Graffiti of the Russian Geographical Society first appeared outside the capital - an image adorned the wall of a residential building in the city of Ulan-Ude (Republic of Buryatia). The basis for the street art object was a portrait of the famous ethnographer and orientalist Gombozhab Tsybikov, as well as a unique photo taken by him in Lhasa, the historical capital of Tibet.
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Gombozhab Tsebikovich Tsybikov (1873 - 1930) was born in the Urdo-Aga area of the Transbaikal region of the Chita district. In 1899 he graduated from the Faculty of Oriental Languages of St. Petersburg University. In 1899 - 1902 the scientist made his famous trip to Central Tibet. It was undertaken at the expense of the Society. At that time, Tibet was closed to foreigners. Gombojab Tsybikov became the first scientist from Russia who managed to penetrate into its territory, visit the largest cities and religious centers of the region and return safely.
He became famous as a photographer as well. In 1905, the National Geographics magazine published Tibetan photographs donated by Gombojab Tsybikov and traveler Kalmyk Ovshe Norzunov. In fact, these pictures saved the magazine from ruin and helped him to find his corporate identity.
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Earlier, the Society housed thematic graffiti in Moscow. So, at the corner of Arbat and Serebryany Lane a picture of a polar owl appeared from Wrangel Island, created based on the photos of Sergei Gorshkov. And the wall of the house on Slavyanskaya Square, 4/2, was decorated with a large portrait of the great Russian traveler and anthropologist Nikolai Miklukho-Maklai. In March 2017, with the support of the Moscow Metro in the capital, on the wall at the entrance to the metro station "Tretyakovskaya", there appeared graffiti "Little Varg". This is the image of a boy and his faithful friend - a manual peregrine falcon. The picture was taken on the Taz Peninsula by photographer Alexander Romanov.
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We should remind you that in September the Russian Geographical Society announced the start of the contest for the best sketch of graffiti. Its finalists will be invited to Moscow for the Festival of the Russian Geographical Society. In the presence of spectators and the press, the artists will create paintings on their own sketches on specially prepared surfaces of 2x3 meters in size. Then the winner of the graffiti contest will be chosen. His drawing will become a great art object in one of the Russian cities.