“Miracles should be done with your own hands”: how artists transform cultural spaces in Moscow

From June to late September, contemporary artists painted walls and interiors of dozens of cultural institutions in Moscow. This integration of contemporary art into public spaces became possible thanks to the Culture Contours All-Russian art project initiated by the Moscow Production Center (Mosproducer) supported by the Department of Culture of Moscow.

The project winners have created 26 murals and nine art objects in libraries and cultural centers across the city. They appeared on walls, stands, steles, planters, benches, cargo containers, and other objects on the grounds of institutions. Thanks to the paintings, they’ve gained a new function and became contemporary artwork. Artists have used over 500 liters of paint, 1,876 cans, 370 brushes, and 650 meters of duct tape.

“Each artist has created an authentic signature painting. They’ve put a lot of creativity, effort, and time into this: one mural or an artwork took the project winners 3–30 days. As a result, street art has become a colorful part of the interiors at cultural institutions in Moscow, giving them a harmonious transformation. And soon, all the murals will be converted into the AR format through the Mosproducer app and the project will become a digital gallery both on each individual venue and on the mobile app. Next year, we plan to hold another season of Culture Contours to involve both new artists and new cultural venues,” says Andrey Petrov, director of the Moscow Production Center.

Good mood even in bad weather

The artists’ sketches were adapted for each institution in line with its style and purpose. For instance, the Alyye Parusa cultural center in Severnoye Tushino District now has the phrase “Miracles should be done with your own hands” from Alexander Grin’s same-name story. It was made in ornamental script by Pan Zadorozhny, a calligraphy artist from Moscow.

In Konstantin Paustovsky Library No. 170 in Yasenevo District, an image of the writer was created by artist Alexander Ambrosimov.

“Now the interior space of our library looks modern. Classical literature is presented in a peculiar way. An encrypted quote of the writer looks very unusual. Some conservative visitors find it too audacious, but at the same time everyone engages in examining the drawings perceiving them as a classic example of contemporary art,” says Evgenia Kiryukhanova, head of Library No. 170.

The Zodchiye cultural center in Kuntsevo District was painted by artist Sergey Iman. According to Alexey Utenkov, the institution director, the new painting is quite an accurate reflection of the center’s concert activity and the vocal art taught there.

“We are always open to bright urban projects. I’m sure the images that we have now thanks to the Culture Contours project inspire not only visitors and studio members but also artists on our stage,” says Alexey Utenkov.

On the walls of the Onezhsky Cultural Center in the Golovinsky District, graphic designer Olga Filatova created a unique world of doodles, cheerful and colorful monsters that look great even in the most cloudy season. Lyudmila Zelenova, head of the center’s principal activity department, noted that visitors liked the wall painting a lot.

“While going upstairs, you are looking at the bright colors and funny silhouettes of the characters and this cheers you up right away. Children are especially excited, since the drawings resemble fantastic cartoon characters and coloring pages,” says Lyudmila Zelenova. 

You can see one of the largest murals in the Culture House Voskhod where The Symphony of Day and Night painting (77 square meters) appeared thanks to Napasio, an artist from Moscow. And Central Children’s Library No. 251 in Zelenograd has now a mural (90 square meters) by Nastya Vokina from Saint Petersburg.

“I’ve managed to paint my own fantasy world: colorful abstract characters typical of my visual language perfectly match their location. Children use their imagination trying to guess who is in front of them while adults “teleport” to their childhood for a moment,” says the artist.

The Shchukino cultural and art center has a pointillism image resembling Renaissance painting. It was created by Stepan Krasnov. According to the artist, integration of art into public spaces is a great tendency bringing visitors to institutions and helping them learn more about street art.

The Strogino, Moskvorechye, Lira, and Zelenograd cultural centers, as well as the Palace of Culture Kapotnya, Brigantina and Orekhovo territorial club systems, Na Nagornoy center of creativity, libraries No. 51, 61, 233, 240, 253, 171, 172 (branches 1 and 2), Sholokhov Central Library No. 70, Central Children’s Library No. 152, and Central Library No. 249 are also venues for art by the Culture Contours project winners.