The Russian organizers of the project "Collection!" are awarded the highest award of the French Republic

In the residence of the ambassador of France are awarded the Order of the Legion of Honor, the highest award of the French Republic, Vladimir Potanin, Vladimir Semenikhin, Igor Tsukanov and Olga Sviblova, who initiated the unique project "Collection!"

Six months after the opening in Paris of the exhibition "Collection! Contemporary art from the USSR and Russia 1950-2000 "the French leadership noted the main participants of the sensational project, as a result of which more than 450 works were donated for permanent display to the Pompidou Center. Ambassador of France to Russia Jean-Maurice Riper in his solemn speech called a unique gift "unheard of luck." "You made the right choice," he said to the participants of the event. Center Pompidou is famous for its collection of Russian avant-garde, and now for the full picture, a meeting has added to it, which offers an exhaustive look at Russian art of the second half of the 20th century. Among the artists represented were Ilya Kabakov, Erik Bulatov, Vladimir Yankilevsky, Eduard Shteinberg, Boris Orlov, Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid, Yuri Albert and many others.

The project "Collection!" Was initiated by the Vladimir Potanin Charity Fund, which acquired works from private collectors and their heirs and played an important role in organizing the exhibition (catalog and transportation of works). The selection of works of art was carried out together with Nicolas Lucci-Gutnikov, a researcher at the Pompidou Center, the inspirer of the whole project, Olga Sviblova. The main donors were collectors Ekaterina and Vladimir Semenikhin and Igor Tsukanov (Tsukanov Family Foundation). At the end of February, the exhibition "Collection!" Was supplemented by new acquisitions ("Collection +") - gifts of artists, heirs and collectors, this is more than 120 new works. "We launched a good avalanche," joked Olga Sviblova about the continuation of the project. You can see Russian contemporary art in the heart of Paris until April 2.