Yet, here we are representing the first and only Anti-War Street X Digital Art Exhibition – no censorship, no restrictions – artists feel free to speak out and express themselves the way they want. Sounds even more fantastic than the first sentence. Well, here is the thing: as you all have most probably heard, there is this virtual space called Metaverse where everything is possible and everyone is equal. So far. But still.
So, some creative minds from @Post_Tribe Studio whose need for freedom brought them one step ahead of the dramatic sequence of events happening between Russia, Ukraine and practically the whole world, managed to relocate and decentralise – both themselves and their digital studio. Not only that, they came up with the idea to build a meta-version of the Red Square and use it as a venue for their anti-war exhibition.
Before Us
The tradition of art activism on the Red Square is not new. Artists have long used this place to manifest and to get heard both by the rulers and the masses. In 1991, the famous art group E.T.I., with Anatoly Osmolovsky among them, used their bodies to encrypt the infamous Russian curse word HUI [dick].
A few years later Alexander Brener used Lobnoye Mesto – a spot for public executions for the Russian monarchy – as a boxing ring where he was challenging the first president Yeltsin to come out and fight “like a man”.
More recently, the punk-art group Pussy Riot took over the same Lobnoye Mesto with their punk manifestations against Putin. That was quite a show!
Later, when the girls got imprisoned for their punk prayer at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, another fierce artist Peter Pavlensky nailed his testicles to the cobbles of the Red Square in protest. That action went like an electric shock through the body of the Russian art community.
All these actions went down in the history of modern Russian art, and it seems like we are humbly following the lead of the greatest.
In the Metaverse
But nowadays Red Square is firmly inaccessible for any unauthorised activity and is heavily guarded by the Russian police. So we build our own in Metaverse to give a chance to those who want to speak up against the war and for freedom.
In our meta-art show, the famous digital and public artists are sharing the space with street art contributors: Pussy Riot, Oleg Navalny, Alexander Morozov, Philippenzo, PTRK, Blue Pencil, Lucy Durasova, Inferno Girlando, Sasha Tape, Yulia Prohorova, Satwikakresa, Abbrazzive, bppchourmo, DagoDaleffe, to name just a few. A major part of the digital artists are represented by the international digital art community SMTH0111.
How to Experience
You really don’t want to miss this notorious and at the same time very peaceful show.
Metaverse is available via various applications – one of them is Spatial. Basically, it’s some sort of 3D Instagram for Metaverse. You can use it on your phone or your desktop but we recommend downloading Spatial app on your phone, as it is easier. When you open the app on your phone or a link in your browser, it will offer you to create a 3D avatar using your image taken by the camera on your device. To log in you can also use any of your Google or Apple accounts. Once the avatar is generated, that’s it – you can enter the Metaverse.
Use the link below or search for Stop War to enter our exhibition:
A War Is Not The Answer – Red Square Art Exhibition >>
Up to 3000 people can gather at the same meta-place at the same time. People can communicate with each other, and share thoughts and content. We even set a stage for some performing acts there – it’s right in front of the St Basil Cathedral, by the way.
Every day some recent and quite radical music videos mixed with animated digital artworks will be showcased on that stage. But some real-time live performances from our fellow musicians with anti-war agenda will take place in the nearest future as well. We are planning the shows by ic3peak, Monetochka, Noize MC, Face, Oxxymiron, Manizha and more famous Russian artists.
All of the artworks will also be released in the NFT format. The tokens will be available for collectors and all those who want to support the anti-war movement in a creative way. All funds gathered from the NFT sales will be donated to a number of charities helping and protecting the refugees fleeing from the war zone.
The Creators
The exhibition is curated by me, Michael Oger, a street art and street culture curator and producer. Throughout the 20 years of my career in art, I have organised numerous street culture fests, curated street art exhibitions, public art projects, and produced freestyle rap battles and hip hop theatre shows.
The creative producer of the show is David Bintsene – one of the leading Moscow music video directors and one of the founders of @Post_Tribe Studio, a decentralised creative studio specialising in clip making, digital art, CG, VFX, Meta and AR. The studio works with various artists all over the world, from Russian rap stars such as @ic3peak, Detsl aka @juzeppejostko, @sayonaraboy and Noize MC, to world superstars like NAS, ASAP, DJ Premier, Willow Smith, Guna, $NOT, Kehlani, Gallant and Brandy. The Art Director of the project is Danil Chernikh.
*The head image “Matushka” is by Oleg Navalny
