The exhibition «Tribute to Svetoslav Roerich» by Lola Lonli at the Roerich Estate
On October 23rd, an exhibition of the Russian artist, cosmist, and researcher of global cultures, Lola Lonli, was inaugurated at the International Roerich Memorial Trust to commemorate the 120th anniversary of Svetoslav Roerich's birth.
The artist's paintings are the result of her profound engagement with diverse cultural traditions and rigorous academic inquiry. She has devoted considerable time to independent study in the fields of philosophy, ethnography, and the history of various peoples. Her research encompasses not only theoretical insights but also practical engagement with these cultural traditions during her travels.
The exhibition, entitled 'Tribute to Svetoslav Roerich', includes a series of paintings inspired by Svetoslav Roerich’s art. These paintings ware created by the artist after her travels through the Himalayan valleys. The overarching theme of the paintings was identified by the artist as 'Shakti-dharma, or the Path of Creativity of Feminine Energies'.
The artist's paintings evoke a profound resonance with the exquisite female images created by Svetoslav Roerich's brush, which are imbued with a profound spiritual quality and an almost divine perfection. In Lola Lonli's canvases, deities appear to enter the bodies of ordinary people, thereby transforming them and demonstrating that the Divine resides within each of us and is reflected in our eyes. In essence, this is the artist's creative interpretation of the idea of Svetoslav Roerich's wonderful painting 'Love thy neighbour as thyself (By Your Lord)'. Through her paintings, the artist conveys her perception of the Divine, discernible in the eyes of ordinary people from the Kulu Valley, Lahaul, Ladakh, Kargil and Zanskar.
The images are characterised by a poetic quality and a high degree of visual detail, with poses that evoke both Christian iconography and traditional Tibetan thangka paintings. The subjects of the paintings reflect ancient legends. The artist posits that it is in the most ancient layers of culture that one can find the seeds of truth that contribute to mutual understanding, mutual respect and unity of peoples. Lola Lonli is convinced that the primary objective of her art is to foster unity and understanding among people, transcending boundaries, stereotypes, conflicts, and differences in mentality. Her art harmoniously intertwines the legends and beliefs of different nations, with the aim of evoking a sense of global fraternity and demonstrating that humanity has a shared spiritual heritage.
The artist demonstrates a particular respect for representations of women. By means of the vibrant imagery of Madonna, Shakti and Tara, she elucidates the distinctive function of the feminine in the annals of human history and the evolutionary process. Likewise, Lola Lonli attaches great importance to the depiction of traditional attire worn by Himalayan peoples, which she depicts with meticulous attention to detail, in a manner characteristic of ethnographic sketches. The artist was gratified to observe that members of the local community who attended the exhibition were able to identify elements of their traditional attire depicted in the paintings. Furthermore, the images of women in traditional Himalayan dress reflect the artist's vision that these very peoples, through their veneration and respect for women and mothers as embodiments of Shakti, the divine creative feminine energy, are reaffirming the forgotten tradition of honouring the feminine.
Lola Lonli's painting techniques are always innovative. For many years she has been using her own colour compositions and painting techniques. The exhibition presents several works made with a particularly strong paint formulation developed by the artist herself, which, thanks to its special texture, allows even blind people to ‘feel’ art by touching the painting. The texture, colour, reflectivity and fluorescence of the materials used play a special role in the artist's painting technique.
Lola Lonli's gift to the anniversary of the great Russian artist Svetoslav Roerich was appreciated by the festival participants and visitors of the exhibition. The guests of honour who were present at the opening ceremony - the Deputy Commissioner, Kullu, Torul S. Raveesh and the vice-president of the International Centre of the Roerichs Natalia Cherkashina - took part in the artist's tour of the exhibition with great pleasure. Lola Lonli's work once again struck the imagination of both locals and tourists who came from different parts of India and all over the world. Lola Lonli's picturesque images easily find their way to the hearts of people from very different cultures due to the universality of spiritual values that permeate the paintings.
