November, 12 – December, 6, 2009

Organizers: Creative Industries and Cultural Tourism Development Fund, Centre of cultural initiatives, Petrozavodsk City Exhibition Hall

Supported by: Ministry of Culture and Public Relations of the Republic of Karelia, Culture Board of Petrozavodsk Municipal Administration, Geology Institute of the Karelian Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Ford Foundation

The project is carried out with the consultative participation of the Experimental Project Department “Laboratoria Art&Science Space” of the National Centre for Contemporary Art (Moscow).

Location: “Vyhod” media-centre (K.Marx str., 14), City Exhibition Hall (Lenin ave., 26), Museum of Precambrian geology of the Geology Institute of the Karelian Research, Centre of the Russian Academy of Science (Pushkinskaja str., 11)

Triennial’s subject: The White Sea. Art & Science

In November 2009, the International triennial of visual arts "Otpechatki" will be held in Petrozavodsk for the fourth time. Since the year 2000, this project has been a window to the world of contemporary art for the people of Karelia, exposing them to artworks of native and international artists who are offered a new subject for reflection and interpretation each time. In 2000, "Otpechatki" was dedicated to the phenomenon of an artist - a craftsman and a creator at the same time. The main subject of the second triennial (2003) was "photo-based art", i.e. any artwork involving photography and photo images. The third international triennial "Otpechatki" (2006) focused on the "Centrifugal -centripetal", i.e. on various strategies and techniques chosen by institutions practicing in the field of contemporary art in Russia and in Germany.

The subject of the 2009 triennial, "The White Sea. Art & Science", involves a double innovation: the object of artistic endeavors is the territory of Karelia (with an emphasis on the White sea coast) while the whole project as well as individual works is to be carried out by artists and scientists working in close cooperation.

Even a brief glance at the topic gives one the feeling of immense mysteries. The name of the sea itself presents a subject for discussion: Calm, Frozen, Western, Severskoe, Solovetskoe, Gandwik – all these are the names of the White Sea. However, unique as it is, the sea cannot be called a blank spot in art and science. Closely and constantly studied by researchers (geologists, ichthyologists, ornithologists, ethnographers, historians, archaeologists, botanists, linguists, etc.), it has also been extensively explored by artists of various epochs: from unknown authors of the petroglyphs to Solovetsky icon-painters, as well as secular artists and contemporary photographers. But science and art have never crossed paths here so far; both of them have been separately describing the White Sea, watching it through the narrow prism of their professional sphere, neither overcoming the traditional barriers between art and science nor breaking conventions within these practices.

The "Otpechatki" triennial suggests that both artists and scientists overcome such a narrow outlook taking advantage of the "science art" experience - a special scientific field in contemporary art. The authors cooperating within it - either scientists or artists - use both scientific/technical, and imaginative/ interpretative means. Such an unusual way of collaboration and joint artistic/scientific efforts may prove to be a way to discover the unknown. In any case, it is a quest to explore the undiscovered, a fascinating experience, where art may turn out to be science and science may turn out to be art. It is evident today that artistic and scientific explorations should be considered not as separate experiments but as socially oriented and scientifically based cultural endeavors.

Maria Yufa

ARTISTS – PARTICIPANTS OF THE TRIENNIAL 2009:

Derek Besant (Canada), Dmitry Bulatov (Russia), Vignir Johannsson (Iceland), Mari Wallden (Finland), Tatjana Gorbachevskaja (Netherlands \ Russia), Vladlena Gromova and Artjom Paramonov (Russia), Gaylard Murray (Germany\ South Africa), Natalja Egorova (Russia), Maria Koshenkova (Denmark \ Russia), Zorka Lednarova (Germany \ Slovakia), Denise Wyllie and Clare O’Hagan (Great Britain), Trondur Patursson (Faroe Islands), Alexander Ponomarev (Russia), Att Poomtangon (Germany \ Thailand), Peter Stuhr (Denmark), Per Hebsgaard (Denmark), Andrey Suzdalev (Russia), Anu Torikka (Finland), Julia Utysheva (Russia), Alexandra Haeseker (Canada), Natalja Tzvetkova (Russia), Mindaugas Shnipas (Lithuania), Sergey Shutov (Đîńńč˙), Ingeborg Bodzioch (Scotland \ Norway).

“OTPECHATKI 2009” PROGRAMME INCLUDES:

November, 12 - the triennial opening

12:00 – press-conference, “Vyhod” media-centre, K.Marx ave. 14

16:00 – opening ceremony, Petrozavodsk City Exhibition Hall, Lenin ave. 26

17:30 – vernisage, Museum of Precambrian Geology of the Geology Institute of the KRC (Pushkinskaja str., 11)

18:30 – vernisage, Concert-exhibition hall, Kirov str. 12

19:30 – party for the participants and guests of the triennial, art-cafe «Fm», Kirov str. 12

«The White Sea Fairytales», media-project of «Yarga Sound System» (Alexander Leonov, Olga Gaidamak,Gregory Arkhipov) and Antonina Yufa.

November, 13 - “Vyhod” media-centre, K.Marx ave. 14

12:00 – «Science art. The art of research», lecture by Dmitry Bulatov (Kaliningrad, Russia)

14:30 – «Art and Science – mutual benefit or taking advantage?», a round-table discussion. Moderator – Yuri Nikich (Moscow)

November, 14 - “Vyhod” media-centre, K.Marx ave. 14

13:00 – “Evolution haute couture: art and science in the postbiological age”, a special video screening programme. Curator – Dmitry Bulatov (Kaliningrad)

November, 15 - “Vyhod” media-centre, K.Marx ave. 14

19:00 – WHALE KIT, electronic music project with participation of ADD (Viktor Shubin, Igor Bogdanov) \ Slow (Sergey Suokas) \ Cycle Hiccups (Alexander Velikoselsky) \ Artificial Intelligence (Andrey Iudin) \ r.stankevich (Rodion Stankevitch)

Curators: Sergey Terentyev, Maria Yufa (Petrozavodsk)

taide@sampo.ru, cultur@sampo.ru

Expert: Yuri Nikich (Moscow)

Coordinators:

Nadezhda Simakina nadezhda@museums.karelia.ru, Olga Prokopjeva olga@museums.karelia.ru, Anna Kalashnik ann@museums.karelia.ru

Contacts:(8142) 78-16-50, cultur@sampo.ru \

(8142) 76-14-41, exit@museums.karelia.ru

Additional information about the project - http://develop.karelia.ru/otpechatki_2009

On-line broadcasting of the triennial events - http://create.karelia.ru 

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