Out-of-the-way

Life in a small settlement in the basin Nizhnyaya Tunguska River, in the far north of Russia, is one of extreme isolation. About 100 adults live in the settlement; there are no roads and the nearest town is 300 kilometers away. Local and family legends and traditions are still mighty here.

Out-of-the-way is a story about a settlement in the extreme North of Russia, where bad accessibility and isolation, special relationship with nature and following the centuries-old ways of life involve unique mythology of the region where the fictional things are very often more important than modern reality.

These lands are immersed into the flow of their own life activity, where the past and the present surprisingly interlace.

My ancestors were hereditary hunters in a small settlement in the basin Nizhnyaya Tunguska River. Almost 300 years ago they came to colonize Siberia, then assimilated into the Evenkis (Tunguses) and founded a village in the taiga. Nowadays the population of the village is 100 adults and the closest town is 300 km away, there are no roads and the only thing that connects it with civilization is the helicopter that shuttles twice a month, the transport connection (winter road) functions only 2,5 winter months.

Life of this part of my family — my father’s siblings and numerous cousins and nephews — has not changed for centuries in that remote area surrounded with pristine wilderness.

Modern civilization penetrates slowly and fragmentarily in there, it is intricately woven into the local way of life. Electricity, supplied by a diesel generator, is available only in the mornings and evenings. Temperatures in winter average -45° Celsius.

Using family archetypes, I combine photography, archive, objects and installations in my work, and I hope to arouse interest in other family histories and ask questions... ...such as...who we are, where do we come from, and how encapsulated micro-communities survive without external influences, when logistics is difficult, there have to deal with isolation, harsh climate and wild nature around.