Kabakov’s dream come true in Echigo-Tsumari

“Kabakov’s Dream” comprising two existing and six new works, which have never been seen elsewhere in the world, will be born for ETAT2021 this summer.

Ilya Kabakov is a Jewish artist born in 1933 in the former Soviet Union. While he was officially known as an illustrator of children’s books from 1950s to 1980s under the cultural control enforced by the Soviet Unionregime, he continued unofficial activities and kept producing works “for himself” in the harsh environmentwhere he wasn’t given opportunities neither to leave the country nor to freely present his works. After moving his base to abroad in the midst of 1980s, Kabakov has presented dreams and memories of people through replicatingSoviet-like space called total installation.

Ilya and Emilia Kabakov have been supportive of the activities of Echigo-Tsumari for more than twenty years including the creations of the iconic work, “The Rice Field” (2000) and more recent one called “The Arch of Life” (2015). They say that the earth and nature of Echigo-Tsumari have always been a special place to themselves. What does Echigo-Tsumari means to them? I asked about their feelings.

Kabakov: 
Its a good question: Why Echigo-Tsumari? Why to put such important works at this remote place? When we first visited Echigo-Tsumari we were transfixed by some magical atmosphere: mountains, water, snow covered fields. Strange, unusual feeling of peace and calmness surrounding you, inviting to contemplate the meaning of life, and in particular: your life and its purpose. We think that our installations in Echigo-Tsumari are among our most important works.

Kabakov:
Let’s talk about one of our works, “The Rice Field”. We rarely notice the people who spend their life working to make something really important, which is keeping other people alive, sustaining life. We can live without technology and many other material things we are so used to have. But can we live without such simple things like food and water? We don’t think so. And our first project was about celebrating those people who are quietly going about their very hard everyday work, not expecting any glamorous rewards or even simple words of gratitude.

Kabakov:
As for “The Arch Of Life”, all of us are in the same BOAT OF LIFE: being born, struggling to survive, often standing on our knees, being afraid of others, climbing over walls of difficulties and obstacles the life puts in front of us, and either falling under the heavy weight of life or just ready to lie down and to rest peacefully by the end of it.

Kabakov:
All three projects make the most sense being presented at Echigo-Tsumari. The people living there know the harshness of everyday life, work, climate: everything this life puts in front of them. They know how to survive, how to enjoy small pleasures, and how to appreciate tradition and culture. Of course, there will be many visitors, many tourists. It is, after all, the best presentation of art projects in the world done by artists for people to see, contemplate, and enjoy.

Kabakov:
We just want to say thank you to all the people of Echigo-Tsumari for inviting us,for letting us realise our dreams and ideas, for appreciating our work. Being an artist is not so easy neither. And we feel the most grateful and comfortable placing our work at Echigo-Tsumarifor today and for the future generations.

While artworks that Kabakov have created in Echigo-Tsumari represent the history of their life journey and their creative activities, these works were also born out of the sympathy that the artists felt with life and work of local people as Kabakov said.

“The Rice Field” which invites viewers to appreciate the sculptures while layering the text in front of them over with these sculptures in distance, is not only like a picture book opened in nature but also reflects the experience of Ilya Kabakov being a children’s book illustrator during the Soviet Union era. At the same time, the creation of this work is also driven by the strong desire to remember and eternalise people who have worked and survived through their live in this place.

Kabakov have been talking about Echigo-Tsumari to media in abroad from time to time and once used a quotation in the Russian media in 2018 from a letter thanking for “The Rice Field” from people of Echigo-Tsumari. In the letter it reads “Dear Mr and Mrs Kabakov – we are so grateful (for you). No one has ever expressed us in such a vibrant manner to date.”

During the time of the Soviet Union regime, Ilya Kabakov was unable to leave the country freely and he barely had an opportunity to present his works until his mid 50s. He secluded himself in the studio creating works without having any clarity if such situation would ever change one day. He was too scared of being arrested by the secret police for his unofficial creative activities and repeatedly drew drawings of the moment of himself being arrested. The situation then in the Soviet Union that was stifling and full of danger of survival is somewhat similar to the current state under the pandemic.

Ilya Kabakov still suffered from the feeling of being out of place as an exile after moving to America. “The Arch of Life” is the artwork he projected his own circumstances to. At the same time, however, he also continued to paint humourous and fantastic dreams through his works such as “Ten Albums”and “The Palace of Projects”.

The series of works by Kabakov created under the theme of archiving dreams and memories of human seem to narrate that one can still dream a dream even “to live” is difficult. They indicate that the act of dreaming a dream itself is meaningful even such dream doesn’t come true or it appears to be nonsense to the others. While most of Kabakov’s works are set in the Soviet Union, they engage with universal theme such as life, struggle and desire of human. “Kabakov’s Dream” that will come true in Echigo-Tsumari is not only the archive of their dreams but also a project of co-existence devoted to life and dream of every person.