Photo exhibition "Koytendag" opens in Ashgabat

A photo exhibition titled "Koytendag" has been unveiled at the Nadar Gallery of the French Institute in Turkmenistan. The displayed photographs of the Koytendag massif caves are captivating visitors with their beauty.

17 multidisciplinary specialists (one Belgian, one Slovak, and 15 French) led by Jean-Pierre Grua conducted reconnaissance, topography, and other work in the Koytendag massif caves. The speleologists studied about 10 caves, including the Geophysical cave, Hashim-Oyuk, and the longest cave, Kap-Kutan.

Philippe Crochet and Annie Guiraud were responsible for photographing the cave features. Philippe and Annie have been working in caves around the world for many years. However, in the Koytendag massif on the border with Uzbekistan, they encountered a rare beauty that speleologists can only dream of. The Geophysical cave greeted them with exceptional underground decor: huge candelabras, delicate needles, elegant flowers, lacy branches, as well as giant hollow stalagmites, vast galleries with red ceilings, and enormous colorful draperies. It is a true feast for the eyes! The exhibition also includes several photographs of the Hashim-Oyuk cave, notable for its massive gypsum concretions.

Romain Gouvernet, the head of the French Institute, explains, "Visitors to the exhibition ask the same question: 'Why is there a female figure in a red jumpsuit in all the photos?' The reason is that in the past, a ruler or a matchbox was placed in the shots to visually determine the scale of the object. In our photos, Annie Guiraud plays this role."

Incidentally, as is well known, caves are pitch dark, so the photographs are taken with a flash. For a moment, the cave is illuminated and appears in all its splendor, and then it plunges back into darkness. So visitors admiring the magical beauty of the underground in the photographs have an advantage over speleologists, who must make do with momentary flashes of light to survey the space in all its glory.

The aim of the exhibition is to highlight the uniqueness of the natural environment to protect it in the future, as well as to inform the general public that our country is beautiful not only on the outside but also on the inside.

The "Koytendag" exhibition at the Nadar Gallery will be open until the end of January 2025.