Installation about homeless animals to open at Baku seaside boulevard
By Nigar Orujova
New installation project "Good Dog" of the young Russian artist and designer Natalia Pastukhova will be presented at the Baku seaside boulevard on April 17 at 7.00 p.m local time.
"Good dog" is a mobile installation or graphic story of figures, on the fence, representing stray dogs. This project aims to point out one of the borders of the civilized Europeans consciousness - our relation to homeless animals.
One of the characteristic differences between East and West is the issue of the dog. For the former, it is considered normal cuisine, for Europeans it is an intelligent man's friend. Europeans often "humanize" the dog: it can be bored, angry, love, cry. For this society eating dogs is akin to cannibalism. Just as pets "look like their owners," stray dogs act as a reflection of the city; they are portraits, caricatures of our society.
The artist portrays stray dogs to offer us a closer look at each other. "Good Dog" is a portrait gallery of the city and its citizens.
According to the project's curator Nailya Allahverdiyeva, the project brings the animal world into the urban environment through numerous animal sculptures. "Playing upon the ambivalence we have to the animal world, one of idealization and nostalgia, set against control and fear," she said.
Allahverdiyeva hopes to create a modern genre that reminds us of 'animalism's' close proximity to our everyday life.
"With this project we want to present something both vilified and idealized, and almost entirely invisible in the urban environment - the 'animal'. The city is a place for human life, a place of comfortable and concentrated civilization, it opposes the world of wildlife just as man opposes 'animal'," she said.
The project will last until April 24.
Pastukhova also shared her artistic experience during the open lecture held on April 16 in Yarat!
Good dog is another YARAT! Contemporary Art Space organization's project in the frame of the PARTICIPATE Baku Public Art Festival 2013, which began on March and lasts until September.
The Participate project to show case 10 public art commissions from a selection of Azerbaijani and international artists during the period.
YARAT Contemporary Art Space, founded in 2011 by Aida Mahmudova, is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to nurturing an understanding of contemporary art in Azerbaijan and to creating a platform for Azerbaijani art, both nationally and internationally.
Based in Baku, Yarat! realizes its mission through an ongoing program of exhibitions, education events, and festivals. It facilitates dialogue and exchange between local and international artistic networks, including foundations, galleries and museums. A series of residencies further fosters opportunities for global cultural dialogue and partnerships.