Natalia Papaeva (1989) is a visual/performance artist, born and raised in Buryatia (Eastern Siberia). Since 2013, she has lived, studied and worked in the Netherlands. Natalia Papaeva uses her memories and experiences informed by her Buryat-Mongolian background. From this material she creates her performances, in which she combines singing, spoken word, and storytelling. The artworks raise poetic questions about major themes such as loss and mourning, language and identity, land and climate, ritual and healing, in a sometimes playful, sometimes serious manner.
I want to hear my story through your voice - During the war, I started writing a lot. I was vomiting with the text. I wrote some poetry and now I am writing a short story. Sometimes I do not feel that I can read them myself because it is very painful. But one day I woke up and I thought maybe somebody else can read my poem. I put in the envelope and I gave it to another artist Ceola Tunstall-Behrens to read it out loud.
The performance was supported by Lente Kabinet, WORM and Radio Stasis.
We are not from here - In 2020 I was part of an exhibition "Wat ik je nog wilde zeggen" curated by Rianne Zijderveld. The event was closed because of the pandemic and most of the works were not seen by public. Rianne decided to make a publication o about the exhibition and I came up with an idea to turn my performance "We are not from here" from the exhibition into a 2D piece.
Ik ben - In an attempt to clean the language from the derogatory connotation that is stuck in the word “Mongol,” (in many European countries) Natalia Papaeva moves racist language to an erasable surface. Posing as a teacher at glance, the artist simply states her ethnicity: "I am not Chinese, I am Mongol." These titles carry the negative value of a slur, to those using them against her. The video begins with Dutch “I, I, I, I am…” when translated into Russian and Buryat. Through repetition, the artist dissects the language into sound which is simultaneously transferred to the chalkboard. In “Ik ben…” collected repetition is made visible through the performative writing, which results in a jumble of words that looks somewhat similar to a chewed-up gumball.
We are not from here, 2020 - Although we frequently see language as a way to bring about an encounter, it is often a means of exclusion. Words can be charged with meanings that turn them into tools for emphasising differences between groups. The effect of such terms, of which every language has its variations, has an impact at a personal level but also taints the entire society in which they resound.
In this work, Natalia Papaeva grapples with the Russian term ‘ponaechala’. Loosely translated as ‘you are not from here’, ponaechala is what some people say in public places in Russia to those who are judged ‘not ethnically Russian’ because of their appearance. Despite being born and raised in Russia, Natalia Papaeva also receives this comment. By analysing, objectifying and dissecting the word, Papaeva manages to neutralise the effect poncheala has on her and reduces it to a term without social context or meaning. In doing so, she demonstrates that we have the power to give words a particular meaning but also to negate them.
The project was part of the exhibition "Wat ik je nog wilde zeggen" in TENT Rotterdam, curated by Rianne Zijderveld.
With thanks to Cove Park residency in Scotland, Oleg Revenko (camera), Vyacheslav Ivanov
Natalia Papaeva - I forgot my mother tongue. And I am not the only one. Many people in my native Buryatia (Siberia) are losing their language. The Buryat language is one of nearly 2600 languages likely to disappear. Of all 6000 languages in the world, 43% are endangered and I am going through this process myself. In my performance, I am singing two sentences from a Buryat traditional song. The only two sentences I remember.
Natalia Papaeva - “Who am I becoming” is dialogical artistic research between me, Japanese artist Yasunori Kawamatsu and five other people who identify as immigrants living in Rotterdam. The project is dedicated to the notion of being an immigrant and the process of finding a new home here in Rotterdam.
The immigrant is a troublemaker in politics. It is difficult to integrate. It is a painful process of leaving things behind and accepting new rules. Newcomers have to break themselves in order to reshape and add new pieces to their identity. I am interested in how immigrant citizens of Rotterdam restore their identities and connect to the city? How do people from different cultures become Rotterdammers? How do I become a Rotterdamer?
Participants: Larissa Monteiro, Nash Caldera, Hugo Lopez, Marichèl Boyé, Johana Molina.
The project was curated and produced by Nia Konstantinova (BG).
This project was supported by CBK Rotterdam O&O grant and WORM Rotterdam.
Vacuum, performance, 05:56, 2019 - I was invited to participate in the annual art-review “Survival 17” in Wroclaw, Poland by the Dutch art organization VHGD and the Polish contemporary art foundation Art Transparent. The theme of the Survival 17 this year is “Concealed”. The Art review is always held in abandoned buildings. This year the exhibition is going to be in the old Jewish hospital. I went in April to Wroclaw to film my new performance in the building.
Description of the performance:
My grandma taught me mantras and I use them to calm myself down. They are a vocal vibration that Buddhists believe help them to clean and free their mind and body from obstacles. I read mantras in moments of big stress, loneliness and anxiety. It helps me to calm down, but every time I read it, I realise my loneliness more: that I need to ask for support and help from an imaginative God and not from a real person. The hospital made me to return to my mantras again.
Camera-man: Oleg Revenko
