The Art Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution (Washington D.C.) is hosting an exhibition titled: “The Tsars and the East: Gifts from Turkey and Iran in the Moscow Kremlin” supported by LUKOIL.

The exhibition is organized under the auspices of RF President Dmitry Medvedev. Vagit Alekperov, President of OAO LUKOIL, and Sergey Lavrov, RF Foreign Minister, participated in the opening ceremony of the exhibition.  

The exhibition displays oriental treasures once owned by the Russian tsars; it is a unique art collection, which is a result of cultural relations between Russia and the neighboring countries. The collection includes ceremonial armor, horse attire, gold items, jewelry and also textiles used to decorate paramount state ceremonies of the past. Many of the exhibits are on display outside of Russia for the first time.

Over the past years the following exhibitions have been organized under the auspices of the Moscow Kremlin Museums: “The Russian Coat of Arms. The 500th Anniversary” (1997), “Christie’s and LUKOIL in Moscow” (1997), "Siberian Relics” (2000), “German Silver Masterpieces in the Kremlin” (2002), “Russia-Britain. 450 Years of Diplomatic Relations” (2003), “Ambassadors’ Gifts to the Russian Tsars” (2005), “Britain and Muscovy: the English Silverware at the Tsars’ Court” (London, 2006). 

In 2004, LUKOIL and the Moscow Kremlin Museums started a joint program aimed at the organization of traveling exhibitions in Russia’s regions. Exhibitions of this kind were organized in 2004-2008 in Perm, Nizhny Novgorod and Volgograd.

‘The Washington D.C. exhibition marks successful progress of our cooperation with the Moscow Kremlin Museums aimed at Russian art promotion both in Russia and overseas’, Vagit Alekperov said at the opening ceremony.