Svetlana Teylor, The Russian Village and the Revolution · 2017-09-19 · September 18, 2017 Press...
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September 18, 2017 Press release an artistic discovery of the Russian village in the commemorative year of the centenary of the Russian Revolution Main project of the 12 th Krasnoyarsk Museum Biennale Curators: Maria Bukova, Ursula Hübner, Sabine Jelinek, Sergey Kovalevsky, Simon Mraz, Vladimir Tarnopolski, Svetlana Teylor, Tobias Urban, Astrid Wege, Karin Zimmer Excerpt The Russian Village and the Revolution: Orlando Figes Concept: Simon Mraz Location: Ploshchad Mira Museum Centre, Krasnoyarsk Exhibition dates: 6th October 2017 – 28th February 2018 Opening date: 5 th October 2017, 19:00 Location: Address: 1 Ploshchad Mira (1 Peace Square). The Museum Centre itself is the world’s largest museum dedicated to Lenin, and the last such museum ever built. Since 1995 – and as the first of its kind in Russia – the museum has organised a biennale of contemporary art. The “mir: the village and the world” project takes places on the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution. Incidentally, the first Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art was held in the world’s first Lenin Museum (no longer existing today), though the Krasnoyarsk Museum Centre stands out like no other place in Russia with so meaningful a tradition for the juxtaposition of contemporary artistic energy with the essence of the Soviet museum, and especially that part of it dedicated to the legacy of Lenin. Project title: It seems significant that many among those who speak no Russian nevertheless know that the word “mir” signifies both “world” and “peace”. However, even Russian native speakers are rarely aware that it was also applied to the peasant “obshchina” - the old Russian village community that embodied both meanings at once, being based on ancient social customs, according to which all live in peace and harmony. Project idea: The historic roots alone of the word "mir" bear witness to the cultural significance of the Russian village for the entirety of Russian culture. This half-forgotten sense of the word “mir” as “obshchina, peasant society” inspires wonder. The main question raised by the exhibition project is this: What in general does "Russian village" signify in a cultural context? And here we encounter a plethora of realities and phenomena rooted in the diversity of Russian culture and unknown to those of us coming from a (Western) cultural background. They are conditioned in part by the very geographic immensity of the Russian state. In addition to the classic village, somewhat familiar to us (the Uchma village museum in Yaroslavl Oblast perhaps being one of the most vivid Russian illustrations thereof), the countryside was also home to the estates of the gentry, amid these village communities and their lands. The vast expanses of the former Russian empire still preserve examples of historically shaped forms of village life corresponding to the different cultures of such peoples as the Kalmyks or Yakuts, or to their religious character, as with the communities of Old Believers. These latter fled persecution following the 17 th century reforms in the Orthodox Church by escaping into the deep forests of Siberia, founding village communes where they preserve their customs and ancient traditions to this day. The Russian Revolution was a great turning point in history. Historian Orlando Figes, in his contribution to the exhibition project, emphasises the importance of the Russian rural population for the revolution. The revolution was fed by people from the countryside – peasants who had swarmed into the cities, while deep social upheavals were underway in the rural areas themselves, leading to major changes in the social order of rural society. Soon after the revolution, in the wake of industrialisation, collectivisation came to the village – the most brutal and destructive socio-political and economic experiment of modern times, causing the virtually universal annihilation of the traditional village way of life and created a system of collective farms – the kolkhozes which to this day exert a decisive impact on the reality of rural life in Russia. The Soviet system also gave rise to new forms of rural life, such as the dacha communities for members of the artistic professions – artists, poets and composers. Villages and settlements far from the major urban centres were also home to dissidents, who had abandoned the capitals due to persecution or as a result of enforced exile.
Transcript of Svetlana Teylor, The Russian Village and the Revolution · 2017-09-19 · September 18, 2017 Press...
September 18, 2017 Press release
an artistic discovery of the Russian village in the commemorative year of the centenary of the Russian Revolution
Main project of the 12th Krasnoyarsk Museum Biennale Curators: Maria Bukova, Ursula Hübner, Sabine Jelinek, Sergey Kovalevsky, Simon Mraz, Vladimir Tarnopolski, Svetlana Teylor, Tobias Urban, Astrid Wege, Karin Zimmer Excerpt The Russian Village and the Revolution: Orlando Figes Concept: Simon Mraz Location: Ploshchad Mira Museum Centre, Krasnoyarsk Exhibition dates: 6th October 2017 – 28th February 2018 Opening date: 5th October 2017, 19:00 Location: Address: 1 Ploshchad Mira (1 Peace Square). The Museum Centre itself is the world’s largest museum dedicated to Lenin, and the last such museum ever built. Since 1995 – and as the first of its kind in Russia – the museum has organised a biennale of contemporary art. The “mir: the village and the world” project takes places on the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution. Incidentally, the first Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art was held in the world’s first Lenin Museum (no longer existing today), though the Krasnoyarsk Museum Centre stands out like no other place in Russia with so meaningful a tradition for the juxtaposition of contemporary artistic energy with the essence of the Soviet museum, and especially that part of it dedicated to the legacy of Lenin. Project title: It seems significant that many among those who speak no Russian nevertheless know that the word “mir” signifies both “world” and “peace”. However, even Russian native speakers are rarely aware that it was also applied to the peasant “obshchina” - the old Russian village community that embodied both meanings at once, being based on ancient social customs, according to which all live in peace and harmony. Project idea: The historic roots alone of the word "mir" bear witness to the cultural significance of the Russian village for the entirety of Russian culture. This half-forgotten sense of the word “mir” as “obshchina, peasant society” inspires wonder. The main question raised by the exhibition project is this: What in general does "Russian village" signify in a cultural context? And here we encounter a plethora of realities and phenomena rooted in the diversity of Russian culture and unknown to those of us coming from a (Western) cultural background. They are conditioned in part by the very geographic immensity of the Russian state. In addition to the classic village, somewhat familiar to us (the Uchma village museum in Yaroslavl Oblast perhaps being one of the most vivid Russian illustrations thereof), the countryside was also home to the estates of the gentry, amid these village communities and their lands. The vast expanses of the former Russian empire still preserve examples of historically shaped forms of village life corresponding to the different cultures of such peoples as the Kalmyks or Yakuts, or to their religious character, as with the communities of Old Believers. These latter fled persecution following the 17th century reforms in the Orthodox Church by escaping into the deep forests of Siberia, founding village communes where they preserve their customs and ancient traditions to this day. The Russian Revolution was a great turning point in history. Historian Orlando Figes, in his contribution to the exhibition project, emphasises the importance of the Russian rural population for the revolution. The revolution was fed by people from the countryside – peasants who had swarmed into the cities, while deep social upheavals were underway in the rural areas themselves, leading to major changes in the social order of rural society. Soon after the revolution, in the wake of industrialisation, collectivisation came to the village – the most brutal and destructive socio-political and economic experiment of modern times, causing the virtually universal annihilation of the traditional village way of life and created a system of collective farms – the kolkhozes which to this day exert a decisive impact on the reality of rural life in Russia. The Soviet system also gave rise to new forms of rural life, such as the dacha communities for members of the artistic professions – artists, poets and composers. Villages and settlements far from the major urban centres were also home to dissidents, who had abandoned the capitals due to persecution or as a result of enforced exile.
Finally, there is the modern day reality of deserted and derelict villages, or those which offer their inhabitant neither work nor future. A lifetime would not suffice to deal with the subject thoroughly. In order to reflect these themes and offer their own interpretation of them, the “mir“ project saw artists from countries including Russia, Austria, Germany and the Netherlands travel across Russia for over two years: in Siberia's distant forests, in the Urals, in far-off Yakutia and many other places. The “mir” project represents the first comprehensive international attempt to re-interpret the theme of "the Russian village" from the perspective of contemporary art. The results are brought together in an exhibition at the most appropriately chosen location – the Krasnoyarsk Museum Centre – made specially available for this project on the centenary of the Revolution. The musical part of the project will take place this November in the Rakhmaninov Hall of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Moscow.
(Text: Simon Mraz) Note: “Birobidzhan”, an independent project though thematically connected to “mir” project, will also be presented by the Austrian Cultural Forum Moscow and its partners. A publication about both projects is planned for spring 2018. Artists: Alex Anikina (Russia) Onka Allmayer-Beck (Austria) Blue Noses (Russia) Elena Chernychova (Russia) Club Fortuna (Xenia Lesniewski, Julia Rublow, Sarah Sternat – Austria) Ilya Dolgov (Russia) Timofei Dubrovskikh (Russia) Benjamin Eichhorn (Austria) GELITIN (Austria) & ELIKUKA (Russia) Olga Ivanova (Russia) Sergey Kishtshenko (Russia) with RESANITA (Anita Fuchs and Resa Pernthaller – Austria) Evelyn Loschy (Austria) Boris Matrosov (Russia) Alexandra Paperno (Russia) Alexander Plusnin (Russia) Olesya Rostovskaya (Russia) Gregor Sailer (Austria) Viktor Sachivko (Russia) Antje Schiffers (Germany) with Kathrin Böhm (Greece/UK) and Wapke Feenstra (Netherlands) Elisabeth Schimana and Markus Seidl (Austria) SCHULLER&HANAKAM (Roswitha Schuller and Markus Hanakam – Austria) Vasily Slonov (Russia) Dmitry Starusiev (Ukraine) Alexander Surikov (Russia) Leonid Tishkov (Russia) Danila Tkachenko (Russia) Where the Dogs Run (Russia) Arnold Veber (Russia) Jasmijn Visser, Stefan Schafer (The Netherlands) Anya Zholud (Russia) Artists of the special project “Laktose, Osmose, Kolchose” (Lactose, Osmosis, Kolkhoz): Sylvia Berndorfer Stefan Brandmayr Georg Holzmann Katharina Kaff Alexandra Kahl Melanie Ludwig Leo Lunger Veronika Sengstbratl Julia Zöhrer Maria Zhariy Curators of the special project “Laktose, Osmose, Kolchose”: Ursula Hübner, Tobias Urban and Sabine Jelinek (University of Art and Design in Linz, Austria): Project partners: Krasnoyarsk Territory Ministry of Culture Krasnoyarsk Museum Center MIR No. 1 (Peace Square 1) Federal Chancellery of the Republic of Austria
Austrian Cultural Forum Moscow Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Russian Federation Goethe-Institut Moscow University of Art and Design in Linz, Department of Sculpture and Transmedial Space (Prof.Tobias Urban, Asst. Liesl Raff) and Department of Painting and Graphics (Prof. Ursula Hübner, Asst. Sabine Jelinek) Centre for Contemporary Music at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Moscow Abramtsevo Museum Reserve, Moscow Oblast Uchma Village Museum uchma.info Shiryaevo Biennale of Contemporary Art; Central Volga Branch of the National Centre for Contemporary Arts-Rosizo Images for press are available here: https://goo.gl/cAKmrC Project Facebbok page: fb.me/mirthevillageandtheworld General sponsor:
Supported by: This project takes place in the framework of the 500- year anniversary of the diplomatic mission of Austrian ambassador Sigismund von Herberstein to Russia, and forms part of the official programme of the Russia-Austria Tourism Year 2017. Media partners: Events connected with the opening: 6th October 2017 — the silent film “Die freudlose Gasse” (Joyless Street), Austria 1925, based on the novel by Hugo Bettauer, directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst with life accompaniment by Gerhard Gruber. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joyless_Street 7th October 2017 — the silent film “Sodom und Gomorrah”, Austria 1922, directed by Michael Curtiz with live accompaniment by Gerhard Gruber. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodom_and_Gomorrah_(1922_film) 2nd November 2017, 19:00 — the concert “Komm Genosse, zu unserer Kolchose!” (Come, comrade, to our Kolkhoz!) The Rakhmaninov Hall at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Moscow. A collaborative project with the Tchaikovsky Conservatory’s Centre for Contemporary Music. 4th November 2017 marking the centenary of the October Revolution — a concert/performance by the Austrian art group GELITIN in the Ploshchad Mira Museum Centre, Krasnoyarsk. Accreditation for the Russian press — ArtManagement: Danila Stratovich, +7 (926) 522 6386 [email protected] Accreditation for the international press: Simon Mraz, +7 (925) 860 1275; [email protected]
