Regarding some Russian and regional exhibition projects of the 2020s in the art space of Kazan: a critical analysis

The article analyzes the art space of Kazan as one of Russia’s cultural centers through the lens of contemporary exhibition art projects initiated by museums, exhibition halls, and galleries. It addresses both the organization of significant large-scale exhibitions in the 2020s and their scientific and creative aspects, as well as their profound semantic resonance and broad social impact. The publication is accompanied by a historiographical review that focuses on key monographs, scientific articles, online reviews, and interviews related to the historical study of the city’s cultural landmarks and their role in shaping the artistic environment of Kazan. Through selected exhibition projects, the publication reveals a palette of some current collective exhibition projects, as well as exhibitions of individual artists whose art is of particular interest. As a result, these exhibitions identify the priority contemporary themes, the moods of the artists and the audience, the latest approaches to exhibition design, and the main trends and directions in the city’s art scene. It is noted that along with the permanent museum exhibitions of classical examples of visual art, the city successfully creates and develops projects by contemporary artists in various fields. It is this area, its changes and progress, that has particularly interested and attracted the attention of the authors, and as a result of the mutual collaboration between a teacher and a student, this publication has been created. A more detailed and in-depth analysis has been conducted on the following exhibitions: “Noah’s Ark” (2023), which provides a comprehensive analysis of individual works by various artists, and two exhibitions of the “Kazan Time” project. Artists of the 1990s at the Contemporary Art Gallery of the Republic of Tatarstan (2025), featuring the creative individuality of such masters as Evgeny Golubtsov and Oleg Ivanov, and “Our Avant-Garde” at the Benois Wing of the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg (2025), focusing on the phenomenon of the popularity of the ‘fathers’ of Russian avant-garde. The article raises questions about the future development of visual arts and the role of young artists in the 21st century. The modern development of the Kazan Art School and its role in the formation of Tatarstan’s visual arts are also discussed.