Lucy Soloveva (LU).
When Nightingales Sing
When Nightingales Sing
5.05.2026-7.08.2026
Suzdal, 45 Slobodskaya St.
about the gallery
ABOUT THE ARTIST
about the exhibition
MYRA Creative Community is a non-profit cultural institution and a center for contemporary art and cultural tourism in Suzdal. MYRA organizes exhibitions and projects in the field of performing arts, and also supports associations of directors, actors, and artists through artist-in-residence programs.
MYRA builds an extensive network of collaborations with artists, curators, directors, musicians, architects, designers, researchers, filmmakers, and scholars, implementing a dynamic cultural program across several venues in the town. It creates a space where art becomes part of everyday life and a way of reflecting on the present, bringing together the cultivation of horizontal connections, the search for novel artistic languages, and a thoughtful handling of the spiritual experience of the individual.
pr@myra.ru
myra.ru
About SOUZ Cultural Project. In 2024, gallerist Yulia Akimova founded a new institution — SOUZ Cultural Project. Its activities are focused on supporting contemporary art and regularly exhibiting artists’ work at various venues, including museums and major foundations, in collaboration with independent curators.
souz-project.com
MYRA builds an extensive network of collaborations with artists, curators, directors, musicians, architects, designers, researchers, filmmakers, and scholars, implementing a dynamic cultural program across several venues in the town. It creates a space where art becomes part of everyday life and a way of reflecting on the present, bringing together the cultivation of horizontal connections, the search for novel artistic languages, and a thoughtful handling of the spiritual experience of the individual.
pr@myra.ru
myra.ru
About SOUZ Cultural Project. In 2024, gallerist Yulia Akimova founded a new institution — SOUZ Cultural Project. Its activities are focused on supporting contemporary art and regularly exhibiting artists’ work at various venues, including museums and major foundations, in collaboration with independent curators.
souz-project.com
Lucy Soloveva (LU) was born in 1987. In 2010, she graduated from Stoletov Vladimir State University with a degree in design, and later took lessons at Yuri Negodayev’s studio. She lives and works in Vladimir.
Heavily influenced by street art, Lucy LU’s method involves creating works that hold direct statements, accessible to viewers without interpreters. Among her biggest inspirations, the artist names Giorgio Morandi and Lucian Freud, whose treatment of figurative painting proves its capacity for constant renewal.
The artist’s genre of choice is portraiture. The subjects of her works are often immersed in their inner feelings and seem removed from any external context. Lucy LU explores them through posture, expression, and emotional tension, inviting the viewer to join the process of empathetic perception.
Heavily influenced by street art, Lucy LU’s method involves creating works that hold direct statements, accessible to viewers without interpreters. Among her biggest inspirations, the artist names Giorgio Morandi and Lucian Freud, whose treatment of figurative painting proves its capacity for constant renewal.
The artist’s genre of choice is portraiture. The subjects of her works are often immersed in their inner feelings and seem removed from any external context. Lucy LU explores them through posture, expression, and emotional tension, inviting the viewer to join the process of empathetic perception.
The MYRA Creative Community and the SOUZ Cultural Project jointly present When Nightingales Sing, an interdisciplinary exhibition project by artist Lucy Soloveva (LU). Curated by Evgenia Kazarnovskaya, Anna Borunova (MYRA), and Elena Anitova (SOUZ), the project is scheduled to open in the historic town of Suzdal on May 30, 2026.
When Nightingales Sing reflects on the current rapport between the MYRA community and Suzdal’s residents, while also offering another step toward building new connections. Here, art serves both as a subject and as a tool for shaping horizontal relationships. The title is a nod to the artist’s last name (Soloveva is literally translated as “Nightingale”); she acts as a cultural mediator in artistic activities united by the idea of co-creation and dialogue. Art and design objects emerging from these interactions form a contemplative route across MYRA’s various venues.
The project spans several sites in Suzdal — MYRA Center, Larets, and Aquarium — and will be accompanied by a public program as well as open studios. Each venue reveals a different aspect of the project such as collaborative work, an insight into Suzdal’s cultural history, and a space for communication.
At the MYRA Center, visitors will see design objects and paintings by Lucy LU created together with pupils of the Istok school in Suzdal, as well as local college students and artists. One of the installations involves making an object in collaboration with local residents. The works are united by the theme of the Suzdal pastoral — an idealized world, whose images balance on the verge between the everyday and the fairy-tale.
The exhibition at Larets, bringing together works by Suzdal-based artists of different generations, explores the town’s cultural heritage and seeks to answer the question: how does a sense of belonging emerge? Aquarium will be transformed into a temporary urban square featuring a fountain — a place where people meet.
When Nightingales Sing addresses the small historic towns’ appetite for new forms of interaction between cultural institutions and local communities. It opens up a more in-depth conversation about modern urban areas seen as a living environment where art is employed as a means of building horizontal connections.
Evgenia Kazarnovskaya, MYRA Creative Community General Director and curator of the exhibition:
“For us, this project is not only an exhibition, but also an attempt to foster a dynamic dialogue with the town — to hear its rhythms, voices, and intonations. When Nightingales Sing grows out of collaboration with local artisans, students, and residents, whose participation provides the foundation for artistic expression, creating a space for mutual trust, exchange of ideas, and shared involvement. It is important for us that the town of Suzdal becomes a co-author, with its own memory, background, and present-day identity. We see cooperation with the local community and co-creation as a way to encourage sustainable cultural development and to build new connections within the town.”
Yulia Akimova, founder of the SOUZ Cultural Project:
“I first saw Lucy’s output during a trip to Suzdal in 2022, and our collaboration began soon thereafter. We have repeatedly exhibited her pieces both in Moscow and abroad, recognizing their rare power to linger in people’s memory. I think this is because her work is genuine and sincere. There is nothing performative about it. Instead, it’s pleasingly naïve, evoking childhood memories and speaking straight to the heart. We are happy to be part of and support this warm-hearted and socially beneficial project by the MYRA Creative Community.”
When Nightingales Sing reflects on the current rapport between the MYRA community and Suzdal’s residents, while also offering another step toward building new connections. Here, art serves both as a subject and as a tool for shaping horizontal relationships. The title is a nod to the artist’s last name (Soloveva is literally translated as “Nightingale”); she acts as a cultural mediator in artistic activities united by the idea of co-creation and dialogue. Art and design objects emerging from these interactions form a contemplative route across MYRA’s various venues.
The project spans several sites in Suzdal — MYRA Center, Larets, and Aquarium — and will be accompanied by a public program as well as open studios. Each venue reveals a different aspect of the project such as collaborative work, an insight into Suzdal’s cultural history, and a space for communication.
At the MYRA Center, visitors will see design objects and paintings by Lucy LU created together with pupils of the Istok school in Suzdal, as well as local college students and artists. One of the installations involves making an object in collaboration with local residents. The works are united by the theme of the Suzdal pastoral — an idealized world, whose images balance on the verge between the everyday and the fairy-tale.
The exhibition at Larets, bringing together works by Suzdal-based artists of different generations, explores the town’s cultural heritage and seeks to answer the question: how does a sense of belonging emerge? Aquarium will be transformed into a temporary urban square featuring a fountain — a place where people meet.
When Nightingales Sing addresses the small historic towns’ appetite for new forms of interaction between cultural institutions and local communities. It opens up a more in-depth conversation about modern urban areas seen as a living environment where art is employed as a means of building horizontal connections.
Evgenia Kazarnovskaya, MYRA Creative Community General Director and curator of the exhibition:
“For us, this project is not only an exhibition, but also an attempt to foster a dynamic dialogue with the town — to hear its rhythms, voices, and intonations. When Nightingales Sing grows out of collaboration with local artisans, students, and residents, whose participation provides the foundation for artistic expression, creating a space for mutual trust, exchange of ideas, and shared involvement. It is important for us that the town of Suzdal becomes a co-author, with its own memory, background, and present-day identity. We see cooperation with the local community and co-creation as a way to encourage sustainable cultural development and to build new connections within the town.”
Yulia Akimova, founder of the SOUZ Cultural Project:
“I first saw Lucy’s output during a trip to Suzdal in 2022, and our collaboration began soon thereafter. We have repeatedly exhibited her pieces both in Moscow and abroad, recognizing their rare power to linger in people’s memory. I think this is because her work is genuine and sincere. There is nothing performative about it. Instead, it’s pleasingly naïve, evoking childhood memories and speaking straight to the heart. We are happy to be part of and support this warm-hearted and socially beneficial project by the MYRA Creative Community.”
Information partners
Project partnerS
THE CULTURAL PROJECT “SOUZ".
MOSCOW, PETROVKA ST., 17 BUILDING 1.
PHONE: 8 977 600 78 10
MOSCOW, PETROVKA ST., 17 BUILDING 1.
PHONE: 8 977 600 78 10