PushkinoRU
Pushkino in the Tver Area in Russia has two village shops, since a few years a vital new gusli-music workshop and the old church is being refurbished. The village hall is built in 1972 and marked by a large Lenin painting on the front. The kolkhoz was closed in the nineties and a main transit road splits the village in two halves.
| Region | Tver Region |
|---|---|
| Local partners |
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| Classrooms |
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| Population | Around 450 people |
| Common fruit, vegetables, animals | Apple blossom, mushrooms, hedgehogs and bears |
| Tradition | Selling things along the transit road |
| Scent | Moisty birch-leaves when you walk on them |
| Distances from Pushkino | Distances
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PushkaFest, held on August 24th, was a milestone event for Pushkino, marking the village's first-ever full-day festival. Artists and local youth led activities to show that these events don’t have to be formal or externally organized. Instead, they can be spaces for collective joy and meaningful experiences, especially for children.
We hosted a series of workshops reflecting themes of local identity and rural life, with two focusing on the native flora of Pushkino. Art therapist Asia Zhuravskaya led a workshop where participants created clay reliefs using imprints of local plants, while Anastasia Popadinets offered a session on botanical sketching.
The third workshop focused on the concept of upcycling and customizing old items. Villagers learned how to create prints on various materials, such as t-shirts, bags, and bandanas, giving new life to their belongings.
We held a lively carnival parade, marching through the entire village to spread the festive spirit to everyone—including those busy tending their gardens—bringing the celebration to every corner of Pushkino.
This year’s mural was truly experimental. We selected two concrete cylinders near one of the houses as our canvas, and from the start, there was no fixed sketch for the mural. We knew we wanted a round dance as the central theme—like the one on our posters and t-shirts—symbolizing the spirit of sharing and mutual support within the community. The final mural features dancing people, hedgehogs, plants, stars, and planets. It’s likely that we’ll continue creating murals like this, along with other creative projects in the future.
This all happened in collaboration with locals and our cultural organizer Anastasia Kamienska who invited Photographer Roman Yakovenko, Artist and art therapist Asya Zhuravskaya, Accordion player Nikita Astash, Artist and wall painter Maria Kudasheva, Artist Anastasia Popadinets.
Early August is spent preparing for the village festival. With unexpected renovations at our usual base - the local club house, we explore the village to find new places we could use for our planned workshops and activities.
We have become masters of mural making as now no Pushkino summer is complete without a new mural! It is going to be made during the festival. We developed the concept with our working team, however, for now we are keeping the final design a surprise!
During last year’s interviews (that you can learn about by scrolling down), many young people shared that the essence of village life is the freedom you can’t find in the city. Inspired by this, we decided to organize Pushkino’s first-ever carnival. In the city, many feel reluctant to wear unusual costumes, but in Pushkino, you can.
Another idea we have is to introduce a village swap. It could become a tradition if it’s successful, with a 'swap corner' in the club year-round, not just during the annual festival.
The festival is titled PushkaFest. In Russian youth slang, 'Pushka' means something really cool—like saying, 'Your new t-shirt is a real pushka.'
Our long-term collaborator and local expert, Yana, has her own set of responsibilities at the festival. She is tasked with developing an outdoor game based on local legends and stories for the youngest children aged 6-7.
At the end of July, Anastasia Kamienska returns to Pushkino, accompanied by guest artists, to reconnect with local friends and kickstart this year's event program.
Together, they develop a plan for the upcoming weeks, focusing on a series of workshops leading up to the annual Village Day at the end of summer. This year's theme centers on sharing—sharing and swapping everything! Knowledge, resources, skills, and emotions!
It seems that our dream of making the village club a better and more friendly place might be coming true. Kids spend there a lot of time drawing, playing ping-pong or even indoor hide-and-seek. The two women working in the club - Dasha (she's a new director, quite young and very nice to kids) and Tatiana (she used to work for village administration but now retired) - tell us that our efforts have brought life and warmth to the space.
Our activities continue. On January 18th Anastasia Kamienska travels to Pushkino and organizes some creative workshops. All about snowman this time. They draw, create carton figures and play out collective performances.
On the January 5th we opened our very first show - Pushkinology for Beginners!
The show and the opening is a culminating event of the 2023 edition of Pushkino project program. We present illustrations - harvestings by Anastasia Popadinets, on the spot installations with drawings and audio from the interviews we conducted this year. We also use the opportunity and show photo and illustration series made in previous years by Yana Yezhinskaya, Olga Galchenko and Roman Yakovenko.
We have been working on rethinking the use of public spaces in the village and about what it means to live a good life while contributing to the place you live. We set a goal to bring more life to the club - the local communal cultural building. It is used for occasional events and gatherings, however, we think it has much more potential. For example, the space has never been used for exhibitions.
It was terribly cold (around -30°C), but we were really happy that it all happened. A guest artist from Moscow Maria Kudasheva came to help with the show and make some workshops with local kids. We tried to rethink the functionality of the club, by making the show and a small party with hot tea, cookies and sweets. We hope it can become a new village tradition.
| Region | Tver Region |
|---|---|
| Local partners |
|
| Classrooms |
|
| Population | Around 450 people |
| Common fruit, vegetables, animals | Apple blossom, mushrooms, hedgehogs and bears |
| Tradition | Selling things along the transit road |
| Scent | Moisty birch-leaves when you walk on them |
| Distances from Pushkino | Distances
|