"Reacting to Changing Political Context: Art in Public Spaces in Russia“ A discussion with Anna Bitkina & Maria Veits / TOK
November 11, 2016 15.00 - 18.00 Koneen säätiön Kamari, Tehtaankatu 21 B 45, Helsinki 'Propaganda News Machine: Constructing Multiple Realities in The Media' curated by TOK, exhibition view, Flux Factory Gallery, New York City, 2016 Anna Bitkina and Maria Veits from the curatorial collective TOK present their projects and discuss about the way that the current political situation in Russia has affected their practice. How is independent artistic activity outside institutions determined in a situation where the state is actively aiming to control the cultural and political movements? What kinds of means does artistic practices have in dealing with propaganda and disinformation? Discussion is open to the public and will be held in english. -- Tok is curatorial collective based in St Petersburg and founded by Anna Bitkina and Maria Veits in 2010 as a platform for conducting interdisciplinary projects in the fields of contemporary art and design and social sciences. TOK’s projects have a strong social component and deal with current issues that are widely discussed both in Russia and internationally such as migration, public space and citizens, development of education, deprivation of social resources, forming collective memory, use of natural resources, growing role of the media in the global society, changing political climate and many others. For the last 5 years curators of TOK have been largely interested in exploring the concept of public space in post-Soviet Russia and the former Soviet Union, as well as perception, understanding and mechanisms of use of public spaces and open areas by residents of post-Soviet cities. One of the current interests of TOK is the repositioning of Russia at the global geopolitical arena and analysis of the processes that are related to it. ----- Latest political, social and economic changes in Russia - from mass protests after the presidential elections in 2012 to recent annexation of Crimea and following deterioration of relations between Russia and the international community has largely influenced the art scene in Russia and have provoked artists for immediate responses to the new situation and current societal processes. New art and activist initiatives have emerged and many of them have started taking place in the public space, which has become a subject of increasing control on the part of the government. However, also with the growth of urban studies in Russia, artists, curators and researchers keep exploring different ways of penetrating and intervening into the city landscape and reflect upon issues that are crucial for the civil society existence, such as right to the city, freedom of speech and expression, community-building and preserving collective memory. In their presentation Russian curators Anna Bitkina and Maria Veits will speak about the interconnection between contemporary art and political discourse in Russia today and will especially focus on art projects and actions that take place in public spaces and have a solid social aspect within them. Bitkina and Veits will address particularities of the Russian context regarding perception of public space in post Soviet Russia and its overall fragility as a concept. They will speak about projects by well-known artists working in the public space in Russia and will also address new strategies of how artists survive in the current political context by working collectively and creating alternative art platforms for collaborations. TOK will also speak about their projects that take place in different areas of the city of St Petersburg where the two curators are based. They will outline social and participatory aspects of TOK's practice and changing role of curators and artists working in the public domain today both in Russia and globally. More information: www.tok-spb.org <http://www.tok-spb.org/> ----- -- -------------------------------------------------- Творческое объединение кураторов ТОК | Creative Association of Curators TOK http://www.tok-spb.org/ <http://www.tok-spb.org/> http://vk.com/tok_spb <http://vk.com/tok_spb> http://www.facebook.com/tok.spb <http://www.facebook.com/tok.spb>
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