Moscow gets a glimpse of magical Africa

Since their first trip to Morocco in 2011, the Zotovs have been depicting African culture in their paintings.

“Someone calls African art primitive, but this is not true. The ethnic art of Africa has its own language of symbols,” Nina Zotova adds.

At the on-going Moscow exhibition, the Zotovs are also displaying their private art collection, which includes Berber brass work, daggers and masks, and drums from Mali, Nigeria, Cameroon, Congo, the Ivory Coast and Morocco.

Nina uses both dry pastel and acrylic art techniques, while Nikolay uses the felted tracery technique.

As a part of the ‘Dialog Between Two Cultures’ project, the Embassy of Morocco invited the Zotovs to stage their art exhibitions in Fes and Casablanca.

“This is my new technique, which combines the skills of a sculptor and a painter,” Nikolay says.

Africa inspired the duo to experiment with unique art styles.

The duo’s African collection comprises of 300 unique material objects and 150 paintings.