Artist Kenneth Balfelt Inspired Russian Students of Craftmanship at Arts4City Workshop
Artist Kenneth Balfelt headed a week-long Arts4City-workshop in St. Petersburg from the 12th-17th of September 2016. The workshop took place at ‘Sovremennik’ library in the Krasnogvardeysky district of St. Petersburg (32 Zanevsky prospekt) in collaboration with Alexandra Nenko, Centre for German and European Studies as part of an ongoing Russian-European project.
The aim of the workshop was to work with young students of craftmanship on rethinking the outdoor environment of the ‘Sovremennik’ library, and thereby creating a place for more enriching encounters as well as a meeting point for neighbors.
The designing and remaking of the area involved participation with students from Okhtinskiy College and other local stakeholders.
Kenneth Balfelt’s projects are addressing and involving social vulnerable groups in society. In Denmark he is known for his many urban projects in Copenhagen, for example ‘Enghave Minipark’ – that involved creating a relocation of beer drinking groups of people from the area on ‘Enghave Plads’.
Kenneth Balfelt has worked with projects in many countries, among others Egypt, Germany, Norway, Brazil, Niger, Senegal. This is the first time when Kenneth visits Russia.
At the workshop the students did research in the area and talked to local residents about their needs. From this research, they developed ideas to answer those needs. Ideas created during the workshop will be partly implemented and will be the first step in a database for further workshops.
The results of the workshop will be presented on 17th of September at the local festival “Histories of our house” at “Sovremennik” library.
Danish Cultural Institute in Russia had supported the workshop in cooperation with Centre for German and European Studies.