The art scene of the Russian Far East is shaped by the region’s remoteness from the “mainland,” as local people call the rest of Russia, and its proximity to China, Korea, Japan, and the US. The Far East Federal District is the largest of Russia’s eight federal districts, but the least populated. We traveled to Vladivostok and Anadyr, in the south and the north of the region respectively. We also spoke with street artists Nikita Nevsky and Denis Litvikh from Khabarovsk, to whom we were introduced by local fashion and culture journalist Inna Unterberg. In Moscow we met Ksenia Kudrina, an artist from Yakutsk who lives and works in the capital.

Vladivostok (pop. 606,000), the capital of Primorsky krai (territory), is the largest city in the Far East Federal District. It is home to the Russian Pacific Fleet. This multicultural city’s proximity to Japan, China, and Korea and distance from Moscow means that the population is outward-looking. Locals tell us that Vladivostok has a lively cultural scene. On a tour through the Arsenyev Primorsky Krai Museum we heard the phrase “Primorsky krai is a finger probing Asia.” A look at the map shows this to be the case, at least cartographically. The part of the museum’s permanent exhibition title Eleanor Pray: Letters from Vladivostok, a Russian-American project based on real documents—16,000 letters written by American Eleanor Lord Pray during the 36 years she lived in the city—draws crowds.

Much of the graffiti in the streets is linked to the sea in one way or another. There is a strong demand for realistic art from Chinese buyers and most local artists are engaged in making traditional landscapes to cater to this audience. Contemporary art is a lot more difficult to sell, meaning that many young artists do not see the relevance of this practice.

That notwithstanding, the non-profit Vladivostok School of Contemporary Art, founded and managed by curator and art manager Yana Gaponenko, offers courses for artists, curators, and art critics. Most of the tuition fee paid by students covers teachers’ salaries. In addition to running courses, the school organizes regular apartment exhibitions and open lectures. The school has no premises of its own, so classes are often held at the Zarya Center for Contemporary Art, one of the city’s most important art venues. Zarya’s activies include artist residencies, exhibitions, educational events, and research. The research project and exhibition Rebels at the Edge: Contemporary Art in Vladivostok, 1960s–2000s (2015) was organized in partnership with Arka Gallery of Contemporary Art, the Primorye State Picture Gallery, and the Artetage Museum of Contemporary Art. It aimed to show how postwar artists in Vladivostok abandoned formal trends and developed critical stances. The work of over twenty artists was exhibited and published in the catalogue. Notable artists of the older generation include Alexander Kiryakhno, Ilias Zinatulin, Viktor Serov, and Vladimir Pogrebnyak.

The younger generation consists primarily of street artists, a situation similar to that in Khabarovsk, as we were advised by contacts there. Artist Pavel Shugurov launched a major public art project called 33+1. It is an “association” of 33 imaginary artists from various Russian cities. Each of them has a CV and a portfolio. Many of the artists engage in street art. A former Head of Urban Design at Vladivostok City Hall, Shugurov made a great effort to turn graffiti into a legal art form. Artists received municipal commissions for transforming urban spaces and creating public art objects. Shugurov worked on decorating and lighting city districts, as well as opposing street advertising, and this led to the founding of the “group” 33+1, which has only one real member. Shugurov prefers to present his work using figures from his imagination. The participants of Rebels at the Edge include two “artists” from 33 + 1 rather than Shugurov himself, and they showed two very different projects: plein air painting and street actions. Artist Kirill Kryuchkov collaborates with 33+1. His works are minimalistic, employing bright colors and geometric forms. Kryuchkov also works to popularize graffiti and public art. Thanks to him, local artists have begun to paint walls with brushes rather than spray cans. According to Kryuchkov, public art should not be aggressive or destructive, and artists should try to convince as many people as possible to join them.

From these examples we can see that many in the Vladivostok art community are focused on creating associations which aim to overcome the sense of isolation arising from the city’s geographical location far from the Russian capital. Some artists deliberately choose a humorous approach. Alexey Krutkin (Melky) makes mini-objects from small toys such as those from Kinder Surprise eggs, which he arranges in fantastic compositions and gives titles that ironically allude to the local context, mass culture images, or activist movements. He also makes fake Vladivostok tourist souvenirs. One of his images, Seagull Stas, has become an unofficial symbol of the city.

Contemporary art exists in Vladivostok thanks to enthusiasts. They include Vera Glazkova, curator of the project Rebels at the Edge and founder of Arka Gallery, the city’s first international gallery of contemporary art. For over 20 years she has supported Vladivostok artists by organizing exhibitions and creating opportunities. Another major contributor is Alexander Gorodny, founder of Artetage Museum of Contemporary Art. He has amassed a unique collection of contemporary art from the Primorsky and neighboring regions. Gorodny donated his collection to the city and it now forms the basis of Vladivostok Museum of Contemporary Art, which opened in the summer of 2016.

Anadyr is the capital of the Chukotka Autonomous District and one of the most northerly cities in the world. In 2013, it hosted the Festival of Contemporary Culture, organized by Garage. The city is marked by emigration. A survey conducted in local public and vocational schools by a team from Garage showed that local inhabitants make plans at an early age to leave Anadyr for cities in the European part of Russia such as Nizhny Novgorod, St. Petersburg, and Yekaterinburg. Of those who leave, few ever return. Anadyr is located in the permafrost zone and artistic life remains in an embryonic state, limited to the children’s art school and occasional events at the House of Culture.

In this context, the work of amateur sculptor Yuri Dunaev, who lives in a dying village on Cape Schmidt, is particularly impressive. From childhood, Dunaev dreamt of airplanes and later studied to become an air traffic controller. After living in different parts of the Soviet Union, he was sent to Cape Schmidt, where he finally began to work in the field of his choice. Realizing that the tip of Chukotka is the only part of Russia which lies in the Western Hemisphere, he made a monument to the 180th meridian, which divides the Western and Eastern Hemispheres, using a crowbar. For his monument to James Cook, Dunaev welded together shovels and a snow plow, flanking them with anchors. He has erected monuments to a number of people, including the American pilots Ben Eielson and Earl Borland, who died in an air crash, and the explorer Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld. Dunayev's somewhat naive manner is wholly compensated by the scale and texture of his sculptures and by the context of the territory where his monuments are placed.

Street artist Nikita Nevsky originally wanted to emigrate to the West. He studied art in the Czech Republic for a while, but decided to return to his home city of Khabarovsk, something he says rarely happens once people leave. He told us that graffiti is the only means of self-expression in Khabarovsk and that other (institutional) possibilities are entirely lacking. Walls, a territory devoid of context, are used by Nevsky and his friends (such as Nikita Stoprotsentov) to build spaces of freedom. Strange though it may seem, Nevsky’s works can be easily transferred to canvas and paper. Nevertheless, he does not try to sell them, simply giving them away to friends. Like other Khabarovsk street artists, Denis Litvikh has to combine art with a day job in order to survive. His work is also connected with the city’s walls, although he sometimes uses fiberboard instead. He says that local people do not always understand his work, sometimes referring to it as trash. Litvikh compares the situation in Khabarovsk unfavorably with that in Vladivostok.

The Garages loft project — a creative space within a shopping mall — is largely inspired by Winzavod Center for Contemporary Art in Moscow. It is due for completion in 2019 and is eagerly awaited by the local art community.

Ksenia Kudrina is an artist from Yakutsk who is now based in Moscow, but tries to keep in touch with her native region. Her work makes use of the archetypical symbols of the Yakut people, which are subconsciously part of her worldview. Kudrina reinterprets them, attempting to identify forms relevant to the modern world and to preserve and popularize her culture, which can easily get lost in the incessant flow of information.