http://www.joyfularchipelago.com A Joyful Archipelago - exhibition of Russian art in London Tue, 01 May 2012 09:51:07 +0000 http://www.joyfularchipelago.com en http://joyfularchipelago.com/A-Joyful-Archipelago-publication http://joyfularchipelago.com/following/joyfularchipelago.com/A-Joyful-Archipelago-publication Tue, 01 May 2012 09:51:07 +0000 A Joyful Archipelago - exhibition of Russian art in London 3315303 A limited-edition 100-pages publication has published on the occasion of the exhibition that features artist's special projects alongside the essays by the new generation of Russian writers and poets. The contributors include: Dmitri Prigov, PUSSY RIOT, Ivan Gololobov, Katya Kazbek and Elena Strygina. Edited by Olga Grotova, co-edited by Oleksiy Osnach and Alina Dolgin. The price of the publication is £8 + shipping costs To purchase the publication please contact Oleksiy Osnach: o.osnach (at) gmail.com <img src="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3315303/JA publication.jpg" width="500" height="720" width_o="500" height_o="720" src_o="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3315303/JA publication_o.jpg" data-mid="17015753" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3315303/IMG_3865.jpg" width="500" height="417" width_o="500" height_o="417" src_o="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3315303/IMG_3865_o.jpg" data-mid="17015741" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3315303/IMG_3867.jpg" width="500" height="415" width_o="500" height_o="415" src_o="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3315303/IMG_3867_o.jpg" data-mid="17015746" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3315303/IMG_3868.jpg" width="500" height="420" width_o="500" height_o="420" src_o="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3315303/IMG_3868_o.jpg" data-mid="17015747" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3315303/IMG_3869.jpg" width="500" height="425" width_o="500" height_o="425" src_o="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3315303/IMG_3869_o.jpg" data-mid="17015751" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3315303/IMG_3866.jpg" width="500" height="417" width_o="500" height_o="417" src_o="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3315303/IMG_3866_o.jpg" data-mid="17015744" border="0" align="left"/> A limited-edition 100-pages publication has published on the occasion of the exhibition that features artist's special projects alongside the essays by the new... http://joyfularchipelago.com/Beautiful-is-the-Russian-forest http://joyfularchipelago.com/following/joyfularchipelago.com/Beautiful-is-the-Russian-forest Tue, 01 May 2012 09:08:00 +0000 A Joyful Archipelago - exhibition of Russian art in London 3314744 Performance by Tatiana Baskakova as a part of A Joyful Archipelago exhibition. <img src="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314744/tanyap2.jpg" width="500" height="690" width_o="500" height_o="690" src_o="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314744/tanyap2_o.jpg" data-mid="17014971" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314744/tanyap.jpg" width="500" height="722" width_o="500" height_o="722" src_o="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314744/tanyap_o.jpg" data-mid="17014963" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314744/575680_10150773646054168_593374167_9327447_630275330_n.jpg" width="670" height="670" width_o="960" height_o="960" src_o="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314744/575680_10150773646054168_593374167_9327447_630275330_n_o.jpg" data-mid="17015036" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314744/tan3.jpg" width="500" height="500" width_o="500" height_o="500" src_o="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314744/tan3_o.jpg" data-mid="17015043" border="0" align="left"/> Performance by Tatiana Baskakova as a part of A Joyful Archipelago exhibition. http://joyfularchipelago.com/Performance-night-1 http://joyfularchipelago.com/following/joyfularchipelago.com/Performance-night-1 Tue, 01 May 2012 07:17:45 +0000 A Joyful Archipelago - exhibition of Russian art in London 3314590 Performance titled The spring that we have been waiting for, performed collectively by the artists, took place on 20 April. Reading out Strugatsky brothers quotes on the ideal man of the future, selected from their interviews and writings from 1960’s to 1990’s, the artists make human figures out of gigantic pile of dough. The ballet playing on TV on the background is a reference to the 1991 failed GKChP revolt during which the main state TV channel was broadcasting Swan Lake while tanks were taking shots at the Parliament building in Moscow. An urgent news break interrupts the dialogue, declaring “End of the age of dreaming”, followed by Olga Grotova’s video which shows how propaganda of Soviet domination of space and search for extra-terrestrial civilisations and general aspiration for scientific progress has turned into state propaganda of religion. In the video Olga goes through the footage of Soviet scientific conferences and popular sci-fi TV programmes, contrasting them with the recent recordings of Russian leaders at religious ceremonies in luxurious church environments during the messes coordinated by dozens of clerics and the TV reports of a million Muscovites queuing up to touch the belt of Virgin Mary hoping to get a holy blessing. The whole performance looks back at the Russian history and how the state affected people’s aspirations and dreams and at the same time questions the reason for the return to the religious influences instead of promises of great scientific future. Baked human figurines together with cakes with printed book covers of Soviet and international sci-fi, futuristic and utopic literature, served to the public after the performance are a symbolic act of refusal from the past ideals and a metaphor for state censure and control of speech, as well as a reference to the history of burning of literature by the church. <img src="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314590/marx.jpg" width="500" height="500" width_o="500" height_o="500" src_o="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314590/marx_o.jpg" data-mid="17063182" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314590/performance.jpg" width="500" height="407" width_o="500" height_o="407" src_o="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314590/performance_o.jpg" data-mid="17013765" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314590/IMG_3779.jpeg" width="670" height="332" width_o="2048" height_o="1017" src_o="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314590/IMG_3779_o.jpeg" data-mid="17013527" border="0" align="left"/> Performance titled The spring that we have been waiting for, performed collectively by the artists, took place on 20 April. Reading out Strugatsky brothers quotes... http://joyfularchipelago.com/Daria-Irincheeva http://joyfularchipelago.com/following/joyfularchipelago.com/Daria-Irincheeva Tue, 01 May 2012 07:16:01 +0000 A Joyful Archipelago - exhibition of Russian art in London 3314586 Daria Irincheeva engages with an idea of a closed city by rethinking the very basic means of communications between the two people. Her structure, consisting of two braches connected by a string with a plastic cup on both ends resembles a primitive telephone, or perhaps a device that could be used by partisans in the woods or prisoners who are only in possession of the basic natural materials. The work uses humour to point to the lack of communication between citizens which can lead to the political crisis but at the same time encourages to communicate using whichever possible means one has. <img src="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314586/Daria Irincheeva- Untitled- installation_2.jpg" width="500" height="400" width_o="500" height_o="400" src_o="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314586/Daria Irincheeva- Untitled- installation_2_o.jpg" data-mid="17011825" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314586/Daria Irincheeva- Untitled- installation_1.jpg" width="500" height="752" width_o="500" height_o="752" src_o="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314586/Daria Irincheeva- Untitled- installation_1_o.jpg" data-mid="17011818" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314586/IMG_2608.jpg" width="500" height="667" width_o="500" height_o="667" src_o="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314586/IMG_2608_o.jpg" data-mid="17011851" border="0" align="left"/> Daria Irincheeva engages with an idea of a closed city by rethinking the very basic means of communications between the two people. Her structure, consisting of two... http://joyfularchipelago.com/Natalia-Skobeeva http://joyfularchipelago.com/following/joyfularchipelago.com/Natalia-Skobeeva Tue, 01 May 2012 07:14:47 +0000 A Joyful Archipelago - exhibition of Russian art in London 3314577 Natalia Skobeeva in her minimalist video titled On the Art of Communication attempts to decompose Russian political voting system and present it as a set of simple symbols. By continuously ticking multiple boxes on the tic-tac-toe like grid and then crossing them out she questions the possibility of any outcome except for the one that has been previously embedded in the system. The repetitive act is interrupted by the beeping noise, like the one used to signify the wrong answer in the game shows, thus further adding to the feeling of frustration and defeat. <img src="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314577/Natalia Skobeeva- still from On the Art of Communication- video with sound.jpg" width="670" height="375" width_o="2048" height_o="1147" src_o="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314577/Natalia Skobeeva- still from On the Art of Communication- video with sound_o.jpg" data-mid="17011618" border="0" align="left"/> Natalia Skobeeva in her minimalist video titled On the Art of Communication attempts to decompose Russian political voting system and present it as a set of simple... http://joyfularchipelago.com/Maria-Kapajeva http://joyfularchipelago.com/following/joyfularchipelago.com/Maria-Kapajeva Tue, 01 May 2012 07:09:40 +0000 A Joyful Archipelago - exhibition of Russian art in London 3314567 Maria Kapajeva uses the controversial image of the “Russian bride” as a metaphor for a life in a closed society. Her work I am usual woman consists of surreal collages of scantly dressed female figures, merging with their domestic settings. Those images are complemented with extracts from the dating sites describing the life “abroad” as careless and without any material struggles, where one does not have to work and has a loving husband to satisfy all the needs. Those writings however seem to only appear on the Russian language versions of the websites, thus aimed to be read by the future “brides” and keeping men unaware of their expectations. Maria’s work comments on the role of women in the Russian society and uses sinister imagery, where she erases the faces of those women as a comment for commodification and objectification of a woman in Russia. <img src="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314567/XPULS-07.jpg" width="500" height="767" width_o="500" height_o="767" src_o="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314567/XPULS-07_o.jpg" data-mid="17011879" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314567/XPULS-04.jpg" width="500" height="754" width_o="500" height_o="754" src_o="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314567/XPULS-04_o.jpg" data-mid="17013455" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314567/JoyfulArchipelago 257.jpg" width="500" height="335" width_o="500" height_o="335" src_o="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314567/JoyfulArchipelago 257_o.jpg" data-mid="17013452" border="0" align="left"/> Maria Kapajeva uses the controversial image of the “Russian bride” as a metaphor for a life in a closed society. Her work I am usual woman consists of surreal... http://joyfularchipelago.com/Exhibition-photographs http://joyfularchipelago.com/following/joyfularchipelago.com/Exhibition-photographs Tue, 01 May 2012 07:08:46 +0000 A Joyful Archipelago - exhibition of Russian art in London 3314561 <img src="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314561/install.jpg" width="500" height="265" width_o="500" height_o="265" src_o="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314561/install_o.jpg" data-mid="17014138" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314561/IMG_2603.jpg" width="500" height="375" width_o="500" height_o="375" src_o="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314561/IMG_2603_o.jpg" data-mid="17014137" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314561/overview.jpg" width="500" height="506" width_o="500" height_o="506" src_o="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314561/overview_o.jpg" data-mid="17051678" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314561/DSC_1072_1.jpg" width="500" height="266" width_o="500" height_o="266" src_o="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314561/DSC_1072_1_o.jpg" data-mid="17051617" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314561/masha1.jpg" width="500" height="380" width_o="500" height_o="380" src_o="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314561/masha1_o.jpg" data-mid="17051626" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314561/og2.jpg" width="500" height="241" width_o="500" height_o="241" src_o="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314561/og2_o.jpg" data-mid="17051638" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314561/Daria Irincheeva- Untitled- installation_1.jpg" width="500" height="752" width_o="500" height_o="752" src_o="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314561/Daria Irincheeva- Untitled- installation_1_o.jpg" data-mid="17051645" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314561/nat.jpg" width="500" height="906" width_o="500" height_o="906" src_o="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314561/nat_o.jpg" data-mid="17051608" border="0" align="left"/> http://joyfularchipelago.com/Olga-Grotova http://joyfularchipelago.com/following/joyfularchipelago.com/Olga-Grotova Tue, 01 May 2012 07:07:44 +0000 A Joyful Archipelago - exhibition of Russian art in London 3314558 Olga Grotova’s project A Joyful Archipelago presents a semi-fictional archive from a closed town N. Aged photographs are accompanied by the notes of a reporter who supposedly visited the town during the USSR times. Each photograph tells a happy story of the residents who organise regular collective activities such as “treasure hunts”, “beauty contests” and “collective pyjama parties”. However a more sinister truth is revealed when the viewer discovers the real origin of these images: they are archival photographs documenting life in Gulag taken from museum archives. In this work Olga makes a joke on how the state often portrayed the life in remote penitential locations and particularly references a popular 1930s book We are from Igarka, conceived by Gorky and written by children from a remote town in permafrost Siberia, which was a popular destination for the traitors of the regime. The book described the romantic life in a very picturesque location north of the Polar Circle — often making the readers envy for the life of the authors. This work is also Olga's investigation of her own roots and recollection of the stories she heard from her grandmother who grew up in a Gulag camp in Kazakhstan. A model of a Gulag surveillance tower in the exhibition space serves as a reminder of the real story behind the images but at the same time takes out the purpose from the construction, making a viewer see it as an object of craft derived from the collective activities of the residents of N or a children's playground structure. <img src="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314558/og2.jpg" width="500" height="241" width_o="500" height_o="241" src_o="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314558/og2_o.jpg" data-mid="17012309" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314558/og3.jpg" width="500" height="390" width_o="500" height_o="390" src_o="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314558/og3_o.jpg" data-mid="17012317" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314558/og4.jpg" width="500" height="825" width_o="500" height_o="825" src_o="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314558/og4_o.jpg" data-mid="17012320" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314558/og11.jpg" width="500" height="328" width_o="500" height_o="328" src_o="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314558/og11_o.jpg" data-mid="17012326" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314558/photo.jpg" width="500" height="387" width_o="500" height_o="387" src_o="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314558/photo_o.jpg" data-mid="17012329" border="0" align="left"/> Olga Grotova’s project A Joyful Archipelago presents a semi-fictional archive from a closed town N. Aged photographs are accompanied by the notes of a reporter... http://joyfularchipelago.com/Ariadne-Aivazovsky http://joyfularchipelago.com/following/joyfularchipelago.com/Ariadne-Aivazovsky Tue, 01 May 2012 07:06:35 +0000 A Joyful Archipelago - exhibition of Russian art in London 3314552 In her playful sculptures titled Men in jars Ariadne Aivazovsky places notable figures of Russian history, science and literature into small household jars, each complete with their unique surreal environment. This gesture is both naïve and significant at the same time: it nods to the typically Russian tradition of preserving food in jars from the times when provision was scarce and people had to conserve it for colder months. It also makes an ironic comment about the cults of personality that displaced those people from their historical context and made them into “national treasures”, twisting their original achievements to benefit the overall image of the country. <img src="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314552/DSC_1214.jpg" width="500" height="326" width_o="500" height_o="326" src_o="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314552/DSC_1214_o.jpg" data-mid="17011889" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314552/DSC_1217.jpg" width="500" height="749" width_o="500" height_o="749" src_o="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314552/DSC_1217_o.jpg" data-mid="17011893" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314552/DSC_1221.jpg" width="500" height="741" width_o="500" height_o="741" src_o="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314552/DSC_1221_o.jpg" data-mid="17011898" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314552/DSC_1223.jpg" width="500" height="748" width_o="500" height_o="748" src_o="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314552/DSC_1223_o.jpg" data-mid="17011901" border="0" align="left"/> In her playful sculptures titled Men in jars Ariadne Aivazovsky places notable figures of Russian history, science and literature into small household jars, each... http://joyfularchipelago.com/Maria-Gruzdeva http://joyfularchipelago.com/following/joyfularchipelago.com/Maria-Gruzdeva Tue, 01 May 2012 07:05:53 +0000 A Joyful Archipelago - exhibition of Russian art in London 3314550 Maria Gruzdeva’s photographs of VDNKh presents the viewer with vivid images of once grand but now semi-derelict All-Russia Exhibition centre. This massive complex was established in 1935 as the All-Union Agricultural Exhibition and was built by the vision of Joseph Stalin to create a cultural centre glorifying ideology of communism and socialism. However with the fall of the Soviet Union the complex has begun its decay and pavilions have been turned from impressive exhibition halls into tacky shops and cheap cafes. Maria’s images document this fall from grace, however still noting the underlying grandeur that can easily be resurrected by the new governments in the fresh wave of propaganda. <img src="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314550/Maria Gruzdeva_JA1.jpg" width="500" height="500" width_o="500" height_o="500" src_o="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314550/Maria Gruzdeva_JA1_o.jpg" data-mid="17051462" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314550/Maria Gruzdeva_JA2.jpg" width="500" height="500" width_o="500" height_o="500" src_o="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314550/Maria Gruzdeva_JA2_o.jpg" data-mid="17051464" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314550/Maria Gruzdeva_JA3.jpg" width="500" height="500" width_o="500" height_o="500" src_o="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314550/Maria Gruzdeva_JA3_o.jpg" data-mid="17051470" border="0" align="left"/><img src="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314550/Maria Gruzdeva_JA4.jpg" width="500" height="500" width_o="500" height_o="500" src_o="http://payload50.cargocollective.com/1/6/215792/3314550/Maria Gruzdeva_JA4_o.jpg" data-mid="17051475" border="0" align="left"/> Maria Gruzdeva’s photographs of VDNKh presents the viewer with vivid images of once grand but now semi-derelict All-Russia Exhibition centre. This massive complex...