History
Na Solyanke Gallery found its way onto the cultural map of Moscow in 1988. It became especially popular amongst the city’s avid museumgoers after film historian Boris Pavlov became its director. Beginning in 2002, the exhibitions at the gallery were high-profile events, especially those that dealt with the new director’s principal passion — animation.
For many years, Pavlov curated non-fiction and animated film programs at the Museum of Cinema. A perennial jury member at major animation festivals (from Leipzig to the Krok Festival in Ukraine), he succeeded in turning Na Solyanke into a hall of fame for Russian animators. A retrospective of works by director Fyodor Khitruk drew tens of thousands of viewers, while such permanent gallery artists as Mikhail Aldashin and Ivan Maksimov have presented all their new works at Na Solyanke, thus reminding the broader public that animation’s domain extends beyond movie theaters and onto the walls of museums.
Pavlov succeeded in creating a place that was attractive to children and adults alike. Thanks to his efforts, the gallery became an informal museum of animation.
Since Boris Pavlov’s sudden, tragic death in 2009, his son Fyodor Pavlov-Andreevich, a producer whose projects are well known in Russia and beyond, has headed the gallery. Within a year he expanded the gallery to a museum-format space by creating a House of Animation and Video Art.
As of late 2009, Irina Margolina, one of Russia’s top animation historians, a TV producer, and a renowned scriptwriter. joined Solyanka as a Chief Curator, Animation. Her idea of programming and close relations with the world’s animation scene has given the museum an exciting new perspective.
