In the center of Satka, in Proletarskaya street, a new exhibition is presented in a series of street projects called “Satka: City Code”. It is devoted to Karagayskiy Quarry, which will celebrate its 125th anniversary next year; it is named in quite an intriguing way: “Karagayskiy Quarry. Flight to Mars”.

A part of the exposition with old black and white photos from the archive of the Magnezit Museum reminds us of how magnesite was mined in the past and even recently, how the technologies and the facility itself changed and developed. It is noted in the annotation to the exhibition that for almost 125 years Karagayskiy Quarry has turned into a vast mine opening: deep and wide, with its own processes inside, connected directly to the mine and tunnels to the interior of the Earth, multiple roads and railways used for transportation of mined ore. Due to its beauty, it became one of the main sightseeing attractions of Satka. Specially for excursions, a safe view point with an impressive all-round view was built on one side of the quarry. 

“Often industrial objects become a source for creative inspiration. So, Karagayskiy Quarry became an attraction point for many artists and photographers, some of them crossed the borders of ordinary and practical understanding of its essence and let their imagination run free”, says Diana Gurova, the project curator. “Young talented photographer from Krasnoyarsk Roman Yakovlev was specially invited to Satka. He spent some days in a quarry, enjoying sunsets and sunrises. Soft beams of warm sun and non-standard approach to shooting let him turn familiar views of Karagayskiy Quarry into Martian landscapes – as we could imagine them. Combination of sienna tones – from gold to deep red – supplemented by cold tones of unmelted snow, vehicles that seem to move by themselves and, of course, its ‘residents’, who make the quarry function – all these form a feeling of irreality, being on ‘another planet’.”

This effect is amplified by the scale of the photos. Black and white design emphasizes the artistry of the photos made by Roman and focuses attention on textures – peculiarities of rocks. 

“Mars is a faraway planet, studying it for many years, the mankind strives for it”, it is mentioned in the annotation to the exhibition. “But it is still not accessible for us. Karagayskiy Quarry is a ‘planet’ on the Earth. One can admire it from a distance, but nobody can take part in its life without special training and skills. It has been studied since its opening, but nobody knows how many secrets it still keeps…”

We invite you to have a look at the “planet” on the Earth. The exhibition organized with the assistance of Magnezit Group, Sobranie Fund and the Satka District Development Assistance Fund, will be open until the middle of October.

Source: Magnezitovets. Photo by: Vasily Maksimov.