“Art-Praktikum”, a game-guide to contemporary art

The new in art is always received by its contemporaries with definite distrust. Many artistic trends which today are universally recognized, and are even taught in schools, had to go through a stage of public criticism and outright denial. But we can see, for example, that today the art of the beginning of the twentieth century is accepted as an inevitable part of the classical heritage.

Today’s art, though, will not soon be acknowledged by all; at most by specialists and people interested in the newest tendencies. The productions of today’s generation of artists still have to struggle to find a way into the average spectator’s heart.

In Russia there are not many new works of art that would achieve worldwide significance. One of the most prominent collections is the so-called Ludwig Museum, which forms part of the Russian Museum. This collection, donated by the well-known German collectors Peter and Irene Ludwig, is on show to the public in the Marble Palace in St Petersburg. Unfortunately not many people visit it; most of us find contemporary art difficult to understand.

The State Russian Museum, with the help of young visitors to the Ludwig Museum, has created a distinctive guide to help people find their way through the different trends of contemporary art, so various and confusing to the spectator. The programme includes just twenty works from the exhibition, but they give a good overview of the various directions taken by art in the second half of the twentieth century. The user of the programme studies the works by completing various games and creative tasks, which allow one to get an idea of the origins of this or that tendency in contemporary art, and also allow one to try to create for oneself a work in a given style.

The programme may be obtained from the State Russian Museum.