IDNA Creative Teamwork, 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"

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, agression 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 soon and 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 Rein 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.

Pelmenis 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 Komi-Permyaks, 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 Finno-Ugric 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-Finno-Ugric 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 "Oti-tati, 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), the Publishing house «Udmurtia», Administration of Alnashsky District of Udmurt Republic, "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 Finno-Ugric 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 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.

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.

Stepanova Nadezhda Andreevna - radio journalist of Udmurtia Broadcasting Company, the author of the radio programme "The Finno-Ugric World", 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.)

Vladykin Vladimir Emelianovich -a Doctor of History, professor of Udmurt State University, the main adviser and an expert of all festivals on ethnofuturism in Udmurtia.
(Preparation of an article for the catalogue.)

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.
(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. (Preparation of an article for the catalogue.)

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.

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.