Author Archives: Olga

An event the entire city has been eagerly awaiting! The opening of the Museum of Remembrance in Annemasse in November 2025.

An event the entire city has been eagerly awaiting! The opening of the Museum of Remembrance in Annemasse in November 2025.

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THE PAX PRISON — A HIGHLY SYMBOLIC PLACE OF THE RESISTANCE
At the end of December 1942, Italian soldiers occupied Annemasse. They requisitioned a hosiery factory located at 21 Avenue de la Gare and used the basement to imprison political opponents.

But in September 1943, the Italians left and German occupation troops took their place. Soldiers from the “SS Polizei Regiment Todt” set up headquarters at the Hôtel Pax, while the hosiery factory just across the street was converted into a prison.

It became the main prison of the department during the Second World War, with hundreds of people detained there. The prison register lists 736 names, though not all prisoners were recorded. Among them were members of the Resistance and Jewish people — including 39 children.

Some of the prisoners were murdered, others released, but most were transferred to the Montluc Prison before being deported to concentration and extermination camps.

Such was the fate of Mila Racine (Born in Moscow and arrived in Paris with her family in 1926), a young member of the Resistance who saved many Jewish children by helping them cross the Swiss border illegally. Arrested on October 22, 1943, she was imprisoned in the Pax Prison and later deported to the Mauthausen camp, where she died under Allied bombings just a few days before the liberation of the camps.

After Mila Racine’s arrest, Marianne Cohn took over her mission. This young resistant also saved many Jewish children, but she was arrested on June 1 together with a group of children.

The mayor, Jean Deffaugt, managed to secure the release of the youngest ones and offered to help Marianne escape. She refused, fearing reprisals against the children. Tortured, she never spoke, and she was murdered at Ville-la-Grand on July 8, 1944, along with five other prisoners.

FROM THE PAX PRISON TO THE HOUSE OF MEMORIES — A PLACE OF COLLECTIVE REMEMBRANCE
The symbolic transformation of the former Pax Prison into the House of Memories breathes new life into a site steeped in history — a witness to the darkest hours of the region during the Second World War and to the heroic acts of the Resistance.

This redesigned institution will serve to gather and transmit the heritage of Annemasse, ensuring that the memory of those times continues to live on.

A MODERN AND INTERACTIVE MEMORIAL EXPERIENCE
The House of Memories features a 120 m² interpretation center, completely reimagined to offer an immersive and educational experience.

The building’s exterior façade, the only remaining original element, has been carefully restored to its historical appearance, including the reconstruction of the first-floor balcony.

A museum itinerary, supported by modern and interactive scenography, makes the history of the site during the Second World War accessible to all visitors.

Sources:

Annemasse’s official website: https://www.annemasse.fr/

Space and Body

Space and Body

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Espace et Corps_preview

Space and Body  is a project by the FABLE association (France, Art, Beauty, Freedom of Expression), presenting an exhibition by renowned painter and one of the association’s founders, Sergey Sergeev.

FABLE highlights the works of a collective of artists from around the world, all united by a shared passion for French culture. Created with the goal of building cultural bridges between different artistic disciplines and enriching the diversity of contemporary expression, FABLE organizes exhibitions, performances, and various cultural events.

Founded in 2024, FABLE continues the activities of the D137 art club, established in 1996 in Saint Petersburg as a contemporary art gallery, which later became a cultural landmark. Over this period, nearly two hundred exhibitions took place, accompanied by conferences, concerts, and numerous published catalogs. Prestigious collaborations were also established with cultural institutions such as the Goethe-Institut in Saint Petersburg, the Finnish Institute, and the consulates of the United Kingdom, Finland, Germany, and the United States, leading to unique projects in the heart of the city.

FABLE has already formed partnerships with several cultural institutions and galleries in France, including the Galerie des Écuries de Saint-Hugues in Cluny, where an exhibition attracted more than 5,500 visitors.

The cover features a photograph of a performance by Swiss artist and dancer Nina Vitanova (www.ninavita.art), presented during the FABLE exhibition in Cluny in July 2024 (photographer: Christian Steiner).

Sergeev and Vitanova have been collaborating since the early 2000s, and a joint exhibition accompanied by a performance could emerge within the Espace et Corps project. This exhibition would highlight two artists with different origins and artistic backgrounds, living in different countries, yet united by their love for France and its culture. Their works, which span various media—painting, photography, and performance—offer a journey through the richness of contemporary practices, initiating a dialogue between diverse cultures.

Sergeev and Vitanova each employ unique techniques in their visual creations, yet their works converge through a shared depth of thought. Their inner worlds intertwine, each evolving within a universe they have shaped—a landscape of imagination that echoes the mental landscapes of humanity, the stars, the moon, and the cosmos.

The first exhibition of the FABLE association in Galerie à CLUNY Ecuries de Saint-Hugues

The first exhibition of the FABLE association in Galerie à CLUNY Ecuries de Saint-Hugues

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                                                                 FABLE

(France. Art. Beauty. Freedom of Expression) exhibition presented by the Fable association

FABLE is the first exhibition by an association of the same name, bringing together artists of diverse origins living in France. The exhibition features paintings, graphics, and sculptures by four very different artists but united by their love for France and its culture. At a time when the world is being torn apart by the injustice of war, fueling pain and hatred, every artist advocating for peace has a duty to help repair our society by promoting compassion, common sense, and forgiveness. Art has a particularly important role to play as a manifestation of human spirituality and development. The artists of different nationalities presented in this exhibition unite against tyranny and the political games designed to divide creative minds. They stand for peace, love, and compassion. They use art to better understand and explain the current situation, to reflect and document both the pain and the hope of humanity. France is the country of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. It not only gives artists the opportunity to create freely but also inspires them with its great history, the diversity of its nature and the richness of its culture.

 

The exhibition presents the work of the following artists:

Alexeï Burchalovski, born in 1963 in the Soviet Union, is a Russian-born artist who lives and works in Cluny (Burgundy-Franche-Comté). After studying electronics, he worked as a sound engineer on the alternative scene of Saint Petersburg. In 1996, he moved to France, where he created his first works from recycled materials. A self-taught artist, he creates assemblage sculptures from a variety of materials such as metal, wood and stone, as well as paintings which he has been exhibiting since 2001.

Yelena Lewis, born in Soviet Russia before Perestroika, is a British artist of Russian-Ukrainian origin living in Leaz (Ain). Since 1977, she has lived in various European countries and traveled all over the world. Yelena’s art is influenced by the diversity of human cultural experience and the universality of human emotion.

Karha Nizharadze, born in Batumi, Georgia, is an artist of Georgian origin living and working in Annemasse (Haute-Savoie). After graduating from the Tbilisi Academy of Fine Arts with a master’s degree in monumental painting, he moved to France in 1999 and settled in Metz, where he attended courses as an auditor at the Faculty of Fine Arts. His paintings fluctuate between the abstract and the figurative, taking the viewer into a dreamlike and timeless dimension.

 

Sergey Sergeev, born in Leningrad in Soviet Russia, is a Russian-born artist who has been living and working in Annemasse (Haute-Savoie) since 2013. He graduated from the Serov Higher School of Fine Arts. He began his career at the Mariinsky Theatre and became an active participant in the Russian non-conformist movement in 1974. He was also one of the founders of the iconic contemporary art gallery D137 (in Saint Petersburg). He developed his personal style by studying the painting techniques of Flemish Northern Renaissance artists and etching. Today, his works, exhibited since 1975, can be found in museums and collections such as the Hermitage Museum, the State Russian Museum, the Sergei Kuryokhin Foundation, the ERARTA Museum of Contemporary Art, the Museum of Non-Conformist Art in Saint Petersburg, the Zimmerli Art Museum in New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA, the Kolodzei Art Foundation, USA, the Sandretto Foundation, Italy, as well as in the collections of Helen Mirren and Taylor Hackford, USA.

 

FABLE Association

FABLE Association

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FABLE Association

France. Art. Beauty. Freedom of expression

The FABLE association was created in January 2024 with the idea of uniting the artistic activities of its members, who are people from different backgrounds, living in France or in other countries, but loving France, its culture and drawing inspiration from it.

France allows creative people freedom to express themselves, and the association welcomes artists who create and appreciate beauty that can beautify and improve the world, and helps them integrate into French culture. Members of the association can be creators of different directions: artists, musicians, writers, filmmakers, actors, etc.

The idea of creating an association belongs to the Art Club D137.

The association’s first project is the FABLE exhibition, which will take place in June 2024 at the Ecuries Saint-Hugues exhibition space in Cluny (Burgundy). Artists participating in the exhibition:

Alexey Burchalovsky, Elena Levis (www.yelenalewis.com), Kakha Nizaradze (www.karhanizharadze.org), Sergey Sergeev (www.d137.org)

Contacts: fable@d137.org

 

PAX MUNDI /Together We Stand/ Exhibition 2022

PAX MUNDI /Together We Stand/ Exhibition 2022

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PAX MUNDI /Together We Stand/ Exhibition 2022

Exhibition booklet

PAX MUNDI

“Together We Stand” is both the title and underlining concept of an international exhibition uniting artists from different countries in this global time of crisis. It brings together the works of:

 

  • Vlad Yurashko and Vika Shumskaya, Ukrainian artists living in Slovakia;
  • Yelena Lewis, a Russian-British artist living in France;
  • Karha Nizharadze, a Georgian artist living in Switzerland;
  • Sergey Sergeev, a Russian artist living in France.

As the world is torn apart by unjust wars, breeding pain and hatred, it is the duty of every artist who stands for peace to help repair and mend our society by promoting compassion, common sense and forgiveness. Art has a particularly important role to play as a manifestation of human spirituality and development.

The multinational artists showcased in this exhibition stand together in rejection of tyranny and the political games designed to separate creative minds. They speak for peace, love and compassion. They use art to better comprehend and explain the current situation, to mirror and document both human pain and hope.