Arctic Art Institute, as an interdisciplinary laboratory, is engaged in the research and production of new artistic narratives and the rediscovery of forgotten Nothern histories.
The Alyaska project is a continuation of long-term artistic research on the microhistories of the North conducted in collaboration with the Anchorage Museum.
In 2016, the first Arctic Art Forum took place in Arkhangelsk. One of its participants was the curator of the Anchorage Museum in Alaska, Aaron Leggett. Residents of the city and artists learned about New Arkhangelsk, the first capital of Alaska - today's Sitka. The first governor of this city was Alexander Baranov from the Russian town of Kargopol, and his monument still stands on Sitka Square. Russian names are still preserved on the map of Alaska, and in the village of Ninilchik, near Anchorage, linguists from the Institute of Linguistics of the Russian Academy of Sciences compiled a dictionary of the dialect of the Russian language. Its carriers are the descendants of Russians and Alaska natives, the first settlers of Ninilchik. The dialect of Russian they speak dates back to the reign of Alexander II and existed long before Alaska became America's 49th state.
The Alyaska project is dedicated to both the past and the present in the art of the Arctic. Artists working in Northern Russia and Alaska met for the IV Arctic Art Forum, virtual studio visits and the result of the project is the film and the journal. What do artists working in the Northern regions have in common? How can art (re)tell stories and create new dialogues?
Artists
Ash Adams, Brian Adams, Katie Basile, Anna Hoover, Sonya Keliher-Combs, Amy Meissner, Daria Orlova, Ulyana Podkorytova, Igor Samolet, Ustina Yakovleva, Sergey Zhigaltsov
Essayists / Artists
Evgenia Arbugaeva, Arcacia Johnson, Timo Jokela, Nikolay Smirnov, Ekaterina Sharova
Consultant
Marek Ranis