Tretyakov Gallery's 'Someone 1917' exhibition and social media cosplay contest

The Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow has launched a social media contest inviting visitors to recreate masterpieces from its exhibition 'Someone 1917', which runs until January 14. The show features works by Chagall, Kandinsky, Rodchenko, Malevich, Serebriakova, and Filonov, exploring the artistic response to the 1917 Russian Revolution. Participants posted parodies on Vkontakte, Facebook, and Instagram using the hashtag #некто1917. On December 25, the museum announced winners of the best art-cosplayers, each receiving two free tickets and an exhibition catalog. The initiative aims to engage younger audiences through pop culture, following similar museum strategies like the Pokémon Go trend or the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna's beauty contest. Director Zelfira Tregulova told the New York Times that artists of the era sought meaning through narod myths, avant-garde utopias, or escapist aesthetics, while some recorded urban reality. The exhibition provides a non-ideological reassessment of a crucial year, as official state celebrations were absent.