Masha Kravtsova, chief editor of the Russian version of GARAGE
The heroines of the first Wonderzine publication do different things - they edit magazines and websites, open stores, invent clothes, arrange dinners, sing in a group, do art and manage international companies. One thing unites them - everything that they do causes the processes around to accelerate. They are energetic, professional, self-sufficient and attract the same to them. No wonder almost everyone to the question "What girls inspire you?" answer that they do not know how to equal people who they personally do not know. But on their own equal other girls who will become our heroines very soon.
Masha Kravtsova
chief editor of the Russian version of GARAGE
We do not divide art into Russian and Western
On Masha: Acne shirt ("Color" Department Store)
How has the art world changed during the time you work in it?
Magazine GARAGE makes an international team. Some of the editors work in London, some - in Moscow, and art director Mike Meire and designers - in Cologne. And this is a new experience in my professional practice: despite the existence of the Internet, I still notice that the international context, its names, events and news reach Russia for a very long time. And the environment into which we plunged, becoming part of the international edition, not only helps us to keep abreast of the latest trends, news and events in art, but also makes us part of them, moreover, it allows us to participate in many experiments. But in general, we do not divide art into Russian and Western. We consider Russian art to be part of the global artistic and intellectual field. For various reasons, for many years Russian authors have been excluded from the global context, but this has recently changed. Now in Italy you can see a huge personal project of the artist Evgeny Antufyev in a fairly solid collection of Collezione Maramotti in Reggio Emilia. Moreover, Antufiev as an artist was not formed in Moscow - and this is important in this case - but in Tuva. Moreover, his work is very consonant with international trends in contemporary art. Since I came to the art industry in 2002, it has changed a lot. A new generation of artists, new critics and curators, a new profession - art manager. New institutions appeared, for example, the Garage center, the Moscow Museum of Modern Art flourished, the Big Manege was recently reformed - now it is one of the most interesting sites in Moscow. There were many regional initiatives, for example, the Ural Biennale in Yekaterinburg. Formed Wednesday, which only ten years ago, only dreamed of. I remember how ten years ago I came to the art festival "Melioration" on the Klyazma reservoir. They showed me a man walking in the distance and said: "God, this is a great and terrible collector Markin!" Collectors could be counted on the fingers, now they have become much more.
What girls inspire you and why?
Revolutionaries attract my attention, and in order to become a revolutionary, it is not necessary to wave flags on the barricades. Sometimes it is much harder to go against the tide and oppose the settled state of affairs. From this point of view, fashion designers Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli are revolutionaries. The context in which they had to work and make their own small revolutions was much harsher than the modern one. I am generally inspired by people who found in themselves the strength and courage to confront the system or circumstances, those who sacrificed themselves, such as participants in the Resistance in France during World War II. I am inspired by people who accomplished military exploits, those who lived and worked in besieged Leningrad. It is important for me to know that there are strong personalities who live contrary to. For example, photographer Lee Miller, a bohemian party girl and a surrealist muse in the 1930s and a brave military journalist in the 1940s, and a journalist Elena Masyuk, who made reports from the Chechen war.
What do you miss in Moscow?
It’s not that I lack any institutions or services, rather, a certain atmosphere. Moscow is often not a friendly city to both visitors and its residents. This friendliness cannot be imitated. It is impossible, as it seems to me, using alien models, to turn Moscow into something similar to Berlin or Paris, which I love very much. The atmosphere of each European city is unique and evolved throughout its history. I would like for Moscow to develop its own atmosphere, but more favorable to different people and social categories. But, to be more specific, in Moscow, I really miss the street cafes for visitors to drink coffee and watch passersby. But at the same time, I understand that in Moscow people are not very tuned to this kind of communication: to show themselves and see others, except on Nikitsky Boulevard.
What are the best new projects?
I really like the Paperworks gallery, created by Elena Bakanova and Evgeny Mitta. Until August of last year it was located at Winzavod, and now it exists as a gallery without walls. That is, its activity continues, there is simply no exhibition hall. This is a common international experience. Without walls, the New Museum of Modern Art in New York or the MAC / VAL Museum in Paris have long existed. I am really looking forward to Lena’s new ideas and projects, because they are fully consistent with the spirit of modernity, as I feel it. I also liked the pop-up space of the New York Family Business Gallery, which opened in New Holland, and their project Tamizdat. Family Business is done by our artist Dasha Irincheeva along with artist Maurizio Catellan and curator Massimiliano Joni. The creators of the gallery have collected a huge amount of paper samizdat: directories, magazines and books of the artist, with which they are inspired. This is very cool, because in essence it gives the viewer the opportunity to actually look into the head of the project authors, to find out what ideas drive them and what feeds their imagination.