Fresh Art International

Maria Alyokhina on Political Art

Maria Alyokhina, a member of the Russian punk performance group Pussy Riot, talks about the political actions she's been involved in since she and band member Nadia Tolakonikova were released from prison in late December 2013. Only days after they were freed, the two artists announced their founding of Justice Zone, an organization that provides legal support to political prisoners in Russia, and MediaZona, an online publication that spotlight incidents of political injustice in their home country. In 2014, they were awarded the Hannah Arendt Prize for Political Thought. Now in London, Maria is preparing to make her theater debut in Burning Doors, with the independent Belarus Free Theatre company.

Listen to our podcast episode with filmmakers of the documentary Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer to learn more about the arrests and televised trial that followed Pussy Riot's two-minute performance in a Moscow cathedral on February 21, 2012.

Read English versions of MediaZona coverage published in Vice and the Guardian.

Sound Editor: Guney Ozsan | Episode Sounds: Pussy Riot performance of “Virgin Mary, Redeem Us of Putin, Christ the Savior Cathedral, Moscow

Fresh Talk: Amy Sherald

Fresh Art International presents a live podcast event with American artist Amy Sherald at moniquemeloche gallery in Chicago. Recorded on July 9, 2016, at a moment in American history marked with killings that accentuate deep racial issues in this country, our conversation verges on joy and sadness. The timeless sense of black identity described in Amy Sherald’s figurative paintings reminds us how art can be both transcendent and aspirational.

Sound Editor: Jesse McQuarters

Glexis Novoa on Cuba's Past

Cuban artist Glexis Novoa is one of fifty artists that curator Juan Delgado invited to participate in the public art exhibition Detras del muro, in English, “Behind the wall,” during the 12th Havana Biennial. The poetic project he created with homeless residents occupies the ruins of an abandoned building on the Malecón, a five-mile roadway and promenade that run along Havana's seawall. Titled El vacío (Emptiness), the spare installation offers a nostalgic view of the relationship Cuba once had with Russia and Eastern Europe.

Sound Editor: Guney Oszan | Violin: Alejandro Junco

Fresh Talk: Ola Kolehmainen

Finnish artist Ola Kolehmainen talks about his large-scale photographs of imperial Turkish architecture from the 16^th century. Turkish collector Ahmet Kocabiyik–chairman of Borusan Holding company and owner of a significant contemporary art collection—made the project possible by commissioning the artist to photograph buildings designed by the great Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan. Prior to this commission, Kolehmainen’s work featured abstractions and reflections of contemporary and modern architecture. A six month residency in Turkey was a chance to explore the legendary architect's expansive design history.

Sound Editor: Guney Oszan | Sound performance audio courtesy Oliver Beer 

Fresh Talk: Sanford Biggers

American artist Sanford Biggers has a lot to say about time and the human condition. We meet in New York where Chicago gallerist Monique Meloche is presenting an exhibition of his current projects during the Armory Show. I’m here to find out more about the ideas behind the work. What's motivating him to radically alter old quilts and African sculptures?

Fresh Talk: Yvette Mutumba and Julia Grosse

Yvette Mutumba, a curator based in Frankfurt, and Julia Grosse, an art critic and journalist based in Berlin, talk about how Contemporary And, the international online art platform they launched three years ago, led to the invitation to curate the African Perspectives section at the 2016 Armory Show in New York.

Sound Editor: Guney Ozsan

Fresh Talk: Creative Mornings Miami

Cathy Byrd talks about change as a creative opportunity when she makes an appearance at Creative Mornings/Miami. She recorded this Fresh Talk episode with rapt listeners in a secret garden at Vizcaya Museum and Gardens.

Sound Editor: Guney Ozsan | Sound effects: Creative Mornings/Miami

Fresh Talk: Athi Patra Ruga

South African artist Athi Patra Ruga talks about the fantastical multi-media performance project that the Bass Museum of Art invited him to present on Miami Beach.  Performed with local dancers, The Future White Women of Azania addresses human rights issues through a jubilant unveiling ceremony that invites us all to celebrate our true identities.

Sound Editor: Guney Ozsan

Fresh Talk: Rachel Armstrong

Rachel Armstrong, scientific curator of the IDEA Laboratory in the Azerbaijan Pavilion where the exhibition Vita Vitale took place during the 56th Venice Biennale, talks about a set of surprising experiments designed to resolve the island city's environmental challenges. Listen to this conversation to learn about artists, scientists, and architects creating models for living architecture. Also featured, Davide de Lucrezia, Explora Biotech, Venice.

Sound Editor: Kris McConnachie

Fresh Talk: Hattie Mae Williams

American dancer and choreographer Hattie Mae Williams talks about how the abandoned Miami Marine Stadium at the edge of Biscayne Bay has become a mecca for graffiti artists, musicians, dancers, and photographers. Designed by Cuban-born architect Hilario Candela and built in 1963 as a venue for powerboat racing, the iconic stadium was an active community gathering place before Hurricane Andrew damaged its poured concrete structure in 1992. Christian Salazar shot the dance film titled Culture Concrete (2014) that Williams performed with The Tattooed Ballerinas inside the cultural landmark.

Sound Editor: Kris McConnachie | Culture Concrete soundtrack courtesy The Tattooed Ballerinas and Datamouth | Voice of Hilario Candela via the video featured in the exhibition Concrete Paradise: Miami Marine Stadium at the Coral Gables Museum. Produced by the curators Rosa Lowinger and Megan Schmitt together with exhibit designers Little Gables Group.