Silent Sky Project#58

Silent Sky Project#58  July 10th  2014, 13.45 – 14.15 pm, 16 participants, Ostankino, Moscow, Russia.

Silent Sky Porject#58: Ostankino Estate Museum

The employees of the Ostankino Estate Museum (5 Ostankinskaya Street) “had a conversation with” the sky in silence on the lawn of the estate, a “sleeping beauty” currently closed for restoration. They face the sky, and their feet are in the direction of the sculpture park grounds and gardens.

Ostankino Estate was built as the summer residence and private theatre of the Sheremetyev family at the end of the 18th century. It is one of Russia’s oldest museums, opening for visitors already in the last decades of the 19^th century, which allowed it to be so well preserved throughout the 20^th century. During this time it did not lose its function as a place for entertainment and new experiences. The theatre of the main building continues on the grounds, where the line between life, nature, and art has been blurred for centuries.

In the background, Ostankino TV and radio tower, the highest freestanding structure in Europe, juts out of this rich landscape.

Below: The general text about Silent Sky Project#58-59-60 in Moscow, written by Varvara Degtiarenko

and everything translated in Russian!

Thanks to: Motel Spatie, Claudia Schouten, Varvara Degtiarenko, Anastasia Brintseva, Anastasia Tarasova, Ellen Boersma

Безмолвное небо № 58: Музей-усадьба Останкино

Сотрудники Музей-усадьбы Останкино (Останкинская улица, д. 5) в тишине «разговаривали» с небом на лужайке усадьбы, «Спящей красавицы», которая в настоящее время закрыта на реставрацию. Лица обращены к небу, а ноги лежат в направлении территории парка скульптур и сада.

Усадьба Останкино была построена в конце 18-го века как летняя резиденция и собственный театр семьи Шереметьевых. Это один из старейших музеев России, открывшийся для посетителей уже в последние десятилетия 19-го века, что позволило ему так хорошо сохраниться в течение всего 20-го века. За это время усадьба не потеряла свою роль как место для развлечений и новых впечатлений. Театральный проход в главном здании продолжается в парк, где грань между жизнью, природой и искусством была размыта уже на протяжении веков.

На заднем плане, Останкинская телебашня, самая высокая свободно-стоящая структура в Европе, выдается вверх из этого богатого ландшафта.

Silent Sky in Moscow City Museums

Silent Sky #58-60 in Russia is аn initiative of Rob Sweere and Motel Spatie artist residency in Arnhem, the Netherlands (Claudia Schouten, director, Varvara Degtiarenko, project manager in Russia) with special thanks to Anastasia Brintseva (GosNIIR), Anastasia Tarasova (Garage CCC), Ellen Boersma, Yulia Diomkina (State Historical Museum), Elena Lioubimova (independent art historian and curator), in collaboration with three local city history museums in Moscow: Ostankino Estate Museum, Sokol Neighbourhood Museum, and the Museum of Moscow.

Thanks to Gennadiy Viktorovich Vdovin and Olga Evgenievna Solomodenko of the Ostankino Estate Museum, Galina Dimitrievna Aristova of the Sokol Neighbourhood Museum, and Irina Zhernova, Arseniy Bekeshko and Alexander Ostrogorsky of the Museum of Moscow.

It is Rob Sweere’s first project in Russia and Motel Spatie’s second, after having participated in the Netherlands-Russia year in 2013. Varvara and Motel Spatie began to work together on this project after Varvara’s residency at Motel Spatie, February-April of 2014, when she wrote a new policy plan for the young initiative.

Rob Sweere’s Silent Sky Project# 58-60 focused on collaborating with museums in particular as a continuation of Varvara’s 2013 research project at Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture, and Design, where she researched the opportunity for these places to reflect on contemporary Russian culture. She demonstrated the possibilities inherent in the practice of creating contemporary “art in context” (social, cultural or urban context) as a way for audiences and communities to encounter past and present life in a new way. It was the first experiment related to this work and for all participants in the action, was a beautiful point of departure for future exploration.

Silent Sky is an artwork for all groups of people connected in some way. For this particular collaboration, Varvara was especially interested to approach Moscow’s museum employees to recognize their role as guardians of culture and those who are tasked with seeing and interpreting the complexity and resilience of history for the present.

Проект Безмолвное небо № 58-60 в московских городских музеях