The 1920s in Russia weren’t exactly what people had hoped they would be. After the 1917 Russian Revolution brought down the old regime and the Soviets took over, there was a swelling sense of hope in a potential egalitarian Communist future. Yet only a few years later, censorship was curtailing art and free expression. Fortunately, no one was paying much attention to the children’s books.
Russia
Posted inNews
US Judge Puts Russia in Contempt Over Refusal to Return Historic Collection
It’s been more than two years since Russia issued a ban on lending art to the United States, and the latest news in the ongoing saga is that a federal judge has now declared the Russian government in contempt of court, imposing fines on it of $50,000 a day, the LA Times reports.
Posted inOpinion
Street Artist Creates a House of Cards from Riot Shields
Sometimes all it takes is the right gust of wind and an entire structure falls. The Yekaterinberg, Russia–based street artist Timofey Radya recently made an enormous sculpture of 55 riot shields, stacking them up in a pyramid that celebrates and critiques the one-year anniversary of the political protest movement that rocked the country last December after the Russian legislative election.
Posted inPerformance
A Report from Cyberfest: Russia’s New Media Festival
Cyberfest, the first and only yearly festival of international media art in Russia, was founded in 2007 by artists and curators Anna Frants and Marina Koldobskaya. Since that time they have brought hundreds of international media artists to St. Petersburg, and in the process raising its international profile.
Posted inNews
In Closing Remarks, Pussy Riot Grrrl Delivers Manifesto
Those who’ve been following the news out of Russia know that three members of feminist punk collective Pussy Riot are currently on trial for rushing the altar and playing an anti-Putin song in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The women called their song, which is titled “Virgin Mary, Chase Putin Out” and includes a lot of cursing, a “punk prayer.” Authorities arrested Yekaterina Samutsevich, Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova after their February performance and charged them with hooliganism and inciting religious hatred. They then spent months in detention until the trial finally began at the end of July.
Posted inArt
Creating Communal Space in Moscow
How much is one minute of your time worth? Two rubles (6 US cents), perhaps? That’s what the founders of Tsiferblat think. Tsiferblat, or “clockface” in English, refers to a set of open-to-the-public, almost-free spaces that have recently popped up all over Eastern Europe. The concept is quite simple: you receive access to a communal space for a fee of 2 rubles per minute, all while carrying around a vintage-style clock. There’s free tea and coffee, comfortable chairs and wi-fi. There’s even a kitchen.
Posted inArt
Hermitage Invites Contemporary Artist into Their Permanent Collection
MIAMI — For the first time, a contemporary artist has been invited to play with the permanent collection at the fabled Hermitage. Anthony Gormley tackles the museum’s classical collection and creates a humanizing display.
Posted inArt
Seeing Through the Crowds at the 2011 Venice Biennale Part I: The Giardini and Pavilions
Editor’s Note: Peter Dobey published a series of photo essays (1, 2, 3) about this year’s Venice Biennale at the beginning of June. This is a long-form essay (to be published in three parts) that explores the work at the Biennale.
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PARIS — It is difficult to write about Venice, just like it is difficult to really SEE Venice. Individual experiences of art fade away into the oversaturation that is the Venice Biennale in the same way the city of Venice is sinking into the Adriatic. There is the ontological experience of Venice and the problem of one’s ability to encounter it. Then there is the physical impossibility to see everything the Biennale offers you and all the things it doesn’t, especially when in Italy.
Posted inNews
Voina Art-ivists Free, Still Face Court Date
Things are looking up for artists of the radical Russian art collective Voina, who had been languishing in jail for months. They were just released on bail but the duo still face a future court date & they may have inspired other inmates to pursue a life in art.
Posted inNews
Voina Art-ivists Reject Russian Culture Ministry’s Prize Nomination
Animal NY reported that the Russian art collective Voina has been shortlisted for the Russian state prize for contemporary art for the memorable phallus they painted on a drawbridge opposite KBG headquarters in St Petersburg. But the group doesn’t want the prize.
Posted inNews
Major Art Exchange Between Prado and Hermitage
Two European museum powerhouses, the Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid and the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, have signed an agreement to temporarily swap 236 art masterpieces in what it is an unprecedented exchange between two major art institutions.
Posted inArt
FREE VOINA! Two Russian Art-ivists Languish in Jail
The radical performance art collective, Voina, has been challenging the Russian authorities for years but on November 15 two of their artists, co-founder Oleg Vortonikov and Leonid Nikolayev, were arrested for a performance this past summer that involved the overturning of a cop car as part of an anti-corruption protest.
Even with this major set back, Voina continues to fight and they resist the efforts of the authorities to squash their artistic protests. The group has fans all around the world and even stealthy street artist Banksy is a fan and has thrown his support behind the group and pledged £80,000 in an effort to help. To find out more about the situation I conducted the following email interview with Natalie Sokol, a third member who was also detained but later released, about the arrests.
