Political art hits the Arctic Circle

A multidisciplinary festival of political art from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus opens today in the Arctic city of Tromsø, Norway. Re-Aligned, which examines the future alignment of art and politics, features numerous prominent anti-government Russian artists. These include Pussy Riot member Katya Samutsevich, St Petersburg-based art collective Chto Delat and Yekaterinburg street artist Timofei Radya, whose Stability installation recently won first prize at New York Cutlog Art Fair. Also on show are the paintings of Konstantin Altunin, the artist who is reported to be seeking asylum in France after police closed his Moscow exhibition featuring satirical paintings of President Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev wearing women’s underwear.

Re-Aligned Art is the third event in a series, after the International festival of Activist Art in Murmask in June and Re-public in Helsinki in August. Re-Aligned will also be running a project in collaboration with the upcoming Moscow Biennale (Re-Aligned+Media Impact) in October.

The show runs 13-16 September at Tromsø Kunstforening.