In Arkhangelsk, the Re-Aligned project held an assembly including local artists, curators, thinkers and representatives of several independent and state art institutions. Interestingly, it was a rare occasion for the local scene to be gathered in one space. The event took place in the “Koleso”club, which is a self-sustainable institution, unlike many others in town, which mainly hosts independent concerts.
Ekaterina Sharova, who comes from Arkhangelsk, but has long been based in Oslo, helped organise the event. According to her and others present, art education in Arkhangelsk is still based on the Soviet tradition, and there is no education on theory and history of contemporary art. Translations of contemporary philosophy are available, but this knowledge is poorly understood and communicated to the sphere of artistic practice.
Both representatives of institutions, such as the Dobrolyubova regional library (Department of Arts), the Art Museum, the Northern Arctic Federal University (Culturology and Philosophy Departments) as well as independent artists from Arkhangelsk and Severodvinsk where present at the seminar. These included figures such as Alyona Sevastyanova, Ilya Kuzubov, Sasha Menukhov and Anastasiya Yurchuk.
According to Sharova, who has been working to develop the contemporary art scene in Arkhangelsk since 2012 through several seminars and “brainstorming meetings”, the Re-Aligned Assembly was an important unifying platform for young and established local cultural workers and artists. It showed the advantage of self-organising, and initiating new artistic initiatives in art and education in the region, and connecting them to the much broader high-north, Nordic and international contexts.
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