In May, it was ten years since Svetlana Khayenko passed away. She was an illustrious art historian, a member of the Union of Artists of Latvia, an author of many albums and monographs about art, a lecturer of the Baltic International Academy, an initiator of the creation of the student art gallery BiArt, who today is well known outside Latvia. The memorial exhibition, which opened in the educational building of the BIA at Lomonosova Street 4, is dedicated to her.
It consists of two parts. One is the permanent exhibition of the memorial classroom of Svetlana Khayenko. Here are the works of artists presented to her. Among them are portraits of Svetlana, which were painted by Edgar Mickelson, Babken Stepanyan, Elena Antimonova, Lyudmila Perets. The second half of the exposition presents works dedicated to the memorial exhibition. Among them, a rare photograph by Vladimir Starkov attracts attention, where Svetlana was photographed at the personal exhibition of Joseph Elgurt at the BIA in 2006.
With kind words of memory and respect, the exhibition was opened by Stanislav Buka, Chairman of the BIA Senate, who is rightly called the godfather of the student gallery, since he actively supported the idea of its creation and supported it during the years of formation and development and finds time for it today. He noted the professionalism, selfless devotion and love for the art of Svetlana Khayenko, her ability to discover new artists and help them find their way in creative work.
In his speech, S. Buka also thanked the current head of the student gallery, a member of the Union of Artists of Latvia, Valentin Danilenko, for his loyalty to the traditions of Svetlana Khayenko and wished him to strengthen ties with artists and expand the scope of activities of the gallery.
With warm and touching words, Svetlana Khayenko was remembered by her former colleague, BIA lecturer Tatiana Kuzmina, her former student, journalist Raisa Smirnova, artists Vitaly Ermolayev and Anatoly Borodkin, restorer Olga Marshtupa, writer Alexander Geronyan. All of them are unanimous in their opinion - Svetlana Khayenko has done a lot of good things for artists, for the fine arts of Latvia, for the Baltic International Academy, and it is our duty to honour her memory.
The exhibition will run until the end of June.
In the photos: The exhibition is opened by Stanislav Buka, Chairman of the BIA Senate, and Valentin Danilenko, head of the student gallery BiArt. Fragment of the exposition of the exhibition. Svetlana Khayenko at the personal exhibition of Joseph Elgurt at the BIA in 2006.
Photos by Vladimir Starkov and Kristina Lyakhova.
