The Context: A City Hardened by the Elements
Murmansk is a strange place — young, rugged, and heavily shaped by its Soviet military history. If you come from the south, this is probably not a place where you’d choose to settle. It's cold, industrial, and raw.
But my last few trips have proven one fundamental truth: it is the people who create the place and define the vibe. This artwork only came to life because of the wonderful local crew who organized the festival and poured their hearts into it.
Walls with Character: The Battle with Craquelure
We were given a very old, abandoned building. The facade was completely covered in a deep craquelure pattern, crumbling badly under its own weight.
• Preparation: The team spent days preparing the surface — scraping away layers of time, priming, and reinforcing it over and over.
• Execution: The 9 days spent up on the scaffolding were only possible because of this relentless, invisible preparation.
The Mythology: A Broken Bridge
The artwork is deeply rooted in local Sami shamanism and northern mythology. It revolves around Myandash — the sacred reindeer-man, a totem, and a source of life in these unforgiving lands.
• The Myth: It is the story of someone who was an outsider among his own, yet a brother to strangers. Born as a reindeer but carrying a human soul, Myandash became a bridge between two worlds. He came to humanity to teach them the ultimate survival skill — the art of hunting wild reindeer, essentially offering his own kind to sustain mankind.
• The Tragedy: The deep tragedy of this myth lies in its cruel irony: by feeding humans and making his own kin the ultimate resource, Myandash himself ultimately suffered from the very hunt he introduced, becoming a victim of the order he created.
It is a timeless loop of sacrifice, where creation is inseparable from pain.