Brunei Darussalam: The Adobe of Peace

This small country, whose well-being rests on rich oil fields discovered at the beginning of the last century, could be called victorious socialism with an Islamic face. Now in Brunei they are trying to develop tourism, but Russian travelers are still infrequent guests there, and if they visit it, they are on a short visit on a transit visa, heading to Hong Kong or Singapore, apparently considering that a couple of days are enough to understand this state. But is it? 

The exhibition has more than 40 works. The exposition is divided into three mutually complementary parts, which are located in the three halls of the museum, and which can be conventionally denoted as: "History", "People", "Nature, parks". The beginning of the exhibition, the author made part of the “History”, which included photographs devoted to urban architecture, cultural attractions, the magnificent mosques of the sultanate, including the country's visiting card - the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque, as well as the oil fields that made this state so prosperous. 

The central part of the exhibition is a series of photographs dedicated to the lives of ordinary people inhabiting the country: sellers of the colorful markets of Brunei, passers-by in the capital’s streets, residents of the famous “water village” water villages, schoolchildren. In the works of Kovalchuk, the life of ordinary people is a dominant, fundamental photo object, around which photo narration unfolds. 

The third and final part of the exhibition is Nature, Parks. No one would say better than the photographer himself: “I advise everyone who is going to visit Brunei to get acquainted not only with its capital, Bandar Seri Begawan, but also to spend the night in Ulu-Temburong National Park. There you will see one of the main riches of this country - untouched tropical rain forests. ”