Seven artists from the New East and beyond are taking to the streets of London as part of a cutting-edge project transforming mobile phones into immersive art guides.

ShadowMemory uses a mobile app to guide visitors through London, mixing games, music, videos and performances to help users see the capital through the eyes of the artists themselves.

Art-lovers can walk any or all of the seven self-guided trails, which will launch with the opening of Art Night Open 2018 on July 7.

Each route is designed to take around 30-40 minutes and will be no more than 3 km long.

The digital project was launched by GRAD — previously the Gallery for Russian and Eastern European Arts and Design — in partnership with artists from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, the UK, Switzerland and Israel.

They say that they want the project to change how people view the urban spaces around them.

“ShadowMemory transforms the way we navigate the cities through the eyes of others,” said Elena Sudakova, director and principal curator at GRAD. “It creates new relationships between the artists, participants and different areas of the city, enhancing the sense of belonging in the community.”

ShadowMemory will be available to download on iOS only from 2 July. For more information, click here.

Three short stories by Crimean director Oleg Sentsov have been published in English amid calls to release the filmmaker from prison in Russia.

The three texts — Autobiography, Testament and Dog — were translated by Dr Uilleam Blacker, a lecturer at University College London, for free speech campaign group PEN International.

Earlier in May 2018, Sentsov went on hunger strike in the jail where he has been incarcerated for the past four years. The director was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2014 following accusations that he had planned to blow up a statue of Lenin and set fire to the offices of a pro-Kremlin political party.

Groups such as PEN International have called on the case to be retried, warning that the trial could have been politically-motivated.

“PEN International fears that Oleg Sentsov was imprisoned for his opposition to Russia’s occupation and illegal annexation of Crimea and calls on the Russian authorities to release him immediately,” the group said in a statement. “Should there be grounds for prosecution on charges of terrorism, these should be heard by a civilian court under Ukrainian law. The organisation further calls on the Russian authorities to respect Oleg Sentsov’s human rights, including the prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment as it pertains to hunger strike, and his right to medical attention.”

Others who have called for Sentsov’s release include the European Film Academy, European Parliament, and French president Emmanuel Macron, as well as celebrities including Patrick Stewart, Johnny Depp and Steven King. The director is reportedly receiving nourishment via an IV line, but has not been examined by Ukrainian doctors.

A new museum chronicling the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s is set to open in Zagreb after a successful crowdfunding appeal to help immortalise the suffering caused by conflict. 

The independent Image of War Photography Museum raised more than $8,000 in public donations to host its inaugural exhibition, which is slated for next month.

The show, about conflict in Croatia between 1991 and 1995, will feature work from world-renowned photojournalists alongside snapshots donated by local people.

Activists behind the museum say they want to confront an increasingly “indifferent” society with the true horror of war.

“The museum’s purpose is to respond to the increasing trivialisation of war and its consequences,” they say. “Public discourse regarding armed conflict has become increasingly callous and indifferent — even though here in Croatia, we lived through a horrific conflict 23 years ago.”

The museum will donate part of the venue’s ticket revenue to refugee charities.

The Image of War Photography Museum is due to open in early July. For more information, click here.

Screenshot from Leto, dir. Kirill Serebrennikov

In the final moments of Leto, Viktor Tsoi — leader of Kino, the rock band that gained a mass following on the eve of the Soviet Union’s collapse — makes his apotheosis in black clothes and eyeliner, defiant chin up. For most of the film, however, he is a shy teenager in a sweater. Kirill Serebrennikov’s highly anticipated biopic first made headlines last August, when the last days of shooting were interrupted by his arrest on embezzlement charges his supporters say are politically motivated. Serebrennikov remains under house arrest, and was unable to attend the film’s premiere at Cannes. Unsurprisingly, foreign critics were quick to frame Leto as an allegory for artistic oppression in Putin’s Russia. But the final result, released earlier this month in Russia, is surprisingly anodyne.

Until his arrest, Serebrennikov was best known for the Gogol Center, a theatre staging provocative riffs on Russian classics, and films like The Student (2016). His jailing has made him an unlikely martyr. In December 2017, Moscow’s glitterati (including Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov) turned out for the premiere of his ballet Nureyev at the Bolshoi, while Serebrennikov remained confined to his apartment.

While Serebrennikov’s case has become a cause célèbre, his film about the beloved Kino (which he edited from home) has been the subject of much speculation. Earlier this year, Leto was snubbed by Russian rock legend Boris Grebenshchikov, who helped Kino record their early albums. He denounced the screenplay as “a lie from beginning to end” starring “Moscow hipsters who do nothing other than [have sex] on someone else’s dime.” And the film caused some confusion at Cannes for foreign critics unfamiliar with Kino. Peter Bradshaw penned a positive review for the Guardian, despite apparently thinking that the film depicted Serebrennikov’s own youth.

Tsoi was born in Leningrad in 1962, the son of a teacher and an engineer of Korean descent. After coming up in Leningrad’s underground rock scene, he achieved superstar status with his electrifying appearance in the 1987 movie Assa. In the final scene, as a bureaucrat lectures them about rules for performers, Tsoi and bandmate Yuri Kasparyan stride towards a stage which transforms into a stadium full of screaming fans. The song they played, Khochu peremen (I Want Change), became the anthem of perestroika. At a time when Mikhail Gorbachev’s reforms were exploding the norms of Soviet politics and culture, Tsoi captured Soviet youth’s desire to break away from the world of their parents. A journalist once asked him what, if anything, he disliked about his surroundings. “Everything,” he said.

Foreign critics have seen Leto as “a stern rebuke to Putin’s Russia”. Reviewers at home have embraced its lightness and playfulness

In August 1990, Tsoi died in a car accident at the age of 28, prompting mass grief. The boiler room-turned-club where he worked, nicknamed Kamchatka, remains a place of pilgrimage. In Alexei Uchitel’s 1991 documentary The Last Hero, footage of Tsoi shovelling coal alternates with shots of mourning teenagers, some of whom took up residence in the cemetery where he was buried.  

Leto begins in the summer of 1981, when Tsoi was still making wood carvings and trying to get a gig at Leningrad’s rock clubs. Shot mostly in black and white, it centres around the love triangle of Tsoi (played by Korean-German actor Teo Yoo), Zoopark rocker Mike Naumenko, and the latter’s wife Natalia (the film is loosely based on her memoirs). The drama culminates in a chaste kiss and some banal dialogue: “sometimes holding hands is the scariest thing of all.” Meanwhile, the friends go skinny-dipping, listen to Lou Reed, and do battle with frowning functionaries. The latter raise their eyebrows at the group’s anti-Soviet attitudes, but ultimately allow them to perform — so long as they frame themselves right. Their song Vosmiklassnitsa (Eighth-grader) is given winking approval once it’s described as a cautionary tale of debauchery.

In fantasy musical sequences that hover somewhere between charming and cringe-inducing, the characters sing Iggy Pop and Talking Heads to the accompaniment of cute graphics. Leto does feature a postmodern snarl in the guise of “the Skeptic”, who occasionally appears to poke holes in the proceedings (observing, for example, that while the young Soviets were navel-gazing, Bob Dylan was busy condemning racism). But overall, its Brezhnev-era Leningrad is a dreamy idyll. This nostalgic tone stands out in comparison to Dovlatov, Alexei German Jr.’s recent biopic of the cult writer. Set in Leningrad a decade earlier, Dovlatov features a suicidal poet and a black marketer who is killed while fleeing the police.

By focusing on the desultory days of the band's formation, the film elevates not Kino but late Soviet society itself

Foreign critics have seen Leto as “a stern rebuke to Putin’s Russia” that ponders “what it means to make protest art in a strict and controlling regime.” Reviewers at home, however, have embraced its lightness and playfulness. A critic for The Village, in a typical response, wrote that the film explores “how to preserve your inner child.” The film’s creators, including screenwriter Michael Idov, have struck a similar note. Roman Bilyk, who plays Naumenko, said Leto is “not political — it’s about friendship and love.”

Grebenshchikov was right when he said that the film was made by people from “a different planet.” Bilyk is better known as Roma Zver, the lead singer of Zveri (Beasts). The band’s 2004 hit Raiony kvartaly was a glossy, angsty anthem of the early Putin years. Zveri resonated among a generation that came of age in the turbulent 90s, with more choices but fewer illusions.

By focusing on the desultory days of the band’s formation, the film elevates not Kino but late Soviet society itself, a world where young people could roll their eyes at bureaucrats and seek salvation through Bowie and Blondie without having to worry much about time or money. Russians who grew up under “wild capitalism” don’t wish to return to the dictatorship of the proletariat, but they can appreciate its relative tranquility, which here is rendered total: no one is ever shown working.

In recent years, Khochu peremen has been adopted as a protest anthem by pro-EU protestors on Kiev’s Maidan and Donbass separatists alike. But for Russians in the 18th year of Putin’s rule, it is not the later, revolutionary incarnation of Tsoi that feels most appealing, but the boy in the sweater building bonfires. If Kino’s biggest hit looked to the future, Serebrennikov’s film — made after the future came and disappointed — yearns for a more innocent past.

A music festival celebrating introverts everywhere is set to launch in the Latvian capital of Riga this weekend.

Mixing ethnographic beats and instruments with modern sounds, the Ad Lucum festival will kick off at the city’s Museum of Decorative Arts and Design on 26 June.

But instead of partying until the dawn, organisers say the event will give festival-goers the chance to “return to silence”, heralding the program as Latvia's “introvert festival”.

“The festival invites everyone to turn to their inner world, to seek the path to self-reflection and light within themselves by using the power of art,” they say.

Performers include French pianist Marc Vella, the Sinfonietta Rīga orchestra, and event curator Laima Jansone, who will be playing a traditional stringed instrument from Finland called a Kokle.

"I always look forward to this festival as I look forward to a big celebration,” Janesone told Latvian Radio on Monday. “I don't feel pressured to put on a show or to try to be interesting in any way," she said.

To book your tickets, or for more information, visit the festival's Facebook page here.

The spotlit catwalks of Milan might seem a world away from the packed terraces at Old Trafford. But as ways of tapping into a sense of belonging and community, could fashion and football be closer than we think?

Cutting edge football shirts are a badge of pride for fans, iconic assignments for designers, and big business for global sportswear brands. Look no further that Nigeria’s 2018 World Cup strip, which sold out in less than a day after 3 million people pre-ordered their own replica shirt.

The Calvert Journal is now teaming up with global football media brand COPA90 to dig into the fashion world’s obsession with football, sportswear and Russia.

We’ll be taking part in a special, English-language panel discussion, Fashion’s Football Craze, at the COPA90 Clubhouse in Moscow on 30 June between 14:00 and 16:00.

Joining moderator and Calvert Journal contributor Anastasiia Fedorova will be Moscow-based journalist Eliot Rothwell, the head of the White Paper comms agency Pavel Osovtsov, and Maxim Bashkaev and Di Minrakhmanova, co-founders of Russian streetwear brand Outlaw Moscow.

Tickets are free, but guests should book in advance to avoid disappointment.

For more information, or to reserve your place, click here.

 

A post shared by Tortik Annushka (@tortikannuchka) on Apr 2, 2018 at 6:31am PDT

Get ready to meet the latest edible masterpieces taking over your Instagram feed: these art-inspired cakes from Moscow bakery Tortik Annushka.

 

A post shared by Tortik Annushka (@tortikannuchka) on Jun 17, 2018 at 4:41am PDT

Since opening its doors in 2009, the bakery has worked its way up from cupcakes and cookies to jaw-dropping wedding cakes.

 

A post shared by Tortik Annushka (@tortikannuchka) on Mar 16, 2018 at 5:48am PDT

Not content to sit on its icing and fondant laurels however, Tortik Annushka is still pushing boundaries with original, delicately-painted offerings inspired by the likes of Kandinsky, Mondrian, Monet and Warhol.

 

A post shared by Tortik Annushka (@tortikannuchka) on Feb 17, 2018 at 4:06am PST

Real art doesn't come easy, however. The bakery runs its own intensive training programme and even holds masterclasses for amateur (and professional) cooks who think they’ve got what it takes to decorate these 8kg giants.

For more information — or to order a cake yourself — visit the Tortik Annushka website here.

 

A post shared by Tortik Annushka (@tortikannuchka) on Nov 9, 2017 at 12:49am PST

Image: SMAR Architecture Studio

Image: SMAR Architecture Studio

Image: SMAR Architecture Studio

Image: SMAR Architecture Studio

Plans for Lithuania’s new nature-inspired National Science and Innovation Centre have been unveiled in the country’s second city of Kaunas.

SMAR Architecture Studio won the right to oversee the €25 million ($29 million) tech hub — also known as Science Island — with a design that will see the museum to “spill out” into the surrounding park.

Located on the Nemunas Island in the Nemunas River, the 33-hectare site is due to open in 2021, a year before Kaunas begins its tenure as European Capital of Culture 2022.

“Our proposal for Science Island follows the island’s topography to find a deep connection with nature and with the city,” said Dr Fernando Jerez, Founder and Creative Director of SMAR Architecture Studio. “On the roof, circular access points will work as public stages and natural seating areas, our aim being that the museum spills into the landscape and the park comes into the building.”

“The existing landscape gives shape to the Innovation Centre, which is topped by a sloping and reflecting upper disk: a landmark for the city. This will be a new sun for Kaunas, a bright, shining sun — evidence that Science is always awake, searching for new answers.”

Nestling by the milky waters of the Black Sea, Sochi is known for combining a tropical climate with quick access to snow-clad mountains and a winter sports mecca. The resort city was the centre of world attention during the 2014 Winter Olympics, but has much more to offer than just a sporting legacy. Stroll along the waterfront, revel in the remains of Soviet resort life or just grab a skateboard and go for a ride.

Be wowed by the views from a futuristic tower

No trip to Sochi is complete without seeing the city from above. The Batareika tower is a good alternative to the more well known Dendrarium or Ahun viewpoints and is probably the easiest to access — the futuristic construction is right in the city centre. If you ignore the gaudy bronze decorations on the facade you can enjoy the breathtaking view. Peep into the city's courtyards or come in the late afternoon to see the hills bathed in the light of the setting sun.

Address: 18a Alpiiskaya Street

Get authentic photographs straight from the darkroom

Posing with parrots or monkeys on your shoulders: essential vacation photos from the 1990s are still all the rage for tourists in Sochi. But local photographer Lilit Matevosyan decided to challenge the kitschy tradition with Shipr Photo studio, her own mobile studio doing vintage photography. You can be photographed using a 1950s wooden camera and allowed to enter the sacred darkroom to see how the prints are shaping up. You may also be served traditional Middle Eastern coffee cooked on hot sands. Go for a proper photo shoot with a vintage camera or try a retro photo-booth, one of only three authentic US mechanical photo-booths left in Russia. Matevosyan is so friendly that if you’re lucky, she will take you on a tour of Sochi’s secret spots when you're done with the photographing.

Leave your mark with some legal graffiti

You don’t have to toss coins into the city's fountains to mark your stay in Sochi — how about leaving a graffiti tag instead? A 120 metre-long wall on Nasypnaya Street in Adler (half an hour’s drive down the coast) has recently been allocated to local creatives Valgalo Hof, with another wall in Mamaica (to the north of Sochi city centre). Legalisation arguably goes against the spirit of the street art movement, but these walls are also a way to protest against the authorities' approach to public space. Pick the wall that is closest to you, check out what’s already written and get creative. The project is led by Valgalo Company, a group of artists who also aim to bring contemporary art and music to the city. Follow their Facebook page to be kept in the loop about upcoming events.

Address: Nasypnaya Street (Valgalo Company)

Kick back in a Soviet spa

The coast around Sochi is famous for its sanatoriums. The water of the Matsesta is believed to cure many diseases — whether by inhalation, showering or bathing — and are thought to be the inspiration for Josef Stalin to turn Sochi into a spa town. Traces of former Soviet glory are everywhere to be seen in Sochi: dilapidated examples of exquisite Stalinist architecture may be overgrown with ivy, but they still inspire awe. For large-scale examples of Soviet megalomania you need to go to one of the sanatoriums by the coast. You can get into the Metallurg Sanatorium if you give the guard your passport and tell him you've agreed with management to come and look at a room. The building is a complex ensemble of staircases, columns, arches and sculptures, set among palm trees. You'd hardly take it to be a place of healing — more like the set of a Soviet version of Last Year at Marienbad. Accommodation is surprisingly cheap and not only do you get a sea view but the chance to wander over in the mornings for a water treatment, clad in just your dressing gown.

Address: 92 Kurortny Prospekt

Ride carefree by the sea

Tired of strolling around? Try skateboarding. Cool ramps and parks are to be found in several different spots in Sochi and further along the coast. Head to the Olympic Park if you want to taste the real international competitive spirit — some of the world's best skaters compete here every year. Or simply go to Tsvetnoi Bulvar to ride among the palm trees.

For more tips on where to go and what to do in Sochi, download our free app Explore Russia available for Android and IOS

Image: Alexei Narodizkii / Blue Crow Media

Image: Alexei Narodizkii / Blue Crow Media

Image: Alexei Narodizkii / Blue Crow Media

Image: Alexei Narodizkii / Blue Crow Media

Image: Alexei Narodizkii / Blue Crow Media

If you’re heading to Moscow, then the Russian capital’s ornate metro system is a tourist must-see.

The Moscow Metro Architecture and Design Map helps first-time visitors find their way through the sprawling stations — as well as highlighting the hidden gems you could miss in the rush hour crowds.

Curated by architectural historian Nikolai Vassiliev and published in English and Russian, the map celebrates both imposing Stalinist architecture and the serene beauty of contemporary stops tucked away in the city suburbs.

It also includes introduction by Nikolai Shumakov, head architect of Metrogiprotrans, and chief designer of many of Moscow’s finest contemporary stations.     

The map was launched by Blue Crow Media, a team which has already overseen maps on Constructivist Moscow and Modernist Belgrade.

“[The Moscow metro] is widely considered to be the most impressive network of stations in the world”, they say. “Stations such as the baroque Komsomolskaya with its elaborate cartouches and historical mosaics are featured alongside the avant-garde Krasnye Vorota and the futuristic Fonzinskaya. These famous so-called ‘palaces of the people’ from the 1930s to today are celebrated together”.

Art experts from the UK and New East will be uncovering how photography shapes our lives as part of a special event with Calvert 22 Foundation.

Karol Hordziej, artistic director of Krakow Photomonth Festival, and Kate Bush, curator of the foundation’s latest exhibition, Family Values: Polish Photography Now, will explore how photographers use their work to create their own unique records and mould our reality.

At the heart of the talk will be Polish photographer Zofia Rydet (1911 – 1997), whose Sociological Record — a monumental 19-year mission to photograph every person in Poland — is being shown in the UK for the first time.

The panel will also discuss different ways of reading other artistic records, including portraits of August Sander,  the documentary programme from the Farm Security Administration, and more recent projects by the likes of Taryn Simon, Hans Eijkelboom and Anouk Kruithof.

Karol and Kate will also be on hand for a Q&A with the audience, who will also get the opportunity to view the Family Values exhibition before and after the talk.

The event is open on a -pay-what-you-like basis, but visitors are encouraged to book their place before hand to avoid disappointment. 

For more information, or to reserve tickets, visit the event website here. 

Image: Matthew Stanton

Image: Matthew Stanton

Image: Matthew Stanton

Image: Matthew Stanton

Image: Matthew Stanton

Image: Matthew Stanton

Image: Matthew Stanton

Ukrainian artist Stanislava Pinchuk spent half a year mapping the remains of Europe’s most notorious refugee camp: “The Jungle” in Calais.

As well as gathering data, Pinchuk — who works under the name MISO — collected remains that refugees had left behind during the camp’s forced evacuation at the end of 2016. The trampled mix of broken toothbrushes, SIM cards and tent poles were ground down to become the basis of her latest work, Borders (The Magnetic Fields). Beautiful from a distance, up close the polished terrazzo blocks reveal the true, human nature of the camp and those who stayed there, living ordinary lives among gruelling hardships.

Pinchuk has mixed the sculptures with her own topographical map of the area: markings which show how the camp changed the land itself, the artist says. The meshed fabric is a symbol of connects and belonging, but also acts as a subtle nod to Calais’ traditional lacemaking heritage. As a whole, the work — which helped Pinchuk rise to Forbes’ prestigious 30 Under 30 list — unites both past and present with the very land itself. 

To see more of Pichuk's work, visit her Instagram here.

One of Albania’s most iconic communist-era landmarks is set to be transformed into a new culture and technology centre.

Dutch architecture firm MVRDV unveiled plans to turn the imposing Pyramid of Tirana into a new urban hub, reclaiming the building for the public with new glass walls and light open-plan spaces.

The Pyramid’s gently sloping sides will also lead to a new rooftop terrace, with panoramic views of the city below.

The Pyramid was originally built in 1988 as a museum to the country’s socialist leader, Enver Hoxha. It was later repurposed as a nightclub, an event space, and even as a temporary base for NATO soldiers during the Kosovo War.

More recent plans hoped to transform the structure into Albania’s National Theatre, but the building was left abandoned when the scheme failed to materialise.

Guests celebrating the 10 anniversary of Garage earlier this month. Image: garagemca / Facebook

When billionaire Roman Abramovich and his then long-time partner, Daria Zhukova, established the Garage Centre for Contemporary Art (as it was called then), it was just the last in a series of big, new private institutions trying to transform Russia’s cultural landscape. Garage was preceded by contemporary art foundations like Ekaterina (founded in 2002), Stella (2003) and Winzavod (2007), and was followed in 2009 by V-A-C. But as the others have fallen away, Garage and V-A-C have become key players in the contemporary art world.

In many ways, anything is possible for the Garage Museum of Contmporary Art (as it is now called). Based initially in Moscow’s Constructivist Bakhmetyevsky bus depot, Garage tried to present itself from the outset as a force to be reckoned with. It opened in summer 2008 with a show of the world famous Soviet-born artists Ilya and Emilia Kabakov and a performance by Amy Winehouse. It went on to stage the third Moscow Biennale, curated by Jean-Hubert Martin (Against Exclusion, 2009), retrospectives of Marina Abramović and James Turrell, the world’s third screening of The Clock by Christian Marclay and exhibitions of Mark Rothko, Antony Gormley, Carsten Höller and William Kentridge.

Many thought Garage was respectable and rigorous enough to be loved. Even art critic Ekaterina Degot, usually critical of private institutions, wrote after the opening that “it seemed as if our wildest dreams were coming true.”

Garage has always been obsessed by “blockbuster” shows — something its director Anton Belov makes a point of highlighting in nearly every interview he gives. The atmosphere of 2000s and early 2010s — conspicuous consumption and a flowering of luxury culture — made this sort of strategy possible. But as time went by, Garage started transforming. It wasn’t “just fun” for Abramovich and Zhukova. With Abramovich reluctant for his venture to burn through his money, about a year after its founding, the art centre adopted a business model, beginning to rent out its space for corporate events and calling on its curators to produce just two types of exhibitions. Besides blockbusters, they put on populist — sometimes even superficial — shows, usually targeted at a younger generation.

Garage has always been obsessed by “blockbuster” shows — something its director Anton Belov makes a point of highlighting in nearly every interview that he gives

As a flagship for commercialisation, Garage has been heavily criticised for many years. But many of their projects were reasonable, even progressive. In one example, they bought an archive of Russian contemporary art, which quickly grew into a conference department producing landmark research-based projects like Open Systems. Self-Organised Art Initiatives in Russia: 2000–2015. This venture helped independent artists to understand themselves, even when some started to confront Garage as part of the process.

In another example, Garage let critical and independent curatorial practices into the museum. In its temporary home in Gorky Park constructed by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, Garage created a project room – a sort of art laboratory. And in 2014, they used this space to show a left-wing take on conspiracy culture (Shadow of a Doubt curated by Ilya Budraitskis and Maria Chehonadskih) and a controversial exhibition about the art scene in the Caucasus (Untitled... (Native Foreigners) curated by Andrey Misiano).

When Moscow was shaken by huge anti-Kremlin demonstration driven by the urban middle class in 2011 and 2012, it provoked a two-pronged reaction by the state: the protests were shut down and the city authorities began championing renovated public spaces, especially museums. In this changed environment, Garage was one of a few private players still able to operate as a more or less equal partner with the state. In one notable intervention, brutal criticism from Garage director Belov led to the abandonment of a state-led plan to create a new national museum under the aegis of the National Centre for Contemporary Art. In the eyes of the Russian art community, Garage became an insitution capable of standing up to the state. Perhaps more importantly, Garage was still listened to in the corridors of power and was, on occassion, able to talk sense at officials responsible for culture.

In a more transactional interaction with the state, Garage offered consulting services to public institutions on how to create a good bookstore or a museum cafe. This demonstrates how Garage’s existence follows the logic of leisure. It’s more about shaping an atmosphere and a community – a creative atmosphere and a community of so-called “new urban people”. Both these ideas are problematic and ambiguous but Garage has successfully managed to create something tangible — and sell this model to other institutions.

Garage has always struggled with Russian shows. Even after the 2015 opening of Garage’s new building in Gorky Park (designed by Rem Koolhaas and based on the 1960s restaurant Vremena Goda), many of the museum’s programs continue to be based on shows “imported” from abroad. The museum has real problems producing its own exhibitions. The Triennial of Russian Contemporary Art in 2017 was a predictable disaster. The fault was not so much that of the curatorial team: they did their best under the circumstances. The problem was that the symbolism of contemporary Russian art is not valued. There are ways to change this, but the organisers failed. 

There have been at least three shows that were undeniable landmarks for the Russian art world (although, of course, they were all about money). The first was the Rothko show in 2010 at which the paintings were guarded by men with assault rifles — making it fantastically obvious that Garage was the place where things became really valuable.

In the wake of the 2011 and 2012 protests, the city authorities began championing renovated public spaces, especially museums

The second show was Personal Choice: Collectors’ Selections from Their Own Collections (2014), curated by Yulia Aksenova. It was made up of objects from 23 collectors (all Russian oligarchs) who chose an artwork from their private collections (and Aksenova, as a figure of ultimate expertise, confirmed them as important art pieces). This reminded of medieval European monarchs who showed off their power and wealth by displaying their artworks on the main square of their capitals so every citizen could see how magnificent they were.

The third landmark exhibition was earlier this year. It was a show dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the first big art fair in the Soviet Union, which took place in 1988. Called Bidding for Glasnost: Sotheby’s 1988 Auction in Moscow and curated by Vika Dushkina and Andrey Misiano, it was a documentation of that dubious triumph of the Russian art market. Garage used it as a symbol of a glorious past, hinting that today’s museum was its rightful successor. That's a pretty fair representation.

From Instagram to glossy magazines, food culture is thriving. Cooks and food stylists spend hours agonising over the perfect photo-worthy dish — and what the food is served on can make all the difference.

Polish-led program Art Food has been helping young designers create functional, high-fashion ceramics and tableware since 2013.

Organisers describe the project as way of exploring a rapidly-expanding, experimental area of design, without restrictions on the imagination.

“[The goal is to] create unusual yet functional ceramic tableware — objects upon which culinary art is exposed and presented, objects which accentuate the beauty of the remarkable dishes and serve as canvases,” they say.

Students from art schools across the world — including the School of Form in Poznań, Central Saint Martin’s College in London and the Pratt Institute in New York — have already taken part, creating 48 unique dish collections under the watchful eye of renowned Polish ceramicist Marek Cecuła.

Now, a new exhibition has now opened in New York, to celebrate students’ work over the last five years.

Supported by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, the show will run from 25 June until 8 September at the Pratt Manhattan Gallery. For more information, visit the gallery website here.

Two of Canada’s top art festivals have joined calls to free Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov from prison in Russia.

In a joint statement, both the Toronto Film Festival and the Luminato Arts Event called for the director’s release, describing his imprisonment as “a serious violation of international law”.

"As organisations that vehemently believe in the right, value and necessity of artistic and political expression, Sentsov and other political prisoners have been denied their basic human rights,” the statement said.

International calls for Sentsov’s release have been growing since the director went on hunger strike on 14 May, calling for the release of 64 Ukrainian prisoners across Russia. Among those to voice concerns are the European Film Academy, European Parliament, and French president Emmanuel Macron, as well as celebrities including Patrick Stewart, Johnny Depp and Steven King. The director is reportedly receiving nourishment via an IV line, but has not been examined by Ukrainian doctors.

Sentsov was arrested following the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014 and jailed for 20 years following accusations that he had planned to blow up a statue of Lenin and set fire to the offices of a pro-Kremlin political party. His supporters maintain that both his arrest and conviction were politically-motivated.

Image: Łukasz Rusznica

Image: Łukasz Rusznica

Image: Łukasz Rusznica

Image: Łukasz Rusznica

Image: Łukasz Rusznica

When Polish photographer Łukasz Rusznica travelled through Japan, he chose spirits and supernatural creatures to be his guides.

As well as helping Rusznica map and discover this new land, they also took the Wrocław-based curator on a second, more powerful journey — one of self-discovery.

Rusznica’s travels cumulate in his latest photobook, Subterranean River. Shortlisted for the Unseen Dummy Award in 2017, the book explores the concept of spirituality and how it is moulded by changing societies, increased mobility, and our reliance on technology.    

“When travelling to Japan, I knew that I wanted to photograph the Yokai — the monsters of Japanese legend — but above all I was open to the experience,” says Rusznica. “The non-human world is more than a background or visual filler; it is of equal importance. This series enquires about the whole: how unfilled we feel and how we seek a way out. This was the origin of Subterranean River.”                

Subterranean River will launch on 28 June at The Photographers’ Gallery Bookshop in London between 6pm — 8pm. For more information, visit the bookshop’s website here.

Read our interview with Łukasz Rusznica here. 

 

A post shared by Outlaw Moscow | AYTΛO (@outlaw_moscow) on Jun 19, 2018 at 5:14am PDT

Moscow street brand Outlaw has created a new collection of high-fashion face masks in a new collab with Greenpeace Russia.

Emblazoned with the words “Clean Air Now”, designers hope the masks and their inbuilt filters will bring the spotlight back on Russian air pollution at the height of the country’s World Cup hype. The limited-edition respirators aren’t for sale, but style fans and eco-warriors can enter the label’s online giveaway to get their hands on a mask of their own.

The Russia campaign is just one part of Greenpeace’s global push to clean up urban air pollution, with similar protests taking place in the UK, Italy, Germany, Belgium and France.

Image: Sasha Raspopina

It’s getting increasingly easy to get into Kiev — EU nationals don’t need a visa, there are affordable WizzAir flights to the capital’s city airport Zhulyani and Ryanair promised to introduce flights to the country starting later this year. When you arrive, however, it’s difficult not to get overwhelmed by everything the city has to offer: from modernist to Art Nouveau architecture to gilded onion domes to warehouse raves and sprawling flea markets. Follow our weekend guide to make sense of the city that has a lot to offer.

Kiev offers countless accommodation options — from beds in hostel dorms starting from $2 to five star hotels. But to take your stay to next level don’t go for the Western chains or luxury hotels — instead choose an old Soviet-era hotel that will feel like sleeping in a time machine. Hotel Ukraine, situated just off the city’s famous Independence Square (Maidan Nezalezhnosti), has 21 floors and the interiors are Soviet chic — marble and columns combined with tulle curtains and pot plants and crystal chandeliers. When booking, ask for a room with a view of the Maidan above the tenth floor and you’ll be able to watch the sun set over the city centre’s roofs while crowds of tourists and locals hang out on the square. Hotel Salute, situated a 15-minute walk from the city centre, is a white cylindrical building by Soviet Brutalist architect Avraam Miletsky, another good option with stuck-in-time 80s interiors of red carpets and shiny fake wood panelling.

Most of the Soviet-era hotels offer breakfasts of traditional post-Soviet food, which are not to be missed if you’re adventurous in the culinary sense: sample the sweet porridge, carefully rolled omelettes, fluffy small pancakes (oladyi) and little round fried cheese curd cakes (syrniki) — to be eaten with sour cream, as well as any unexpected items that might appear in the breakfast buffet like seaweed salad (morskaya kapusta), Soviet sauerkraut with wonderfully smelly unrefined olive oil and inappropriate but delightful chopped onions, Soviet cream cakes and smoked cheese.

On your first morning, if the weather allows, set out for a walk of the city to get a sense of its vibe. Start on Khreshchatyk, the city’s main street, a wide but short touristy avenue of shops and cafés that stretches between Khreshchatyy Park just next to Independence Square, and Bessarabsky market at the other end. If you’re still craving some caffeine, head to one of the many coffee and ice cream kiosks that line the street; you’ll see many locals enjoying a coffee break on benches in the sun. If fruit and veg markets are your thing, head inside the Bessarabsky market at the end of Khreshchatyk. There are stalls selling bread and falafel and various fruit and veg, plus jars of pickles — from the standard gherkins and tomatoes to garlic and mini-courgettes, which would make a great souvenir for any lover of dill and vinegar.

Choosing an old Soviet-era hotel will feel like sleeping in a time machine

Continue your walk into the Lypky district for a taste of old Kiev architecture. This upscale residential area has always housed government officials, from rich merchants and nobility to party officials and modern day politicians; you’ll see that Bankova Street is closed for both pedestrians and cars because it’s home to the president’s administration. Walk around the area to witness all the eras of Kiev’s architecture, from the ornate 19th-century mansions to neo-Renaissance to Stalin Empire style. The area’s most famous buildings, like the House of the Weeping Widow and Ikskyul-Hildenbanda House are all marked on Google Maps. Unfortunately, the city’s art nouveau masterpiece, the Gorodetsky house, also known as the “house with the chimeras” is situated on closed-off Bankova. You can book an architecture tour in advance if you want to access it, or see the back of the building from Ivan Franko Square.

When you’re done, head back to Khreshchatyk through one of the big arches in the building adjacent to Liuteranska Street, cross the street and head into the Kiev’s old town, or Upper Town, up Prorizina Street. After a couple of minutes’ walk you’ll reach the Golden Gate, a modern replica of the ancient gates that were the main entrance through the fortifications of 11th-century Kiev. It’s easy to forget that the city is over 1500 years old as you snap pics of its modernist architecture gems, so head inside if you’d like to learn about the city’s ancient history and see the magnificent view from the top of the building. If you’re more interested in actual food than intellectual nourishment, head straight to the perfect lunch spot — the hand pie café and bakery called Yaroslava, situated a couple of minutes walk down Yaroslaviv Val. This café, with its old-timey Ukrainian decor, is a local legend that’s been serving hand pies and pastries to locals for over 60 years. It remains unpretentious, cheap, fast and delicious to this day. Must-tries include the fish pies with a hole on top (rasstegai), meat pies with cabbage and spinach pies for vegetarians, although the selection of fillings is seemingly endless. Don’t forget dessert: try poppy-seed pie, cinnamon roll and pies with fruit fillings like cherry, plum and cranberry, as well as their homemade cocoa drink that every post-Soviet child got for an afternoon snack in the kindergarten.

In the late afternoon, you have options. Head to Pinchuk Art Centre (near Bessarabsky market) for a taste of modern art (check out the website in advance as the centre has an ever-changing schedule of local and international artists). If you feel tired from all the walking, buy a metro ticket and go for a tour of Kiev’s underground. Must-visits are older stations like Zoloti Vorota (Golden Gate, situated close to the museum), Vokzalna and Universytet, which incorporate lots of gold and marble and look like the interiors of musems and palaces. Get out at Arsenalnaya — currently the deepest metro station in the world, going down 105.5 metres — and take the long escalator ride up.

For drinks and food in the evening, check out Biliy Naliv, Kiev’s new but wildly popular “one euro bar” where everything — from cider to oysters — costs 29 hryvnas, about 1 euro. The name comes from a sort of apples that are also the bar’s focus; there are ciders, apple infusions, warm apple cinnamon punch. To go with the drinks there are hot dogs (including a vegan option) that can be accompanied by a slab of melted raclette cheese, oysters with a squeeze of lemon and apple and chicken pies. In the evening expect a queue, or head there a bit earlier to get ahead of the after-work crowd.

If your visit falls on a Saturday, head to one of Kiev’s famous flea markets the following morning. The market next to Lisova metro station is better for clothes and accessories and the one next to Petrivka train station is better for knick-knacks, Soviet memorabilia, toys, books and souvenirs. Remember that most sellers don’t like it when people take photos of them or their stalls, be aware of your wallet and phone and enjoy your tour of Soviet fashion and interior design.

It’s easy to forget that the city is over 1500 years old as you snap pics of its modernist architecture gems

If after all that shopping you’re feeling peckish, make your way to Kiev’s unique project called Shankara food, situated in a yard on Bekhterevskiy Provulok and serving inventive vegetarian food between residential estates (30 minute walk from the Golden Gate). Despite the seemingly hipsterish disposition of the café, which sells Asian noodle soups, bruschetta and small cottage cheese-filled dumplings decorated with edible flowers, the place is not a horseman of gentrification in a quiet residential area, but an actual community space where dog walkers and local residents sit out on the small terrace to play chess, drink tea and chat. At the weekend, try to make it there a bit early as sometimes they sell out of food.

When you’re done, head to the Park of Eternal Glory, situated just next to Hotel Salute. Here you’ll see one of the symbols of Kiev: the imposing 102-metre-tall “Mother Motherland” (Rodina-Mat) statue. The Motherland is embodied in stainless steel as a woman holding a sword and a shield decorated with a hammer and sickle. The statue survived Ukraine’s decommunisation attempts because it is a Second World War monument. The sculpture is a part of the Ukraine in the Second World War museum complex, which is housed in a series of concrete Brutalist buildings. If you don’t mind a sombre end to your visit, the museum has a vast collection of exhibits and is also an interesting study of how the country now frames its own history in the war. Alternatively, you can go up on the observation decks of the Mother Motherland, or take a walk in the park.

In the evening visit another drinking establishment favoured by locals, Drunk Cherry (Pyanaya Vishnya), which originally hails from Lviv and serves craft cherry infusion at three locations in Kiev. Apart from the obvious infusions (which you can also buy by the bottle to take home), try the alcoholic cherry chocolates and cherry cake. Don’t get too excited though — you have a plane to catch tomorrow.

Image: Svetlana Melik-Nubarova

Image: Svetlana Melik-Nubarova

Image: Svetlana Melik-Nubarova

Image: Svetlana Melik-Nubarova

Image: Svetlana Melik-Nubarova

Almaty-based photographer Svetlana Melik-Nubarova has scooped two prizes at this year’s Px3 Prix de la Photographie Paris.

Her project, From Our Past, took first place in a special category for proposed photobooks and second place in the fine arts category.

Each image portrays idealised Soviet heros styled as modern Orthodox saints: the diligent student, the worker, the war hero and the shopkeeper, clasping a much sought-after pineapple.

“The history of the Soviet Union is a clear example of how propaganda shapes a person’s worldview, values and way of life,” said Melik-Nubarova. “We, who were born in the Soviet Union, sincerely believed in the values that were instilled in us during our early childhood. [It was] only during Perestroika that we discovered another world.”

To see more of Melik-Nubarova's work, visit her portfolio here.

Image: Wolfgang Volz

Image: Wolfgang Volz

Image: Wolfgang Volz

Image: Wolfgang Volz

Image: Wolfgang Volz

Image: Wolfgang Volz

Image: Wolfgang Volz

Image: Wolfgang Volz

Image: Wolfgang Volz

Bulgarian-born artist Christo has unveiled his latest supersize sculpture in the heart of London’s Hyde Park.

The colossal artwork — officially known as The London Mastaba — will float on the capital’s Serpentine lake until the end of the summer.

Inspired by tombs in ancient Mesopotamia, the sculpture was created using 7,506 oil barrels, towering at 20-metres tall.

The artist said that the artwork’s central location was just one part of his mission to make art free and accessible.

“For a few months, The London Mastaba will be a part of the Serpentine Lake and its natural and urban surroundings,” said Christo, who recently marked his 83rd birthday. “Like with all of my projects, the construction, maintenance and removal of artwork will be entirely funded by me through the sale of my original works of art. The London Mastaba in Hyde Park will be absolutely free to the public: no tickets, no reservations and no owners. It will belong to everyone (until it's gone).”

The project also coincides with a special exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery exploring the work of Christo and his late wife and artistic partner, Jeanne-Claude. The show, which combines more than half a century’s worth of sculptures, drawings and photographs, will run from 20 June to 9 September 2018.

Slovakia’s sprawling Soviet-era monuments span the divide between past and present.

The city's sculptures, parks and shopping centres aren’t just reminders of the past: they’re flashpoints in the ongoing search for the country’s new identity.

Skater Marek Zaprazny has his own take on the city. He’s one of hundreds of skateboarders who have grown up among Bratislava's socialist buildings, attracted by vast swathes of smooth concrete. Slowly, the city’s youth is reclaiming each space as their own — and forging a new identity for the future.

Credits:

Daryl Mersom — Research and Concept
Kubo Križo — Photography
Marek Zaprazny — Skating
Marco Savino — Camera and Editing