The Archive of Artem Loskutov and the action Monstration

The archive of Artem Loskutov and the action Monstration is composed of several thousand digital photographs and video files representing a documentation of the action which took in Novosibirsk from 2004 through 2017. The archive also includes one artefact- Monstration’s main 2016 credo that reads “Here is not Moscow for You”, which was exhibited at the inaugural Garage Triennial of Russian Contemporary Art in 2017. Records documenting the approval of the action by the mayor of Novosibirsk, and the press covering the project are also featured in the collection.

Monstration is an annual collective happening in the form of the May 1st demonstration, whose participants use slogans and banners as their key means of communication with the viewers and each other, as well as the main medium of self‑expression and an artistic tool allowing them to comprehend the world around them. The first Monstration was initiated by the CAT (Contemporary Art Terrorism) group in Novosibirsk in 2004. Since its foundation, it has evolved into a city tradition, annually bringing together around 5000 people. Artist Artem Loskutov remains the action’s permanent coordinator. The project was awarded the Innovation Prize in 2011 for the Best Regional Contemporary Art Project. Further proving the action’s growing relevancy, the number of Monstration participants constantly increases, while actions of similar format and even name are being organized in other Russian cities, including Moscow, St. Petersburg, Ekaterinburg, Perm, Petrozavodsk, Krasnoyarsk, Omsk, Khabarovsk, Yaroslavl, Volgograd, and others, and some foreign countries.

About the author

Artem Loskutov (b. 1986, Novosibirsk) lives and works in Moscow and Novosibirsk. He graduated from the Faculty of Physics and Engineering of Novosibirsk State Technical University in 2009. In 2004, he and other members of the group CAT (Contemporary Art Terrorism) organized the May Day happening Monstration in Novosibirsk. In 2007, after the breakup of CAT, he founded the group Kiss my Ba, of which he was a member until 2014. Since 2012, he has been a member of the working group of the MediaImpact Festival of Activist Art. Artem has lived and worked in Moscow since 2013.

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