In September, we took part in the «Art of Being» project in the city Vyksa. This is an exhibitional and educational inclusive project that takes into account different spectator experiences and perceptions. It aims to unleash the potential of the museum as a place of socialization and education of the around community. The project will also be presented in Krasnodar (Center for Contemporary Art «Typography») and Moscow (State Museum-Reserve «Tsaritsyno»). Each city has its own local context. In Vyksa, the exhibition was called «Art of Being Together» and was aimed at finding various representations of oneself within the city and the connections between individuals in a community.
Our project consisted of two parts: an installation (a fragment of a living room) in the museum of the Vyksa metallurgical factory and the «Plantago» neighborhood travel bureau, which we created to study the urban environment through the personal experience of local residents. A few months before the opening of the exhibition, we found future guides who agreed to talk about their favorite places in the city through their own biography, significant memories and events.
Sergey and Lilya talked about their favorite places in the city park. Natalya Guseva - about the street on which she lives and the yard next to the music school, which has become a point of attraction for the local community. Natalya Aleksandrova shared with us and other listeners traditional games from her childhood, and talked about a residential area that was built instead of a soviet high-tech factory. At the end of Natalya's excursion, we found ourselves in the workshop of her father, a wood artist. Marina Gordeeva introduced the area of the former monastery where she spent her childhood and adolescence, where many of her relatives worked and lived, and a personal story is associated with each house. Mikhail Ermakov showed us his favorite hiking route, which starts from the museum and the city library and ends at the pond with swans.
The excursions were accompanied by interactive moments. So, for example, there was an armwrestling competition with the participation of our dear Yuri and Lilya (hurray for Lilya!). We also dreamed and drew what we would like to change in our yards, played with rubber bands, shared memories of how we chewed goudron.
We ended each trip with tea, where we talked and exchanged impressions. During the excursions, all listeners could take pictures with a film soap dish. Photos of this series were printed and placed in the album, which we put in our installation. In addition to the visual part of the project: photographs, portraits and drawings related to the routes, there is an auditory part: viewers can listen to the stories of the guides, the sounds of Vyksa, our choral singing. We invite exhibition viewers to take pens and markers and write about their favorite places in Vyksa.
