One Hundred Years Without Tolstoy
Multimedia Exhibition
Library of Foreign Literature, Moscow
4 – 31 March, 2010
The exhibition was first shown at Yasnaya Polyana in the summer of 2008, then – at the Yaroslavle Historical А architectural and А rt Museum-Preserve in the spring of 2009. The exhibition is based on photos and videos reflecting dramatic events of the last century, and on citations from the literary works of Leo Tolstoy and his articles, letters, and diaries from various years.
2010 is the 100th anniversary of the death of Tolstoy; 2008 is the 180th anniversary of his birth. These dates provide an occasion for us to reflect again on ourselves and the world which surrounds us.
A century later Tolstoy’s creative heritage remains surprisingly relevant, and has lost neither its force nor its ability to convince us.
Tolstoy’s works, charged with emotion and sometimes cutting, but always sincere, touched on nearly all of the most acute problems of civilization. The last century has been a vivid illustration of his bitter reflections and fears.
Tolstoy is not a prophet and not a seer. He is very astute and very engaged. His intense vision takes in everything, penetrating the depth of phenomena and events and surmounting all barriers and boundaries.
This is the vision of genius, and it is outside of time; for him it is evident that the nature of many things remains unchanged, regardless of how new their outer shell may appear to us at times. He does not let slip from view the game played over the last century on the chessboard of planet Earth, that of moral choice, constantly confronting each individual and all mankind.
It is interesting to reflect on history together with Tolstoy, to try and understand what in our world concerns and alarms him, and to listen to what he so insistently wanted to call to our attention. Today his voice speaks directly to us.
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