Project location: Helsinki, Finland, moderators Ivor Stodolsky and Marita Muukkonen, the directors of Artists at Risk (AR)
Art Museum's "HAM Hall"
Spartak Khachanov is a sculptor and contemporary artist who produces visually, politically and emotionally charged works in a variety of materials and genres. His AR MOBILE TALK at the HAM Helsinki Art Museum will give an overview of his work in relation to the artistic and political tendencies that are shaping his region.
Following an exhibition of his new work at the Kiev Academy of Fine Art (NOAM) in January 2019, where Khachanov was a student, he was faced by rising threats to his art, life and well-being from far-right forces in Ukraine.
It related specifically to an art installation "Penis Parade" in which Khachanov placed dozens of miniature plaster soldiers and military vehicles, all with suggestive phallic features, in a long military parade that occupied the corridor of the Kiev Art Academy.
Starting with threats from a professor at the academy and rising to a dangerous fever pitch, his life was endangered by a growing cohort of fascists, and the notorious grouping C14 in particular. Artists at Risk (AR) intervened at this point, bringing him directly to AR-Safe Haven Helsinki.
Soon later, Khachanov had an invitation to exhibit his work in Berlin. In the face of the Kiev Academy's refusal to hand over the artwork—which had been partially destroyed—Artists at Risk (AR) wrote an open letter, co-signed by Aki Kaurismäki among others (
https://artistsatrisk.org/2019/02/14/open-letter-to-naoma-return-the-work-of-spartak-khachanov/). The work was finally released and exhibited in Berlin. Khachanov was nevertheless expelled from the Kiev Academy for making and exhibiting "immoral" artworks.
In face of Ukrainian nationalists' allegations that he represents anti-Ukrainian sentiments, Khachanov maintains that he in no way sympathizes with separatist, pro-Russian or any other anti-Ukrainian sentiments, but simply wishes to express his anti-militarism and pacifism.
Spartak Khachanov's AR MOBILE Talk will take place on Wednesday 3rd April from 5 to 7pm in Helsinki Art Museum's HAM Hall (2nd floor, Eteläinen Rautatiekatu 8, 00100 Helsinki, upstairs from Finnkino). The talk will be moderated by Ivor Stodolsky and Marita Mukkonnen, the directors of Artists at Risk (AR). It will be held in Russian with English translation.
Spartak Khachanov is an Artists-at-Risk (AR) Resident co-hosted by Perpetuum Mobile – PM (PM) and HIAP – Helsinki International Artist Programme on the island of Suomenlinna, Helsinki.
Artists at Risk's AR–Safe Haven Helsinki is curated by Perpetuum Mobile (PM) and co-hosted by PM and HIAP–Helsinki International Artists Programme on the island of Suomenlinna. It is funded by the Division of Culture and Leisure of the City of Helsinki. Artists at Risk (AR) Secretariat is generously funded by Koneen Säätiö – Kone Foundation.
