Art and repression : actionism and socially engaged practices in contemporary Russia
Mikhaylova, Maria (2020)
Mikhaylova, Maria
2020
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https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202005057210
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202005057210
Tiivistelmä
This study presents a research on how societal challenges and political regime have influenced Russian Actionism since the time of its inception in 1990s and how politics affect the freedom of speech in art. The objective is to determine how the agenda of Russian Actionism changed throughout the years and how does it respond to the emerging issues of today. It was of interest to determine the impact of repression on radicality of art and what are the singularities of making art against the backdrop of a conservative political turn and the lack of civil liberties.
The research methods used for this thesis are professional literature review, content analysis and ethnographic method. Three semi-structured interviews were conducted with the art professionals, who are at some extent working with social practice art. The study also includes the views of the respondents on the present state and a possible future of Actionism and art activism in Russia, thoughts about current political situations and social trends and how they affect the work of an artist. Full text of the interviews can be read in the appendices.
The findings indicate that despite a relatively small time gap between the emergence of each new Wave of Russian Actionism, there is a significant difference in agenda and tactics of the artists. A shift towards totalitarianism in Russian political system has influenced this change, but also created a unique context for development of this art movement. The results of the study demonstrate two things. One is a general social turn in today’s Actionism and another is that political repression and censorship create a discourse on boundaries of freedom of artistic expression, which is relevant not only for Actionism, but for contemporary art in general.
This thesis is an attempt to analyze the present situation in Russian Actionism and the relationship between its development and the political climate. Since it is not an established art movement of the past and, on the contrary, goes through a constant transition, there is room for a deeper continuous research.
The research methods used for this thesis are professional literature review, content analysis and ethnographic method. Three semi-structured interviews were conducted with the art professionals, who are at some extent working with social practice art. The study also includes the views of the respondents on the present state and a possible future of Actionism and art activism in Russia, thoughts about current political situations and social trends and how they affect the work of an artist. Full text of the interviews can be read in the appendices.
The findings indicate that despite a relatively small time gap between the emergence of each new Wave of Russian Actionism, there is a significant difference in agenda and tactics of the artists. A shift towards totalitarianism in Russian political system has influenced this change, but also created a unique context for development of this art movement. The results of the study demonstrate two things. One is a general social turn in today’s Actionism and another is that political repression and censorship create a discourse on boundaries of freedom of artistic expression, which is relevant not only for Actionism, but for contemporary art in general.
This thesis is an attempt to analyze the present situation in Russian Actionism and the relationship between its development and the political climate. Since it is not an established art movement of the past and, on the contrary, goes through a constant transition, there is room for a deeper continuous research.