The Vth Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art is widening its boards: On September 16, in Murmansk, the art project “Lenin: Icebreaker” is opening. The event is hosted by State Corporation “Rosatom” and the Austrian Cultural Forum.

“Art conquers territories, which in Russia are quite large. There is no other place where one could go that far and get that deep into the essence of things, thanks to Russia’s large spaces, cultural diversity and a geographically explained conflict between West and East, North and South; also thanks to Russia’s rich history, uniting but at the same time dividing the country”, – says Simon Mraz, the Forum director and project monitor.

The first world’s icebreaker will receive Austrian, Russian and French artists, showing their installations, photographs, sculpture, paintings and films, created specially for the event.

The legendary icebreaker – a symbol of Soviet technical progress and power – worked for 30 years and then in 1989 was placed in the city of Murmansk for its anchor. On board the icebreaker were such famous figures as Richard Nixon, Nikita Khrushchev, Fidel Castro, Anastas Mikoyan and Yury Gagarin. Though the ship is now a museum, it has never hosted a modern art exhibition before. The task set for the project participants is to “artistically reflect the history and specifics of this unique icebreaker in the light of its historical significance, aesthetic manifestation of the grandeur and power of this ship and also its connection with the present time“.

The exhibition will be open for visitors till January 10, 2014, while, starting from September 20, during the Moscow biennale in D.E.V.E. gallery, taking place in the “Krasny Oktyabr”(Red October) center for modern art, there will be a special exhibition of sketches, models and photographs of art works, shown on board the icebreaker. In 2014 the exhibition will move to the Lentos Art Museum Linz (Austria)