"Urman. The Forest Passage” is a project-visual reflection on Tatar mythology, the search for national identity and forms of artistic freedom.

The German thinker Ernst Jünger defined "The forest passage" as a term to describe a dissenting loner who resists given circumstances. Going into the forest is a form of individual freedom, which the exhibition artists realize through the idea of ​​their own local mythology, as opposed to past and present narratives about the uniformity of Russian culture.

The exhibition presents works about the inhabitants of the mythological Urman (from Tat. - Forest) - a fairytale forest in which Uryak (the ghost of the murdered), Azhdakh (an evil demon), Shurale (the spirit of the forest), Albasty (evil female spirits) and other creatures coexist . In it, as you know, the characters of the fairy tale encounter obstacles, overcoming which they grow up and change.

Turning to mythological images and traditional techniques for contemporary artists is also a kind of initiation rite, within which they plunge into local mythology and formulate their artistic voice.

And for each viewer, such a project can be the beginning of a personal study of their national history and cultural roots.