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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
IN FRONT OF YOU
AKUE (MOSCOW)
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Anatoly is one of founding fathers of Russian graffiti culture. He started as early as in 1997 and throughout these many years he still gravitates towards turbulent energy of graffiti. He is a fan of meditation practices which are reflected in his artistic works. He is equally successful in graphics, abstract art, ceramics, and figurative plots.
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The work is inspired by simple, common things which are around us daily. The plot has references to the worldwide lockdown as the fuss around us has calmed down leaving space for more eternal values.
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Meditative and balanced plot contains simple grassland plants and a lot of air. These are the things we stop noticing and appreciating in our courtyards. The color solutions are simple and basic referring to the rich nature of Bashkir region with its specialty colors.
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