In December, Russia’s most renowned contemporary painter and People’s Artist of the Russian Federation, Nikas Safronov, will present his work in India for the first time with the support of Rosneft Oil Company.

His inaugural exhibition will be held in New Delhi from December 7 to 21, followed by a show in Mumbai from December 25 to January 15. These exhibitions will mark the beginning of a major international project, Safronov said in an interview with the leading Russian business daily Vedomosti.

According to the artist, participation in such cultural initiatives fulfills a charge from Pope Francis, who, shortly before his death in February 2025, blessed Safronov to “build spiritual bridges — in the Vatican, across Europe, and around the world.”

“Culture unites people best because it speaks a language everyone understands — the language of positive emotion. I am glad to have become part of these important and benevolent initiatives supported by Rosneft Oil Company,” the painter emphasized.

Safronov is preparing 96 works for the exhibitions, working on them daily. Ten of these were created specifically for India. As is his custom when preparing exhibitions abroad, Safronov immersed himself in the country’s history, culture, painting, and epics.

“In this case I studied depictions of Shiva and Brahma, the Taj Mahal, Varanasi, the natural environment, architecture, and certain iconic sites. To capture the atmosphere, I carefully examined Roerich’s paintings to see India and Tibet once more through his eyes,” he said.

Safronov works in his own style, which he calls “Dream Vision.”

“It’s like the dream you see just before waking. When you awaken, you remember it for about fifteen minutes. The last impressions — half-blurred, already fading — transfer to the canvas. It’s a visit to misty Venice, Pompeii with its blurred frescoes, or a foggy morning in a Russian forest. It is a complex technique, but it is rooted in professionalism — in knowledge of perspective, draftsmanship, and color,” the artist explained.

“I hope the exhibition will be a success and attract a wide range of visitors — local residents, the creative intelligentsia, schoolchildren, and businesspeople. We will hold meetings and master classes there and interact with students,” Safronov noted.

He added that the India exhibitions are the launch of his large international project. With Rosneft Oil Company’s support, the shows will include 15 distinct zones, multimedia projections, LED and volumetric screens, cutting-edge technologies using neuro-mirrors, living paintings, and targeted accent lighting.

“It will be beautiful and impressive,” the artist assured. He added that “live art combined with VR and AR technologies is already not the future — it is our present.” At the same time, Safronov is confident that artificial intelligence cannot replace a true artist.

“Artificial intelligence can offer suggestions, but it cannot do the work for you. Nor can it invent something radically new in art — after all, it is an algorithm that operates according to a template set by humans and uses information fed into it,” Nikas Safronov stressed.