Art Festival "Steppe"

The Astrakhan gallery of contemporary art "Podvorie" organized the independent art festival "Steppe". During the month, biologists, archaeologists, art historians, writers, and artists will talk about various manifestations of the Astrakhan steppe — from mythology to natural diversity. The artist Ulyana Podkorytova took part in the festival.

Ulyana worked in the Podvorie residence and gathered with the residents of Astrakhan in the AksAnna chamber atelier. They sewed together several sculptures from the artist's previous projects, as well as created a new work dedicated to water as jewelry. Steppe performances in the area of the village of Chagan have become one of the most spectacular parts of the festival. In the open air, participants launched textile sculptures that come to life under the steppe wind and reinterpret images of mythological creatures: steppe hydra, water hands and some more.

Writer Alexandra Zaitseva shared her impressions of the festival:

"Climbing one of the Baer hills and catching the wind to revive the steppe Hydra — we haven't had fun like this yet. It's really fun. Hydra and other textile sculptures were created by the artist Ulyana Podkorytova, sewed together by Ulyana, the owner of the Astrakhan sewing workshop AksAnna, curators and friends of the Podvorie art space. We launched it together. This is the Steppe festival, which has just begun in Astrakhan, but is already extremely cool. And Hydra is the sea that once splashed here. Or the ocean. In general, Hydra is water, and the organizers of the festival are fire!"

Photo: Alexandra Zaitseva, Evgenia Nekrasova