The exhibition “There Heaven walks the Earth” by artist Lola Lonli at the Roerich Estate
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On October 9, in the framework of the 145th Birth Anniversary of Nicholas Roerich, at the Modern Art Exhibition Hall of the International Roerich Memorial Trust the exhibition of paintings by Russian artist Lola Lonli “There Heaven walks the Earth” was opened. Guests of Honour of the exhibition were Smt. Sushma Sharma, Pradhan, Naggar Panchayat, and Mikhail Ktitorov, Head of the Cultural Section of the Russian Embassy in India.
The opening of the exhibition was timed to the anniversary of N.K.Roerich for the reason. Lola Lonli embodies in her works the ideas of cosmism and considers the Roerich family her spiritual mentors. Her early artworks were dedicated to myths and legends of the Ancient world as a source of eternal wisdom and evidence of close connection between cultures of different nations of the Earth. “I unite the legends of different nationalities, transfer Africans to the Altai and the Himalayas, only to uplift the human memory of the world brotherhood, that we all grew up from the same seeds of spirit, from common roots...” – says the artist. The paintings of this series were presented on the first exhibition of Lola Lonli in the IRMT, which took place in 2016. The artworks from “New World” series were also exhibited that time, reflecting her vision of the future spiritual evolution of mankind.
The exhibition “There Heaven walks the Earth” represents a new phase in the artwork of Lola Lonli. The artist's cherished dream of traveling through the Himalayas, along the route of the Roerich family expeditions, has finally come true. Lola was lucky enough to visit the valleys of Kullu, Kinnaur, Spiti, Lahul, Ladakh, Zanskar, Chantang and Nubra, to drive through the highest passes and observe absolutely unearthly landscapes, to see a lot of Buddhist shrines and to feel the spiritual presence of the great Teachers. This definitely should have inspired her to create new paintings and themes. And in just a year Lola has created almost 50 paintings. Moreover, feeling that the new images could not be expressed by the old means, she developed a completely new technique combining tempera painting with acrylic graphics. Inspired by Nicholas Roerich's works, performed in her original author's style, the paintings carry their own message to people. “This is an exhibition about the beautiful world of high mountains, – says Lola, – about legends and stories telling of the life of saints with high spirit and gods. The combination of mountainous terrestrial landscapes and amazing events unfolding in the clouds emphasizes the proximity of heaven and earth at special points of intersection of beauty and faith”.
At the opening ceremony of the exhibition, Indian curator of IRMT Ramesh Chander, welcoming the artist from Russia, said that her paintings carry light and beauty in them and are very close in spirit to the traditional Indian art, which is based on inner spiritual vision and meditation.
Larisa Surgina, Russian Curator of the IRMT, who works in the Trust on deputation from the International Centre of the Roerichs (Moscow), noted that Lola Lonli’s paintings reflect the spiritual life of the Himalayas, the mysterious world that is told about by myths and which can only be seen through the eyes of the heart. She said that Lola has been cooperating for 20 years already with the International Center of the Roerichs and its Non-Governmental Museum named after Nicholas Roerich, where she held 4 solo exhibitions.
In return speech Lola Lonli expressed her gratitude to the IRMT for their invitation to make the exhibition in such a significant place, which is a magnet of culture, laid down by our great compatriot; as well as to the employees and volunteers for their assistance in the preparation of the exhibition.
Lola Lonli is the author of her own methodic of painting education, based on the development of the artist's creative potential. During the exhibition she held workshops of tempera painting on the theme “Mountains and clouds”, “Mountains and people” for the students of the Helena Roerich Academy of Arts (IRMT) and for tourists, gladly sharing her skills with them.
