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Urban art festival which has been held in Neftekamsk throughout 2020 season is the only festival in Russia held during the global lockdown. Art-embassy Supernova curates the festival. It is organized by the Public Utilities Ministry of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Culture Ministry of the Republic of Bashkortostan and Municipality of Neftekamsk. Iskra Urban Fest is being held since April and will last until September 2020. It includes several formats such as mural art, street art, graffiti and land art as well as partisan offline/online activations and free painting. Up to date, two stages of the festival have been implemented, namely Memorial 2020 dedicated to the Victory Day and Mural Art (part I) on facades of residential buildings and technical constructions.
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Marat Morik, Rustam Qbic, Basil LST, Roman Muratkin, Anatoly Akue, Shozy, Issue, Artyom Stefanov (STFNV), Kirill Ashesteen, Evgeny Pacer Voronin, Alex Stan Shimanov, Kostya Zmogk, Effect Graff team (Jozi, Maiz, Olifa, Reset) participated in the first two stages of the festival.
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P R O J E C T C O N C E P T
The term urban art comprises all contemporary art practices such as graffiti, street art, mural art, performances and many others. Generally, it is any activity in a city aimed at monologue or a dialogue with urban residents, culture adepts and the whole community. Seven-pointed ‘spark’ (‘iskra’ in Russian) is the element of the town’s emblem referring to the ancestors. Within the festival format these are bright works, emotions, atmosphere created by street artists and town residents while interacting with urban spaces. A spark is an initiative able to fuel the interest of several generations to street art phenomenon. As an initiative it can change the town’s lifestyle to the better. The key idea of the festival is to ignite the first spark to support active groups of residents in positive changes in environment and development of creative thinking. This is the investment in intangible assets of the town able to show itself in short term perspective as well as later.
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P H O T O S B Y V I T A L Y K I M & D M I T R Y K U D I N O V
Cutting off unnecessary
BASIL LST (IRKUTSK)
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The most traditional object where the children musical school is located. Many experts quote this school building as an example of classic architecture, and it was required to emphasize its functionality.
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Vasily chose the way of the famous quote – to cut off all the unnecessary. It was the shapeless marble chunks which the musical instruments are cut from in the plot of the picture. The instruments themselves are made by a labor-intensive craft using the knowledge transferred by generations of craftsmen. The quality of an instrument depends on the quality of raw materials.
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But this is not enough. Not every musician is able to make an instrument sound in full. Therefore, it is the virtuosity of a musician’s skills that defines the unique sound of an instrument as well as it happens with the marble having its fibers and chips.
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