Archi.ru:
It is obvious that your invitation as a curator and producer of the Art-Ovrag festival is connected with your gigantic experience in holding the ArchStation. But how did it happen, who called you?
Julia Bychkova:
- The domestic market of experts in technologies for the development of the territory through event tourism and art practices is not so large. The experience we gained through the ArchStoyanie festival, namely the creation of a unique place for domestic and international tourism with the active involvement of the local community, turned out to be very consonant with the request that the OMK Foundation had formed. In the seventh year of Art-Ovrag's development, it became obvious that it was already more than a festival. For a mono-city, this phenomenon cannot remain only within the framework of a three-day entertainment, therefore we proposed a comprehensive development of the city through year-round educational and artistic programs, which, according to our plan, should form a local community of experts - an institution that influences the development of the city.
Anton Kochurkin:
- Such practices for the development of territories are just our case. We have a lot of experience in this. In Russia, few people besides us can boast of successful experience in this area.
The idea of rafts has something in common with the raft festival in Nikola-Lenivets in 2009. Why did you decide to return to it now?
A. K.: Rafts sailed on the Egra in 2008. In the case of Art-Ovrag, rafts are a tool that draws attention to the landscapes of Vyksa little-known to outside tourists.
At the same time, in the range of development of this area in the next three years, it is important to more accurately determine its cultural codes and deficits, to understand the local community. Which takes a long time, which is why we are not doing anything fundamental and permanent this year. It is fundamentally. In Nikola-Lenivets, completely different tasks arose, partly opposite, for example, the launching of art objects on the water made it possible to get away from conflicts with the national park.
- The raft of Ekaterina Kuleva was chosen as a result
competition. How were the rest of the authors selected? (Jean-Philippe Poiret-Ville, Wowhaus, Leonid Tishkov). By the way, will you show the projects of these participants?
A. K.: Choosing the participants, I put together like a puzzle a new urban space, which is also a natural treasure - the urban Verkhnevyksunskiy pond. This is an old pond, which becomes a public space - like a new park, only there is no grass and earth in it, instead there is water, and you can only move afloat. Each raft is a part of it, and together they make up a drifting park. Each park has its own gazebo, its own buffet bar, its own whimsical sculpture and something very traditional park style, expressed differently.
- The biggest
graffiti is massive; at least orients Vyksa to a conversation with the Cosmos. Whose idea was it?
Y. B.: Since this year VMZ - Vyksa Metallurgical Plant is celebrating its 260th anniversary, the management decided to celebrate this by setting a world record for the largest painting. The idea to make the painting belongs to Irina Sedykh, the chairman of the board of trustees of the OMK-participation fund, the founder of the festival. And since Vyksa is actually an open-air museum of street art, the idea of graffiti was harmoniously integrated into the concept of the festival's development. Our proposal was to do this through an international competition among street art professionals. With the support of the Artmosfera creative association, we received 260 works from 34 countries of the world. And with the most difficult choice, the work of Misha Most won. The graffiti work is already underway.
What else important and new have you brought to Vyksa? How has the vector changed?
Y. B.: Our expertise also lies in the fact that we are able to carefully study the environment in which we work. And since we will be working on Vyksa for three years, the strategy of our movement is as follows: for the first year we do not create anything fundamental. We explore the city through educational programs, an art residence, research projects with St. Murunov, and on the basis of this we obtain information that becomes the foundation for the emergence of stronger urban ties between the city and the factory, between the city and the administration, between local communities. And we understand what useful art the environment needs. In the second year, we deal with public spaces of the city, technical specifications for which we are working out jointly with the residents and the administration, and then in the third year the city may be ready to accept "Big Art", namely such artists as Wig Dougherty, Stefan Talasnik, Richard Sera, Nikolai Polissky and others.
Under Oleg Shapiro, Art-Ovrag was more of a street culture festival. Now Irina Sedykh made it clear that Art-Ovrag will now be more of an art festival. Do you think contemporary art will be adequately perceived by local residents? After all, Vyksa is a provincial industrial city, the audience there is unprepared. Moreover, according to past data, 74 percent of Art-Ovrag visitors are local residents, that is, the situation is not at all the same as in Nikola-Lenivets
A. K.: To be honest, we do not know yet what kind of art can be in Vyksa. To understand this, we are exploring the city in different ways, we have been exploring for almost a whole year. You cannot tell it in one phrase, but nevertheless, we will present part of the accumulated knowledge in the lecture program of the festival on June 16. Perhaps art for Vyksa is the perfect carpet beater that we have found important in our exploration of urban communities. Art is what leaves a mark on the mind, engaging emotions. I would not rule out if rafting becomes an act of art for Vyksa.
The government of the Nizhny Novgorod region calls the festival in Vyksa "an example of effective partnership between the state, municipal authorities and private business." As curators, are you not afraid to exist in the face of such a triumvirate? After all, it is enough to recall the "crusade" of the Ministry of Culture against the capital's theaters, for example, the Gogol Center, the Stanislavsky Electrotheatre and others … Aren't you afraid of censorship?
Y. B.: Modern culture, like life in general, cannot be designed for a long term, but we believe that unique forces are concentrated in Vyksa to improve the city through non-trivial mechanisms. We take into account all aspects of the project, but at the same time we have great confidence in the success of our strategy, since we accurately understand the fund's request and the level of perception of the environment in Vyksa. Six years of the festival's existence allowed to form the loyalty of a part of the local community, which strengthens the position of the festival in the city.
On the other hand, are you ready to take into account the interests of the mass audience?
A. K.: And the mass audience has universal interests, but there are individual ones. If you indulge in tastes, then you will not guess also because not everyone shares modern culture in principle, but you will be wrong for sure if this audience is not involved, if it remains unconscious. Art in this case turns out to be an inevitable punching bag.
Vyksa, of course, is a monocity, but rich, metallurgical. Can he really become an example of the development of other monotowns, in particular, through the culture of festivals - or is Vyksa a special case, where the request for festivals is already justified by financial stability?
A. K.: I am sure that this city can become an exemplary city if all three main stakeholders (the plant, the government and the people) learn to go towards the goals together. Creating an exemplary urban environment will require a paradigm shift in decision-making for the development of public spaces. Not always a beautiful design can replace the lack of comprehensive work on the territory, but a beautiful design or art object can multiply the effect tenfold and present a well-solved problem of transforming a street or square, district, or city.
