I don't believe. Collective project. 2019
Pop-up photo studio. 2-nd Worldwide Flat and Studio Biennale. Moscow, Russia
For a time, there were rumors that in the wake of success of the first grandiose Show of Art Optimism at Winzavod, its curator Oleg Kulik was preparing a new project to be titled Believe-2. But contrary to the enthusiastic feedbacks voiced by contemporary art fanciers for curatorial talents of the Man-Dog who managed to amass a hodge-podge event from “everything that was at hand», the second part did not take place. Equally though no symmetric response appeared from the camp of ideologically minded opponents who defend the unpredictability of art and the disobedience of its agents to salesmen and bureaucrats. That’s right, we mean the ones motivated ideologically, not aesthetically, since I Believe! exhibition included the widest range of all possible styles and trends. And the list of participants was dazzling with names of both famous authors and the ones unknown to anyone, neither before nor after the exhibition.
I Don’t Believe exhibition has no direct relation to the aforementioned story, nevertheless its artists are ready to express their indignation at cultural conformism that eventually resulted in change of direction of the national cultural policy towards reconciliation of classical and modern art in the field of contemporary art. The search for a compromise was initiated from above and implemented by art functionaries helped by museums and academic institutions that traditionally enjoy reputation of indisputable guarantors of high cultural level. Due to appointments of so called specialists with professional competences that are far from real art processes, there is a rollback to issues long resolved in art and important cultural events increasingly become decorative in nature.
The artists of the project DO NOT BELIEVE that it is possible to resurrect Konstantin Sergeyevich Stanislavsky or Anton Pavlovich Chekhov with help of theatrical magic or contemporary art.
The artists of the project DO BELIEVE that the gun on stage aimed at the viewer in the first act will shoot at those who hung it there in the end.
Participants: Ksenia Bashmakova, Mikhail Dolyanovsky, Ilya Kolesnikov, Irina Lenkova, Anna Leonova, Roman Minaev, Herman Orekhov, Eugenia Panina, Anastasia Razmanova, Kirill Romanov
Anna Rotaenko, Liza Sazonova, Alexei Smolyannikov, Maria Sviridova, Natalia Zotikova