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Emily Newman:
Chelyuskinites Festival
Sat, 16 Aug: 15:00 – 18:00
Sun, 17 Aug: From 13.00
(see full schedule here)
Locations: Udelnaya Park and the Russian State Museum of Arctic and Antarctic
In 1933, a Soviet expedition of professional Arctic explorers and unexperienced enthusiasts set forth to traverse the Northern Maritime Route, not in an icebreaker but in a conventional ship — to see if it could be done. The explorers succeeded in answering this question unequivocally: it could not. The expedition departed from Leningrad with the goal of reaching Vladivostok. It made excellent progress through the Kara Sea where a baby, Karina, was born on board--the last Chelyuskinite alive today. Upon reaching the Chukchi Sea, only miles from the Bering Strait, the Chelyuskin ship became trapped in the ice. It was dragged and pushed by powerful floes for months before being crushed. Whilst waiting for help, the passengers constructed a wonderful camp with the materials salvaged from the sinking ship. They made sports teams, study groups and a wall-newspaper. After two months, and an international effort involving both Soviet and American planes and more than 30 failed attempts to find the Chelyuskinites through dense fog and on the drifting floe, the entire expedition was successfully rescued. The pilots became the first ever heroes of the Soviet Union.
On the 80th anniversary of their rescue, MANIFESTA 10 will host the 'Chelyuskinites Festival', during which new plans for a permanent memorial to the Chelyuskinites will be unveiled at Udelny Park (formerly Chelyuskin Park) and local children will be invited to play out the heroic evacuation-onto-the-ice scene on a large scale wooden re-construction of the sinking ship. On the second day of the festival participants will gather at the Museum of the Arctic and Antarctic to meet with real polar explorers and to learn more about the Soviet conquest of the Arctic.
The event concludes with “The New Chelyuskinites” project-- a scheme which gathers children and adults together to “play Chelyuskin,” and to document the changing legacy of the Soviet Experiment as it passes through generations.
Admission is free, 0 +
For the full schedule of events for the weekend please see our Facebook event here
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Sterligov School: the 'Invisible Institute'
A part of 'Apartment Art as Domestic Resistance'
Fri, 15 – Sun, 17 Aug
(see full schedule below)
Location: Marata Street 33, apt. 7
In Leningrad in 1960s–70s Vladimir Vasilievich Sterligov created an artistic school that he called the 'Invisible Institute'. The last member of the avant-garde to form his own school, Sterligov was a unique figure in the history of Russian art. As Malevich’s intern at GINKHUK (The State Institute of Artistic Culture) in 1926 and close associate of the OBERIU group of writers, Sterligov survived the Stalinist purges and the war to emerge in the sixties as a link between times of 'rising and fading' hopes. Like Malevich, Sterligov believed that the vector of art’s development passed through him.
“I studied under Malevich, and I put down the cup after [his] square. As an idea, this is an open cup”. Vladimir Streligov
In the sixties and seventies, with his 'Invisible Institute' Sterligov revealed a new world to his disciples, one that had grown out of the specific qualities of twentieth-century painting.
Today Gennady Zubkov transmits the knowledge he received from his teacher, Vladimir Sterligov, to his own students. Despite everything, he has preserved his faith in the autonomy of art and the notion that the world can be transfigured with the aesthetic and ethical values espoused by the pioneers of the Russian avant-garde.
Schedule:
Friday 15 August
19.00 – The opening of the exhibition
19.30 – Lecture by the exhibition curator, Gennady Zubkov
Saturday 16 August
12.00 – A meeting with the curator Gennady Zubkov, along with the participants of the bike ride
13.00 – Open lesson at Gennady Zubkov’s studio
Sunday 17 August
12.00 – 20.00 – The curator Gennady Zubkov will be at the apartment ready to discuss any questions you might have.
For more information about the event click here.
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'10 Kilometers of Contemporary Art'
Bike tour around the main venues of the MANIFESTA 10 Biennial
Sat 16 Aug, 12:00 - 21:00
On 16 August there will be a bike tour around St. Petersburg: '10 kilometers of Contemporary Art', organized by the MANIFESTA 10 Biennial in collaboration with the 'Velomesto' Project.
Bicycle enthusiasts will take on the quest of the 10km route, especially devised so as to be able to view Kasper König's curatorial concept for the Biennial in its entirely in venues across St. Petersburg, all in a day.
The route includes the General Staff Building of the Hermitage, the main platform of the Biennial, Vitebsk railway station - where the Biennial's Public Program is based - as well as the apartment on Marata Street 33 where the ongoing project 'Apartment art as domestic resistance,' is held. The culmination of the tour will be at the Sergei Kuryokhin Center for Contemporary Arts where participants of the marathon will have the opportunity to record their own audio tracks in the musical-studio project 'GRRR JAMMING SQUEAK' by Paola Pivi.
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Free M10 Mediated Tours of the General Staff Building
Daily until 31 Oct:
Tues - Sun 12.00, 14.00, 16.00, Wed 18.00 (Museum closed Mon)
(Open tours in English and Russian)
Last week 'The Art of Mediation' was organised by Manifesta as part of the M10 dialogue series. Both the international and local panellists generated a particularly interesting discussion on the conflicts and traditions of guiding versus mediating.
Mediation – as opposed to the traditional model of the guided tour – instigates debate in front of the artwork from the visitor. Art Historian, mediator and writer Ben Street, who spent last weekend training new mediators for the Biennial, explained how that there is little point imparting the artists’ biography if it doesn’t help the visitor engage more fully with the work. The mediator wants to slow the visitor down in order to ask questions, gather responses and discuss varying opinions so that the groups’ own perceptions form the basis of collectively understanding the work.
Ben Street emphasised the relevance of mediation - which he believes is the most appropriate way of discussing contemporary art:
"...not to engage in a conversational way with art is to misunderstand its place art historically since most of contemporary art is build on a dialogue."
Russian Museum pedagogue Alekey Boiko raised the point that ‘mediation is dependant on the readiness of the visitor to participate' - an observation particularly relevant since art-mediation in Russia is completely new compared to the long tradition of guiding, Manifesta hopes this can change.
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News from the Summer School on MANIFESTA 10's blog
For two-weeks last month MANIFESTA 10 held a Summer School between the Zürich University of the Arts ZhDK and the St. Petersburg State University. Teachers and guest speakers who conducted workshops included: Thomas Hirschhorn, Kristina Norman, Alexandra Pirici, Flo Kaseru, Petr Belyi, Stefan Kaigi, Sergey Fofanov, Christoph Schenker and Aleksandr Terebenin.
We asked one of the students from Zürich to comment on her time at the school for the MANIFESTA 10 blog
"… I was interested in the perception of the contemporary in St. Petersburg. What struck me most was the discovery of the very varied interpretations of history. Therefore I appreciated the exchange with our Russian colleagues, who made clear that the diversity of memory in their environment is a subject they have to deal with….” Karin Kurzmeyer
To read more of Karin's thoughts on her experience and other news from the Biennial please visit the MANIFESTA 10 blog
Photo: Thomas Hirschhorn conducting his workshop 'Energy YES! Quality NO!' |
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