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Mark Troyanovsky / Courtesy of MAMM
The Arctic, Earth's northernmost region, covers the continental margin of Eurasia and North America and almost the entire Arctic Ocean, at the heart of which lies the North Pole.
Sergey Anisimov / Courtesy of MAMM
Over the centuries the Arctic’s icy hush has hypnotized travelers and scholars. Back in the late 16th century Dutchman Willem Barents organized three expeditions in search of a north-east passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
Vladimir Maximov / Courtesy of MAMM
In the mid-18th century Captain Vitus Bering, commander of the Russian Navy, discovered the strait between Siberia and North America. And the late 19th - early 20th century saw the beginning of nothing less than a pilgrimage: Fridtjof Nansen, Roald Amundsen, Robert Peary, Frederick Cook and various Russian polar explorers, among them Eduard Toll and Georgy Sedov, all tried to conquer the North Pole.
Pavel Kosenko / Courtesy of MAMM
By the end of the 19th century the first photographers had begun to join polar expeditions, believing in the limitless possibilities that the advent of photography would open up to scientists. Researchers now had a reliable way of documenting data that would allow their travels to be reported more accurately.
Viktor Temin / Courtesy of MAMM
Polar explorers and polar pilots were among the most respected and renowned people in Russia and elsewhere. Everyone knew their names. Late November saw the 120th anniversary of the birth of Hero of the Soviet Union and Arctic trailblazer Ivan Papanin (pictured). In 1934 a polar station was set up on Cape Chelyushkin under his command. Three years later, in 1937, Papanin took charge of the world's first drifting station, named the Severny Polyus (North Pole).
Sergey Anisimov / Courtesy of MAMM
Pilots Anatoly Liapidevsky, Sigizmund Levanevsky, Mavriky Slepnyov and others were the first to be awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union for rescuing the expedition of Otto Schmidt.
Vasily Anisimov / Courtesy of MAMM
They were the subject of films and books, and a source of national pride. Several generations were raised on the films “The Chelyuskinites,” “Two Captains,” and “Taymyr Calls You.”
Sergey Anisimov / Courtesy of MAMM
This century has seen a revival of interest in the Arctic, provoked less by conquest and development than by environmental issues and the preservation of the region’s unique natural resources, which could disappear entirely within the next 100 years due to climate change.
Lev Granovskiy / Courtesy of MAMM
In 2013 the Prirazlomnaya rig, an ultra-modern oil drilling platform, was put into operation. To date, it is the only station producing oil on the Russian Arctic shelf.
Sergey Anisimov / Courtesy of MAMM
For modern explorers, the Arctic is, first and foremost, a unique ecological system. The photos of Sergei Anisimov, Sergei Dolya and Sergei Makhalov depict its sublime landscapes, boundless icy plains and exclusive fauna, the preservation of which is one of humanity’s most urgent priorities.
Sergey Dolya / Courtesy of MAMM
The Arctic Exhibition is part of the Days of the Arctic Festival in Moscow. It takes place from November 18 through December 14 at the Multimedia Art Museum (MAMM) in Moscow.
