Moscow's Underground Part 2

Here are some more images from the very impressive underground in Moscow. But enough about that, is it possible to talk about Russia and not mention politics and society? 

People have been criticising the fact that the 2014 Winter Olympic games were arranged in Russia, a nation criticised for being corrupt, undemocratic and shuffling any opposition under the carpet while also being extremely homofobic. I am not arguing with that but I think we crossed that border when the Olympic games were arranged in Hitler's Germany or not so long a go in China? I was hoping that it would be a good thing as the world's eyes suddenly were focused on Russia and there was an opportunity for something to happen, but did the Olympic games change anything? Not that I am aware of. Some westerners making jokey films about homophobic Russia or getting dressed in rainbow colours were all very nice but changed nothing as far as I know, you still risk loosing your job, your home, your family and your children and to be abused and beaten up if it comes out that you are homosexual in Russia, and unfortunately it is not just happening in Russia but also in other parts of the world and it is makes me unbelievably sad and angry.

I was therefor very happy when I bumped into these two lovely ladies while exploring Moscow's underground stations and it feels very silly to take a photo and write about it, "Look, gay people on a train in Moscow!", but considering what these women are putting on stake for showing their love in public, I just had to. The train carriage was almost empty but the few people that were there did not seem to be bothered at all by this homosexual couple holding hands and we asked if it was okay if we took a picture of them just to show the world that yes, not every gay person who show in public is being attacked and also to show that love is a beautiful thing and should be celebrated and not just that, because I want to give these ladies a eulogy for being brave and standing up for themselves, respect to you, and also because I want to believe and hope that there might be hope even for an old dinosaur like Russia who confuse homosexuality with mental illness and pedophilia...

And while I am at it I also have to give a eulogy to another bunch of very cool women, standing on the front-line trying to make a change with the power of music while risking to loose it all; Pussy Riot.

That's it. I need coffee.

The Russian adventures continues, now with Russian Illustrator MinaMilk

I exhibited in Moscow and I did so with two great Russian illustrators and this little blog post will focus on one of them, MinaMilk. Mina and I studied illustration together at Camberwell College of Arts here in London and became very good friends and has worked on various projects together and I can still remember the first time that MinaMilk showed her drawings in a class, even the teachers were speechless, she grabs a pen, sips on some coffee and it looks like she is doodling but she is drawing up little pieces of art in a few seconds, let me show you some of her work which often is quite sexual, hand drawn and coloured in with everything from water-colours to tea bags;

MinaMilk's dream project is to walk into the wilderness and work with wild animals and make a book/performance/exhibition afterwards and her big passion is cats and she knows more about various species then I think all of us together and is dreaming about discovering new ones in the wild and recently went on a trip to Sri Lanka where she saw leopards in the wild.

I asked MinaMilk about the difference between living and working as a Illustrator in London compared to Russia and for a long time she has complained that it is very hard to get good art material as sketchbooks and good paper in Russia, I thought that she was exaggerating as I know how picky she is with her paper but after visiting Russia and some art shops I know that she unfortunately is right so we are trying to figure out a way for me to send her sketch books - which sounds easy but as most packages to Russia "get's lost", its actually not that easy at all… MinaMilk herself explains it like this;

"Of-course there is! In London it's less common that you have to explain that illustration actually is a profession and yes, that you want to get paid for it. In Russia there is more money but less chance to find it."

MinaMilk works with editorial illustration as well as fashion illustration, shop window displays, cards and stationary, products and installations. To see more of MinaMilk's work click here

Moscow Part 2

I can't seem to stop posting images from my trip to Moscow and St Petersburg, I most have taken hundreds of images! Here's a little collection from my Instagram page. The cat in the picture is Hek and I love his knitted green jumper with two humping deers, brilliant! Me looking serious in a Russian hat by a desk was at a very random party at the museum of everything from Soviet Union, have you ever been at party in a museum before? And for the opening of our exhibition I had a special offer on my Animal Kingdom Bear T-shirt and to make it a bit more fun I put it on my man Ted, a giant bat that I doodled late at night. Thanks to everyone who came to the opening night, I had a great time and it was lovely to meet you all!

Zoology museum, Moscow Part 2

Here are some more images from my visit at the amazing Zoology museum in Moscow. Moscow felt very polluted, before I went there I used to think that London is polluted but now London feels like a fresh walk in the Alps! My friends said that they have some amazing sunsets in Moscow, pink and purple and all kinds of colours but its not very amazing as those colours come from pollution… I had a really good time though and got addicted to Russian strawberry and mint toothpaste and Nikolaj's pie's - they have three pie cafe's in Moscow, very good ;)

Time for tea.

Zoology museum, Moscow Part 1

Wow, from Children's room monster vinyls to sinister looking images from my last museum visits…

During my trip to Moscow and St Petersburg in Russia I also went to the Zoology museum in Moscow and once again I was blown away, they had three different sections - the alcohol section with various species in jars; shelf after shelf with various snakes, lizards and fish stored in glass jars - the skeleton section with everything from fish, to elk, mammoth and giraffe skeletons - and then the last and third one with all the stuffed mammals and birds. The collection is very impressive and I wish I could show you more but it was dark in the museum and very hard to get good crisp photos without a tripod but if you have the chance to ever visit then please do, the place is amazing.

The museums bird collection is enormous and I wish I had photos to prove my point but for now these will have to do. The museum also had a very large collection of insects and flies, some so small that you could hardly see them.





PS. Try and find the walking sticks!



PS. Thanks for the comments, its nice to get some feedback now and then and to know that there's someone out there dropping by and taking their time to read this blog, thanks! ;)

Санкт-Петербург - St Petersburg

I am a designer and a illustrator but I never sketch when I travel or go to museums, my camera is my companion and I love taking pictures so while my illustrator friends are drawing, I am clicking away and here are some more photos from my trip to Russia.

At 1 o'clock on Tuesday night we jumped on the night train to St Petersburg and I was excited and felt like a kid again, if you ask me there is something magical about trains, and the older they are the better - I love the wound, the atmosphere, everything. We had traditional black tea with lemon and then we tried to sleep but it must have been about +25 on the train so it was bloody hard. The corridor was packed with sleeping men but to my surprise, no one snored.




About 9 in the morning we were there and stepped out of the station, walked a few steps and passed the square where the Russian revolution started! Amazing.



St Petersburg is Russia's second biggest city and has a remarkable history that I could go on about for ever but this is not a history page so I will keep it short - the city was founded by Tsar Peter the Great 1703 and yes, it was here that the Russian revolution started.



The central parts of the city is filled with impressive buildings that look like palaces and castles and some of them actually were palaces belonging to various tsar's - this one is the most famous, the Winter Palace, which belonged to the last tsar before it was plundered and burned as the revolution started. Today its a heritage museum;







The city itself feels more bohemian and opened then Moscow and I had some really amazing food and had a great time - even though I was very disappointed when we tried to enter the Zoological Museum  but that they for some weird reason were closed on this day.




I tried some traditional Russian food when I was in St Petersburg, this was called (help me MinaMilk, I can't remember?), normally its filled with juicy meet in some kind of sauce but I am a vegetarian and had the veggie option, delicious.

PS. Notice how street lights in Russia often are attached with wires and hang between buildings, at places where they have trams its cable mayhem.

If I would have been a foreign tourist in Sankt Petersburg I would have missed 80% of it, my friends took me into back alleys and up stairs into buildings that looked like private homes but then, voila, suddenly there were an art center with hidden designer shops and rooftop restaurants with amazing food, cool bars where you could get a haircut while enjoying your drink and some really amazing restaurants with no signs on the street. So I was lucky to have my two brilliant guides who showed me a great city, thank you ladies!

Animal Kingdom goes to Russia!

I have got some very exciting news, I am off to Moscow! I have never been to Russia before and I am super excited and at the same time slightly worried as I am going there during the coldest time in the year but long johns, gloves, scarves and cardigans have been packed and I have got extra insoles for my warmest boots and some how think that as I grew up in the north of Sweden where we can have days where its -23, I should some how know something about cold - let's see how wrong or right I am about that.

Except exploring Moscow I will also exhibit with the super talented Mina milk and Roma Hek. We will open our exhibition on the 8th of February so if you happen to be in Moscow then put your long johns on and come and join us!

The exhibition will be up and running until the 14th of March at;

Ciferblat
House 12
Tverskaya Street
Moscow

And just because I think Russian is such a beautiful language I have to post my Russian Bio;

Оса Викман - шведский иллюстратор и дизайнер. На данный момент живёт и работает в Лондоне. Два, пожалуй. самых важных аспекта её творчества - это юмор и воображение. Осе нравится придумывать и воплощать неожиданные, порой весьма причудливые сюжеты, которые непременно заставляют зрителей улыбаться. Часть её работ нарисована от руки, часть создана на компьютере. Области, в которых Оса уже успела поработать, поражают своим разнообразием - это и оформление витрин, и создание принтов для одежды, и дизайн упаковки, и иллюстрации для детских книг, и поиск интерьерных решений для отелей, и многое другое. Её работы можно встретить в британском журнале Vogue, а также в популярном шведском издании Cap&Design. В числе последних её клиентов - TSHIRT STORE, Åhlens, Super superficial, The Wallery, Anorak Magazine and Bilingual by Music.   

Познакомится с работами Осы Викман можно на её сайте http://asawikman.com