Spatia Nova - Off-line in St. Petersburg
Report by Kathy Rae Huffman
http://www.spb.su/biennale
The great new electronic spaces and communication possibilities, along
with the dramatic changes which have taken place in Russia since the end
of the Cold War inspired the theme of the fourth St. Petersburg
Biennale, October 3-13, 1996. SPATIA NOVA (New Areas) was a series of
exhibitions involving 240 artists from 70 countries. A modest Biennale
compared to the previous (1960, 1992 & 1994), the diverse events still
demanded a constant dash between institutes, galleries, and cultural
centers around the historic city. Dmitry Shubin, Biennale Director,
focused his choice of artists to reflect the idea of a reunion between
the formerly Soviet controlled Eastern Block countries. In his
catalogue introduction, he refers to East artists as sharing a common
community, "…a post-totalitarian experience…that makes leftist
illusions impossible" but "…unites them in theoretical as well as in
practical ways."
[…]
The Biennale was structured into five thematic sections: "Electronic
Page" (new media), curated by Irina Aktuganova; "Living Page"
(performance and live action) curated by Olga Yegorova; "Photo Page"
curated by Dmitry Pilikin; "Video Page" curated by Maxim Emk; and "Out
of Pagination" (a mixed bag of everything, including photography, video
and performance) curated by the Biennale director Dmitry Shubin. A
symposium dedicated to the changing cultural consciousness in
post-totalitarian regions was called "Mirror Page". It took place at the
Russian Institute of Art History, Oct. 7 - 9, and was curated by Dmitry
Golynko-Volfson. There were non-official exhibitions, for example a
Danish exhibition, and a Ukrainian exhibition, supported independently
but promoted along with the other events.
[…]
The Electronic Page, located partially in Smolny (next to what would
have been the altar of the unconsecrated cathedral) was partially
functional. Although no definitive list of works selected for this
"Page" was ever available, not in the catalogue nor in the exhibition
space the media works by Olga Kiseleva (RU), a CD ROM by Alan Dunning
(Canada), Net work by Dimitry Pilikin, A. Mitrofanova and K. Tenev (RU),
and a Macedonian CD-ROM were operable and on view. Jane Haskell
