Russia’s war against Ukraine has turned the lives of many people upside down, including Russian opposition artists, who have largely left their country to protest and/or escape oppression. People with great experience in different fields of art came to France. Many of them remained silent for a long time, stunned by the situation, but today they are ready to become visible to re-initiate dialogue on the territory of art, to raise the issues that cross them and highlight the implications of their personal situation on the uses and functions of art. Among them, besides ON/OFF curators, were 4 artists, now based in France and learning how to practice their art in the very new circumstances.
This residency of the Russian dance artists in exile was supported by the VOT TAK TAK association as a production structure in partnership with two creative places: the Argonne Nansouty Saint-Genès Animation Center in Bordeaux (September-October 2023) and Studio HONOLULU in Nantes (December 2023). It aimed to create visibility for the Russian speaking artists in France and to offer them places of residence for the development of both personal and collective projects. During the residency, 6 artists, including 3 choreographers, a playwright, a film director and a curator, worked together and individually and created spaces for exchange with the spectators through their art and public dialogue.