On The Way To A New Future
On the Way to A New Future, a year-long program of online and in-person meetings and creative residencies was launched in spring 2024 to support exchange between US and Russian arts professionals about our global future, build transnational relationships, and plan future collaboration. In fall 2024, twenty-five Russian and US artists and curators came together to share ideas, collaborate on projects, celebrate art, and build relationships. During one-month arts residencies in California, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Vermont, the US and Russian artists exchanged information about their art practices, stories about their family, childhood, education, and culture, and spent hours together eating, exploring, and enjoying their surroundings. They built professional relationships and friendships, which will continue for a long, long time.
A New Future took place amid wars, uprisings, and geo-political tensions, that deeply impacted project participants and shaped conversations. All the Russian participants have been directly affected by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and diminishing civil liberties in their country. For the Russian participants, some of whom were displaced from their homes in Russia, the visit to the US was an opportunity to breathe freely and interact openly with a wide range of people. The personal and professional relationships built during these residencies transcended politics and demonstrated how person-to-person exchange brings people together and helps us address societal inequities and xenophobia.
We invite you to explore the collaborative zine created by A New Future artists — In these pages, Russian and US artists share documentation of their residencies, reflections on what they saw and people they met, and ideas for future collaboration. Flux Factory is very grateful to the numerous individuals and organizations that supported and participated in this complex project, in particular the US Embassy in Moscow.
On The Way To A New Future (Zine)
On the Way to a New Future Participants
Host: Kendal Henry (Artist, Assistant Commissioner of Public Art, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs ); Resident: Alisa Sycheva (Independent Curator, Yekaterinburg/St. Petersburg)
Host: Allen Frame (Photographer, Adjunct Professor, Pratt Institute, NY NY); Resident: Anastasiia Tsayder (Photographer, Moscow)
Host: Will Owen (Artist, Composer, Curator, Philadelphia, PA); Residents: Alexander Ivanov (cultural worker, educator, curator, St. Petersburg) and Daria Orlova (interdisciplinary artist, Murmansk/St. Petersburg)
Host: Joshua Goode (Artist, Fort Worth, Texas) Residents: Petr Diakov (Artist, St. Petersburg), Nestor Engelke (Artist, St. Petersburg), Alexander Tsikarishvili (Artist/Curator, St. Petersburg), Liza Tsikarishvili (Artist/Curator, St. Petersburg)
Host: Tavia LaFollette (Art Up, Baltimore, MD); Resident: Lera Lerner (artist, curator, mediator, St. Petersburg/Paris)
Host: Tom Pearson (Choreographer, poet, and multi-media artist, Director Global Performance Studio, NY ); Resident: Daria Karpova (film director, screenwriter, and performer, Moscow)
Host: Lisa Marr (Filmmaker, musician, curator, Echo Park Film Center, Los Angeles); Resident: Polina Zaslavskaya (Artist, curator, St. Petersburg)
Host: Farrah Karapetian (Artist, public thinker, Los Angeles/ San Diego); Resident: Anton Zabrodin (Photographer, Kaliningrad/Paris)
Host: Clare Dolan (Artist, Found and Director, Museum of Everyday Life, Glover, VT); Resident: Andrei Rudyev (Artist, St. Petersburg)