among their loved ones. The rejection of realism and expression in Munch's work conveys the power of suffering, but sustains the thirst for life. Suffering from an illness and shocked by what he saw in the women's prison, Picasso paints "Two Sisters" at the beginning of his 'blue' period. The scene is full of tragic feelings and deep empathy.

What can these works tell us about the changing forms and institutions of care? The participants of the meeting continued their journey through the halls of the Tretyakov Gallery, stopping and reflecting on this issue at the canvases of Ilya Repin and Vassiliy Polenov. Images of the disease find themselves at the intersection of art, medicine (and prison), religious, community and family care, social criticism, and humanitarian action. It is also an emotional experience of pain, loss, an awakening of empathy and a call for social justice.

The event was attended by regular listeners of the colloquium, including Laboratory staff and HSE students, and the guest of the meeting was the Vice-Rector of the HSE Irina Martusevich. The tour was conducted using the technical means of accessibility of the museum for the participant, who is using a wheelchair.