ODOMAA Сreative Тeamwork,
Ford Fondation, the Publishing house «Udmurtia», the
House of Internatonal Friendship in Naberezhnye Chelny
(Republic of Tatarstan), together with Bronze Age Group,
Arheopterix Art Group, the Ministry of National Politics of
Udmurt Republic, Administration of Alnashsky District of
Udmurtia
present the International Ethnofuturism Festival
«Pelnian»
The word combination «Pelnian» in Udmurt and Komi languages means «earshaped bread» / dumplings. In olden times this dish was a sort of universal canned
food for hunters who wandered in the woods in search of game. Ears in the traditional
culture are endowed with a strong semiotic meaning. The usage of the meat from a
bear and a pike, or lamb in the pelnian mincemeat was associated with the totemistic
beliefs of the Finno-Ugric peoples. Ears hearing everything, they know about
everything. Ears also are a loving human organ that has a very strong erotic meaning.
Many creative people take part in the festival who come from Udmurtia, Finno-Ugric
Regions of Russia, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Mongolia and the USA. The
approximate amount of the participants is 30 persons. The daedline for sending the
application forms for participation is 1March 2003. Udmurt, Russian and English
are working languages of the festival.
Contact phones numbers and e-mails:
786993 (in the day time), 587317 (after 8 p.m.) - Jury Lobanov (Kuchiran Juri) and Odomaa
Сreative Тeamwork
kuchiran@udmnet.ru
Fax - (3412) 781507
781023 (in the day time ) - Larissa Buranova (the Ministry of National Politics of Udmurt
Republic)
The programme of the festival:
June, 19
---------------------------------------7.00 - Departure of the straw-sculpture craftsmen for Alnashi (5 teams, 3 persons in each one)
10.00 - Disposition in the village
12.00 - 13.00 -Lunch
13.00 - 20.00 - Work on sculptures
20.00 - 21.00 -Dinner
June, 19 -activities in Izhevsk:
---------------------------------------8.00 - 15.00 Arrival of the rest of the participants
15.30 - 16.30 – Lunch
17.00 - Press conference
18.00 - Opening of the personal exhibition of the Estonian artist Evar Riitsar, with a performance in
the Fine Arts Museum of Udmurt Republic (URMII)
20.00 - 21.00 - Dinner
June, 20 activities in Alnashi
---------------------------------------7.00 - Waking up
8.00 - 8.30 - Breakfast
8.30 - 0.00 - Work on sculptures
10.00 - Arrival of the visitors from Izhevsk
11.00 - 13.00 - Opening of the festival and the joint exhibition of the festival participants, press
conference, combined with the presentation of festival catalogue in the foyer of Alnashi Centre of
Arts. Video performances, video actions on several telescreens.
13.30 - 14.30 - Lunch
15.00 - 16.00 – Excursion in Alnasci
16.00 - 17.00 - Participants of the festival depart for the village of Asangurt
17.00 - 20.00 - Continuation of the festival in the village of Asangurt
20.00 - 21.00 - Dinner
22.00 - 23.00 -Straw fireworks. 5 straw sculptures are to be set on fire at the riverside. The action is
combined with the performances of all delegations.
June, 20 - activities in Izhevsk
---------------------------------------8.00 - Departure for Alnashi (participants and journalists)
10.00 - Arrival.
June, 21 - activities in Asangurt & Elabuga
________________________________________________________________________
8.00 - 9.00 - Breakfast
9.00 - Departure for Elabuga, Republic of Tatarstan
10.00 —10.30 — Breakfast in Elabuga
11.00 - 13.00 - Performance in the town, on the ancient settlement of the Finno-Ugric origin (dated
back to 9-10 centuries AD).
13.00 - 14.00 - Lunch
14.30 - 16.00 -Tour of the town.
16.00 - Departure for Izhevsk (with a short term action along the way, in the village of Staraya
Jumya at about (16.30 – 17.30).
21.00 - 23.00 - Farewell dinner in Izhevsk
23.00 – 8.00 – free Time
June, 22
---------------------------------------8.00 - 9.00 - Breakfast
9.00 - Departure of the participants.
Statement of the aims and the tasks.
The Finno-Ugric Regions of Russia through the movement of the Finno-Ugric peoples
aspiring to achieve union, perform the activities that are impossible to overestimate and that have
not been appreciated so far. They put much effort in the process of cultural revival and the
development of social stability in whole Russia.
The Finno-Ugric movement is unique and valuable when viewed in all-Russian context. It is
open for all peoples, cultures, religions. It fights confrontation, aggression and the policy of
isolationism.
As the counteraction to nihilism and the process of spiritual devastation ethnofuturism and
other modern cultural dimensions work for (re-) introduction of the traditional culture values, the
values of national culture for the younger generation. The cultural movement of Ethnofuturism is a
constituent of the positive Russian cultural movement.
Ethnofuturism emerged in Estonia in the end of 80-s in the 20th century. But it spread out
beyond the national borders very soonand became popular with the other peoples, has found new
features and has received interesting variations. Estonian critics have already started interpreting
etnofuturism as a cultural phenomena among other peoples.
The broadest interpretation was given to ethnofuturism by the Canadian professor of the
Estonian origin Rhein Taagepera at III conference on ethnofuturism in Tartu (1999).
His model represents various attitudes towards traditional culture or orientations in culture,
such as cosmofuturism, ethnopraeterism and ethnofuturism.
Cosmofuturism is regarded as an orientation toward creation of «the fine new world» that is
meant to be «postnational». Cosmofuturism has little to offer small peoples, just the prospect of
disappearing among the larger nations.
Ethnopraeterism is an orientation toward the ethnic past. The positive estimation is given
here to the past. The importance of cleanliness of national culture is emphasised, intolerance toward
anything new is expressed. Such orientation implies the decay of national culture and, eventually, its
disappearance.
Ethnofuturism is a sight according to which small peoples also have opportunities to keep
and develop their national distinctiveness. It is oriented toward the future, national culture is
considered as dynamical and varying in time. It is rejected that the borrowing of the elements of an
alien material culture should inevitably be accompanied by the adoption of the alien spiritual
culture. Preservation of ethnic diversity is considered quite possible.
Processes occuring in the world not only result in the revival of the certain old cultural forms
in Udmurtia, those ones that have been tested by time. They also lead to the emergence of the
completely new reality. The latter was created during the festivals on ethnofuturism: «Odomaa»
(«Our Udmurt Land» -July, 13 - 20, 1998), «Erumaa» («the Love Land» - October, 16-25 1998),
«Kalmez» («the Fish-Man» - March, 20, 1999), «Mushomu» («the Land of Bees» - May, 18 - 25
2000) «Tangyra» («the Udmurt Drum» - May, 26 - 29, 2001) «Idna» - May, 23 - 25, 2002.
These festivals in Udmurtia have already turned into a tradition and received a positive
public response in Udmurt Ripublic and beyond its borders.
The festivals of this kind have never been held regilarly neither in Udmurtia, nor in any other
regions of Russia. The fireworks of feelings and emotions, verses, songs, dances, music, in the
genres of performance, happening, installation make this actions special. The festival is for many an
opportunity to reach the unification of souls, it is a holiday of a new kind, a show arranged jointy by
the participants of the festivals and the spectators.
The festival «Pelnian» differs from the previous ones. It will be focused on performance,
video performance, video actions, «video radicalism», aesthetic and technological etnofuturistic
experiments in video art, happenings, and will entirely be held in Alnashsky Dictrict of Udmurtia.
The organisers of the given festival for the first time plan to offer the parttakers to join the
rural cultural space, to dissolve in it. Having absorbed the cleanliness of the authentic Udmurt
folklore, they are supposed to provoke the villagers to perform joint cultural actions, trying to search
for new ideas, forms and methods within the key concept of the festival.
In the village atmosphere a mixture of two system concepts is expected to be present: the myth at a
level of the ordinary consciousness (fiction, distortion of the facts, etc.) and the myth at a scientific
level in the form of thinking in symbols and images.
Pel’menis are one of the most widespread dishes in Russia, especially in the Urals and the
Volga Region. The cooking and eating of pelmeni has very strong ritual connotations among KomiPermyaks, Udmurts, Maris and Russians.
The etymology of the word «pel’meni» testifies to the mythological origin of the dish. The word is
borrowed from Udmurt and Komi languages where the combination «Pelnian» means «ear-shaped
bread». In olden times this dish was a sort of universal canned food for hunters who wandered in the
woods in search of game. Ears in the traditional culture are endowed with a strong semiotic
meaning. The usage of the meat from a bear and a pike, or lamb in the pelnian mincemeat was
associated with the totemistic beliefs of the Finno-Ugric peoples. Ears hearing everything, they know
about everything. Ears also are a loving human organ that has a very strong erotic meaning.
There are many ways how to promote and popularise our festivals («Pelnian» in particular). It
can be participation in «Privolzhsky Region's Cultural Capital 2003» competition, the organisation
of mini-festivals several districts of Udmurtia, regions of Russia and abroad (first of all in the FinnoUgric countries). It can also be active cooperation with local, regional and foreign mass media with
the aim of expansion of the Ethnofuturist thinking among the intelligentsia and all people of the
Finno-Ugric regions in Russia as well as elsewhere in the world.
A good example is the promotion of the festival «Tangyra» (2001). The festival got its
continuaton in the cultural action «Tangyra-Tangyra» held in Ulyanovsk as part of the project
«Privolzhsky Region's Cultural Capital 2001». In Syktyvkar within the framework of the Pan-FinnoUgric Days the festival «Tangyra-Tangyra-Tangyra» was arranged. Under the initiative of the House
of Internatonal Friendship in Naberezhnye Chelny (Republic of Tatarstan), the performance «Otitati, otsy-tatsy» and a workshop on the traditional Udmurt dolls were arranged. The same
performance was held in the village of Sep, Igrinsky District, and the borough of Igra in Udmurtia.
The festival «Idna» (2002) was also promoted well. The information about the festival was
distributed by Polli Talu among the participants of the International practical symposium on video
performances and happenings held in the Centre of Arts in Western Estonia in August - September,
2002, with participants from Estonia, Russia, Mongolia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia,
Hungary, USA and Kazakhstan. Works by the participants of the above-mentioned symposium will
also take part in the festival «Pelnian».
In order to achieve the festival goals, support and sponsorship is
expected from any interested parties, including ministries of national
politics (Udmurtia, Komi, Marij El, Karelia), the Finno-Ugric Cultural
Centre (Republic of Komi), ministries of culture (Udmurtia, Komi,
Marij El, Mordovia), «Fenno-Ugria» Foundation (Estonia), the
Student’s organization of the University of Helsinki (SKV), the Youth
Policy Committee (Udmurtia), «Okan» Company, «Eric» Youth
Movement (Izhevsk), the Associations «Udmurt Kenesh» , The Udmurt
Youth Organisation «Shundy», the regional movement «Society of
Udmurt Culture «Demen», etc.
Activities (methods and phases)
The activities within the framework of the project are organised in two phases which are very
much pressed in time. The first phase is the announcement of a competition on straw sculpture
models (April - May). The second phase is the announcement of the competition's results. The
festival «Pelnian» will be held on 25 - June, 29, 2003. During 2003 a selection of works for the
international exhibition «Pelnian» will be arranged. Works are to be evaluated and selected by the
Artistic Counsil, with artists from Izhevsk and districts of Udmurtia as the counsil members. The
works enrolled for the participation in the exhibition from the regions of Russia and abroad will be
selected through the Internet.
It is expected that folk song and music groups from Alnashsky District and other districts of
Udmurtia, as well as from regions of Russia and abroad will take part in the opening ceremony.
The closing of the exhibition will start with a press conference. Also the catalogue of the
festival and performances will be presented.
The organising committee is dealing with all organisational questions during all phases. The
work of the festival is reflected by mass media of Izhevsk, Udmurt Republic, as well as the FinnoUgric newspaper «Kudo - kodu» which is published in Yoshkar-Ola and distributed all over Russia
and abroad, by the radio programme «Finno-Ugric World» broadcast to all Finno-Ugric regions in
Russia, and the network information lits ugrimugri@lists.ut.ee, udmurtia-eesti@lists.ut.ee
The brief characteristic of participants and organisers:
Lobanov Jury Nikolaevich - the leader of the project, the head of the festival's organising
committee, the artistic editor of the Publishing House «Udmurtia», a member of the Union of Artists
of Russian Federation, the State prize winner of the Udmurt Republik, the leader of Odomaa
Creative Teamwork. As the main organiser of the festival he is responsible for designing of the
festival concept, the composition of the festival programme, the preparation of the fesival catalogue,
the work with foreign participants and participants from Finno-Ugric regions of Russia, writing of an
article for the catalogue. He will also direct the opening and closings ceremonies and performances.
(Preparation of an article for the catalogue.)
Tokarev Sergey Arkadievich - the head of Administration of Alnashsky District, the head of the
festival organising committee in Alnashsky District, an expert and coordinator of the festival.
Urazbakhtina Nadezhda Aleksandrovna - the deputy head of Administration of Alnashsky
District, a member of the festival organising committee in Alnashski District, an expert and
coordinator of the festival.
Beletskaia Farida Mirzagitovna — the guide of the House of Internatonal Friendship in
Naberezhnye Chelny (Republic of Tatarstan), Honoured culture Worker, an expert and coordinator
of the festival.
Bilyk Valentina Mihailovna — the guide of the Section for Volkarts and the head of the Udmurt
Community of the House of Internatonal Friendship in Naberezhnye Chelny (Republic of Tatarstan),
an expert and coordinator of the festival.
Kolpakov Igor Anatolievich – the manadger of the projekt, a member of the festival organising
committee.
Stepanova Nadezhda Andreevna - radio journalist of Udmurtia Broadcasting Company, the author
of the radio programme «The Finno-Ugric World», the State prize winner of the Udmurt Republik,
Honoured culture Worker of Udmurt Republik, an expert and coordinator of the festival, a member
of the festival organising committee responsible for the festival activities in the village of Asangurt,
Alnashsky District, an expert on ethnografic tourism (oikotourism) which is a constituting part of
ethnofuturism.
Rozenberg Natalia Abramovna -a Doctor of Cultural Science, an expert of the festival.
(Preparation of an article for the catalogue.)
Harchenko Stepan Sergeevich — the guite of togecher with Bronze Age Group, an expert and
coordinator of the festival.
Verevkin Maksim Aleksandrovich – the leader of the “Arheopteriks” art group, a member of the
festival organising committee. (Preparation of an article for the catalogue.)
Vladykin Vladimir Emelianovich -a Doctor of History, professor of Udmurt State University, the
State prize winner of the Udmurt Republik, the main adviser and an expert of all festivals on
ethnofuturism in Udmurtia.
(Preparation of an article for the catalogue.)
Orlov Sergei Anatolievich — a Peinter, a professor, of the Fine Arts Faculty of the Udmurt State
University, Honoured culture Worker of Udmurt Republik, an expert of the festival.
Mihailov Viacheslav Illich — an assisaent professor of the Fine Arts Faculty of the Udmurt State
University, Honoured culture Worker of Udmurt Republik, an expert of the festival.
Andres Heinapuu - the director of Fenno-Ugria Information Centre (SURI), the head of the festival
organising committee in Estonia, an expert and coordinator of the festival.
(Preparation of an article for the catalogue.)
Heie Treier - the editor-in-chief of the Estonian magazine «Kunst.ee», a critic. One of the founders
of the movement of ethnofuturism.
(Preparation of an article for the catalogue.)
Kari Sallamaa -a professor of anthropology, University of Oulu (Finland), an expert and
coordinator of the festival.
(Preparation of an article for the catalogue.)
Anikin Anatoly Egorovich - a member of the Union of Artists of Russian Federation, a professor,
Dean of the Fine Arts Faculty of the Udmurt State University, an expert of the festival. The head of
the team of straw-sculptors at the festival.
Prokopyev Andrey Nikolaevich -a lecturer of the Udmurt State University, the artistic director of
Ekton Korka Traditional Dance Studio, an expert and coordinator of the festival, a member of the
festival organising committee.
(Preparation of an article for the catalogue.)
Shibanov Viktor Leonidovich -a senior lecturer of the Udmurt State University, an expert and
coordinator of the festival.
(Preparation of an article for the catalogue.)
Lobanova Alevtina Stepanovna - a leading specialist of Centre for Applied Arts and Crafts of
Udmurt Republic, an expert and coordinator of the festival, a member of the festival organising
committee.
Khodyreva Marina Germanovna - the musical editor of Udmurtia Broadcasting Company, a
member of the Union of Composers of Russian Federation, an expert and coordinator of the festival.
(Preparation of an article for the catalogue.)
Reshetnikova Ekaterina Anatolievna - a student of the musical college, Izhevsk, a coordinator of
the festival.
Edygarova Svetlana Valerievna - a student of the Udmurt Philology Faculty of theUdmurt State
University, a coordinator of the festival.