Valera and Natasha Cherkashin are artists who have been working with the imperial cultures of the USSR (the title of this program is "The End of the Epoch, the 90's"), Germany, the United States, Japan and Great Britain for more than 15 years. China, Italy are in  future plans.  During that time, they have held more than 50 individual exhibits and more than 20 performances. There have also been some 30 television programs--on Central Russian TV, Russian TV, CNN, Deutsche Welle, Italian Super Channel--and over 50 publications--in Stern magazine, Art and Design magazine, Washington Post, Art Press, Royal Academy Magazine, Ogonyok--regarding their work.
    In 1992, the Cherkashins developed a conceptual art museum, "The Cherkashin's Museum Metropolitan" named in honor of the Moscow Metro.  An album on the " Cherkashin's Museum Metropolitan " has been published, copies of which have been acquired by many museums and libraries in Europe and America, including the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Tate Gallery, the British Library, the Scottish National Library, the Bodleian Library, Oxford,  the U.S. Library of Congress , the San Francisco Public Library and New York Public Library, etc.
    Since 1994, the Cherkashins have been working on the theme of "Travel as Art."  They created an exposition, which was installed in the Museum of Fine Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and conducted a number of performances in America ,Great Britain, Germany and Japan.
    Beginning in 1995, the Cherkashins also have been working on the theme of "Mirages of Empires."  Exhibitions based on this theme have been held in the Russian House in Berlin, the Russian House in Budapest, the Germany Embassy in Moscow, the Goethe Institute in Moscow, the Ford Foundation in Moscow, and the Moscow Center of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Chevy Chase Art Center, Washington DC.
    In 1996, the Cherkashins began to work on the theme of "Atlantises of the World."  An exhibition on "The German Atlantis" was held in the swimming pool of the Olympic Stadium in Berlin.  This exhibit was sponsored by the German Embassy, Deutsche Welle TV and AGFA Film. "The USSR Atlantis" was held in the swimming pool  of the University of Maryland.
    In 1997, during their trip in Germany, they became interested in portraits on the currency of different countries. Exhibitions on the theme "Favorite Portraits of People in the World" were held in Citibank and the World Bank in Washington DC in 1998. In 1999 "The Culture of European Portraits on Bank notes" in The Financial Ministry of Russian Federation, "The Portraits of Cultural Workers on Bank notes" in Delegation of the Commission of the European Communities, Moscow, "Good-bye Favorite European Portraits: hello Euro" an underwater installation in atrium pool, World Bank Headquarters, Washington, DC. 
    In 1999, the Cherkashins have worked with digital production--and will continue to--with the assistance of MFA Photography and Related Media Department of the School of Visual Arts.
    In 1999, they also received a four month grant from Japan Foundation to live and work in Japan.
    In 1999. "Art as a tool for diplomacy". An artistic solution in Japan on the issue of Northern Territories. 
    Collections: The Art Institute of Chicago; The Museum of Fine Art Santa Fe, NM; The Los Angeles County Museum of Art; The Museum of Fine Arts Houston, TX; The Zimmerly Art Museum, NJ; Museum am Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin; The Ransom Humanities Research Center, Austin, TX; The World Bank, Washington DC; the Cultural Art Foundation of Russia; the Ford Foundation, Moscow; The Kolodzei Art Foundation, USA The Collection of Olga Hirshhorn, Washington DC;  The Pacific Ocean and The Niagara Falls, etc.
    They have presented lectures about their art at the following institutions: Princeton University, NJ; Columbia University, NY; Harvard Club of New York City; NYU; International House of Japan, Tokyo; Vassar College, NJ; The Swarthmore College, PA; Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, NM; The School of Visual Arts, NY;The Goldsmith University, London UK; St. Claire's College, Oxford UK; USC; SFSU; The Art Academy of Cincinnati, OH; Rochester University, NJ; The University of Maryland, Tokyo Kougei University; Tsukuba University, Japan, etc.
    Since the Cherkashins' exhibitions are developed in relation to particular themes and correspond to individual exhibition spaces, their compositions varies from exhibit to exhibit.  Exhibitions are composed of photographic materials and newspapers, which are turned into pictures, bouquets of flowers, and figures of people.  The print medium attempts to convey auditory, graphic, and rhythmic information.  All of these different artistic forms converge in the unifying space of an exhibition, where each element remains at the same time a work of art in its own right.