Amid the international crisis over Russia’s annexation of the Crimea, the organisers of Manifesta 10 – which takes place in and around the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg from 28 June–31 October – have reasserted their commitment to staging the biennial festival in the Russian city.
Announcing the programme for the festival, a statement from curator Kasper König said that, while the situation was of great concern, “I do believe it is and should be our goal to continue to make Manifesta 10 happen. It is itself a complex entity, to prompt its artists and its viewers to assume their own strong political positions, to pose questions and raise voices. To neglect and quit would be a sign of resignation.”
He went on: “It is upon us not to be influenced by prejudices against minorities or nationalist propaganda, but to reject it. It is more important than ever to continue our work with courage and conviction… As someone who has worked in many and various political climates and challenges, the experience tells me to stay calm and continue to work on the complexity and contradiction that art has to offer, and on how it can engage and oppose the simplifications of our times.
“I support all efforts – both in the field of art and at large – in that direction, and I am sure that the presence of critical contemporary art in… the city will contribute to pluralistic and healthy debate…”
Participating artists
The artists participating in Manifesta 10 include Ukrainian-born Boris Mikhailov, one of the leading photographers from the former Soviet Union. For his project, The Theater of War. Second Act, Time Out, he visited Kiev’s Maidan Independence Square, the recent site of Ukraine opposition camp. A number of Russian-born artists are also taking part in Manifesta 10, including Elena Kovylina, whose video installation, Egalite, looks at the fragility and double standards of ‘democracy’ in post-Soviet Russia.
Other artists presenting work in the Hermitage include Thomas Hirschhorn, who will create a new work, Abschlag, made up of a block of six, identically-sized ‘living rooms’, which will be constructed in the General Staff Building. Reminiscent of Soviet era apartments, they will include a display of constructivist paintings.
The Belguim-born artist Francis Alÿs will present a recreation of his failed teenage attempt to drive from Brussels to Moscow in a Lada 1500. For this second try, the courtyard of the Winter Palace will be the journey’s final destination. Italian artist Lara Favaretto will create an installation inside the Hermitage’s Italian antiquities galleries, where her works will sit alongside the permanent display.
Japanese artist Tatzu Nishi will present a site-specific project in the Zapadina room of the Winter Palace, in which a domestic room, furnished in a typical, Russian style, will envelop one of the grand Winter Palace chandeliers. Visitors will be able to enter the sculpture.
Public works during the biennial include a car with a blinking neon sign mounted on the roof flashing ‘No? Future!’, which will be driven through the streets of the city. The work is by Spanish artist Jordi Colomer.
Manifesta 10 will also include Unlooped – KINO, a film programme devised by Nathalie Hoyos and Rainald Schumacher from Berlin’s Office for Art (Berlin). The program will feature mini-retrospectives and include works by exhibiting artists. It also aims to give an art historical insight into the major developments in film and video works and will draw on the archives of various time-based media collections.
Other artists announced for Manifesta 10 include Susan Philipsz, Karla Black, Wolfgang Tillmans, Wael Shawky, Bruce Nauman and Cindy Sherman.
For more information and the full programme, go to manifesta.org
