2009-02-17
© Julija Svetlova
A colourful future
Russia is full of newly opened galleries and artistic collaboration. The contemporary Russian art scene is beginning to broaden its palette. For many people it is still a matter of a strong commitment and no finance. New, independent groups are starting up, using the internet as a channel for spreading their art and totally dependent on this virtual meeting place.
The Lomography Society International started in Vienna back in 1992 and there are now affiliated societies all over the world with more than a million active lomographers. Russia did not take part in this colourful epidemic until a couple of years ago in spite of the fact that the Lomo camera was created in the eighties with the goal that every Soviet family should own one. Why did it take such a long time for the homeland of the Lomo camera to get organized?
“After Perestroika and the collapse of the Soviet Union, people had more important things to worry about. Now people finally have the opportunity of living, creating and having fun. There is a great deal of interest in Lomography here despite the fact that the boom has come so much later than in other countries”, claims Wlad Grad, sales manager of lomography.ru.
Lomo Walls
Valdimir Putin, who in 1996 was the vice-president of St. Petersburg, is generally
regarded as the godfather of Lomography. Thanks to a contract, production of the camera at the Lomo factory was guaranteed. In order to stimulate the movement, the Russian Lomography Embassy now finances the construction of so-called Lomo Walls which consist of assemblies of hundreds of photographs that become part of a larger narrative. The organizers in the different regions finance their exhibitions themselves.
“Lomography is a community”, press officer at lomography.ru Olya Louvetau maintains. “Collaboration is fundamental. There is a positive aspect to sharing one’s creativity and not just being creative on one’s own.”
Building on private people’s commitment
The Embassy’s sole income is derived from sales of cameras but this suffices to finance regular events. And so the entire movement in Russia is based on initiatives from private citizens. “Russia is late with everything, so why not with Lomography too? Our collective now consists of eight people. In august 2008 we took part in the Art Factory project which gathered artists from the Ural Mountains in a deserted factory”, Polina Kolesnikova explains. She is a Lomographer from Ekaterinburg
Siberia heats up
Denis Karagidon from Tomsk wrote an essay that he posted on his blog and was rewarded with film that cannot be purchased in Siberia. He later created the Krasnboyarsk Lomographic Community. “The Siberian climate is hard but I have a ray of hope that our community will be stronger”, he says. “It is not just the major cities that are leading the way, thanks to the internet we are in contact with the entire world. We don’t need to wait for Moscow and Petersburg, we can do things ourselves.”
“It’s really cool when some one has photographed the snowy Taiga and sends their film off to Mexico where the dry desert is superimposed.”
Over time the Lomo movement has developed. An example of this new type of collaboration is “Film Swaps”: double exposures of negatives. Lomo photographers send reels of film that have already been exposed to people in other countries in order to create two images in one. From China to Russia, from Belgium to Japan and from Taiwan to Sweden. “It’s really cool when some one has photographed the snowy Taiga and sends their film off to Mexico where the dry desert is superimposed”, says Denis Karagidon.
Polaroid passion
Polanoir in Vienna, Berlin and Barcelona is the fist international gallery exclusively dedicated to Polaroid images. It was started by Lexi Hoeller and Florian Kaps who are also behind polanoid.net which is a virtual platform for Polaroid enthusiasts whose ambition is to keep analogue photography alive. Since Polaroid film is no longer in production, they invest in developing new types of film.
“Polanoir is a counterweight to the digital era in which we find ourselves”, claims Carmen de Vos who is one of the Polanoir artists and editor of TicKL magazine. “I started producing TicKL in order to be able to combine sensuality and erotica with the type of visual narration that Polaroid images represent. If the store of Polaroid film runs out we shall have to change to instant film from Fuji and change our name to FicKL!”
Creative symbiosis
The online galleries give enthusiasts the chance of making contacts. Zora Strangefield from TicKL explains: “I recently took part in a project called “Fictional Recall” run by Enrique Freaza Viera. He found a suitcase full of Super-8 films from the 1970s at a flee market in Valencia. There were all sorts of family situations on film: visits to the zoo, picnics, birthday celebrations, holidays in the sun. Babies grew up, people aged, sometimes they disappeared. Initially Enrique could not fathom why anyone should want to throw out all of these memories and he decided to give them a new future. Each of us in the project has been given a film sequence and will write our own fictitious memory to accompany the film. Collaborative projects are often initiated on the internet. I have even jumped on a plane just to meet some strangers and start something new. This is a big adventure.”
If the financial crisis does not kill the organization, Russian pedestrians can look forward to a total Lomo Wall makeover on the streets this summer. Lomo has finally come home.
Wave of new art galleries in Russia’s metropolises
Something that is really flourishing in Russia is contemporary art. Over the last couple of years numerous galleries and artist-directed institutions have opened. In Moscow everyone is talking about the Winzavod and Garage galleries. In St. Petersburv there is the Loft Project Etagi as well as 100 SVOIH.
The Factory as a model
Etagi is the Russian word for storeys and is the name of a privately run gallery in central St. Petersburg where its premises are in a former bakery called Smolninsky. The interior has been preserved in its original state – concrete, steel and bread-making equipment. The “Archipenko Brothers” have produced a design for the premises that speaks of the future with just a touch of minimalist luxury. There is a wine bar with a library and art films are shown every Wednesday under the device “Cinema/Wine”. The premises also house a hostel and a vegetarian restaurant. Warhol and his Factory in New York were one of the sources of inspiration for the project; “a place where one showed work to one’s friends and colleagues before it was time to show it at a museum”. High-ceilinged, brightly illuminated and with history preserved in its walls.
“A healthy mix of art and leisure”
The Loft Project Etagi is also a place for communication between people living in St. Petersburg and representatives of the art world both locally and internationally. Savely Archipenko claims that the target group embraces all categories of people and not just artists and wine-bibbing Bohemians. “Etagi is not a snobbish project in any sense. We organize workshops for children and study visits for pensioners who want to learn more about contemporary art. Etagi is a healthy mix of art and leisure.”
Etagi’s press officer, Julia Tchai agrees: “In conjunction with our exhibitions we regularly organize seminars. They are always free and they attract a large audience. We are also engaged in social issues as in the exhibition ‘Who am I?’ in which a number of photographers portrayed the lives of homeless children in St. Petersburg.”
Many exhibition options
The Loft Project Etagi collaborates with various government cultural organizations and museums. A year ago, the Hermitage international editorial committee held its first, informal meeting with the heads of ICCROM (International Centre for the Study of Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property), The Louvre, Centre Georges-Pompidou and the Uffizi Gallery at Etagi. The current exhibition “100 Items of Italian Design” is from the Milan Triennial Museum. The premises offer many options for exhibitions, both inside and outdoors.
Irena Kuksanaite is the curator of the Formula Gallery as well as being an artist and she was previously involved with the underground scene in Leningrad. The gallery’s well developed website contains interactive works of art. There is even a Lomo Wall on the yard. “The wall is a permanent search for new forms of representation through such media as reportage, fashion photography and Lomography. It is open to both professionals and amateurs who have a non-stereotype creative bent”, Julia Tchai explains.
“Art can actually draw money”
Loft Project Etagi currently receives no government grant but Savely Archipenko is hopeful in this regard. Parts of the premises are rented out to creators like Design Studio and Projector Magazine. “This is a way of promoting the place and it has proved to be effective, even financially. Art can actually draw money nowadays.”
100 SVOIH Gallery/Bar Druzhba
Roman Shairanov and Olga Ginzburg, owner and curator of the gallery, explain
the history behind the project: “We wanted to create a meeting place where people could exhibit art and perform on a stage. We did not want to be dependent on anyone financially and so we chose to open a bar to cover our costs. The premises are quite small so we have to be very careful about how they are used: work stations for the employees, kitchen, lighting and DJ equipment and how guests were to move from the bar to the gallery. Refurbishing the premises took us three years; much due to constant changes in the building regulations.”
Admission to the gallery is free and the works are sold at reasonable prices. Club evenings are organized in the cellar with invited DJs. Since there is limited money available, most of the people appear for very small fees. Roman and Olga have worked non-stop for the last year and they are trying to enter into collaboration with other organizations. “We never do anything just because it is popular. What we display on the premises is what we like ourselves and it is the fruit of mutual cooperation. We do not choose our public. They find their way here themselves.”
Julija Svetlova
Born in Siberia she grew up in Lithuania and in St. Petersburg. She is now based in London working as a photographer. She organized Lithuania’s first Lomo even with an 11 x 2.5 metre Lomo Wall at the Architectural Museum in Vilnius.