Tobolsk saw a launch of the theatrical and artistic project titled Beskhaznoye Mesto (An asset in abeyance)

7 august 2023

In August, Tobolsk's former Vocational College No. 11 is hosting activities of the theatrical and artistic project Beskhaznoye Mesto, sponsored by The Formula for Good Deeds, SIBUR's social investment program. The project's name invokes the institution's popular nickname and its current rundown state.

The beginnings of the vocational college date back more than 80 years. Over this time, it has graduated thousands of professionals in various fields of expertise, including staff for Tobolsk petrochemical sector, and it has been repeatedly renamed and reorganized. It has been in a rundown state for the last few years. As part of the True Tobolsk program, an urban development initiative implemented jointly by the regional government, Tobolsk city administration and SIBUR, the building is scheduled to undergo a major renovation to usher in a new chapter in the history of this place as it becomes transformed into a cultural center.

The city's art groups such as the association for the development of the cultural scene "From Time to Time", the Free Youth Theater, and students of the design department of the A. A. Alyabiev Children's School of Arts and Culture have chosen not to wait for the coveted end of the restoration and have already started exploring the building in its new capacity.

Anastasia Dergousova, the project's curator:
Our team of artists, designers, directors and stage actors visited the site of Haza for the first time in February of 2023 and found it in a state of ruin, a derelict place with peeling wall paint, old posters, broken glass, and trash all over the floor… But we also discovered many not-so-obvious and intriguing artifacts of the days long past. The Beskhaznoe Mesto project invites us not to rush into believing those preconceived ideas about the Haza that have plagued it in recent years, but to try and explore its real, multifaceted, and fascinating history instead.

Elena Belskaya, ZapSibNeftekhim LLC's Director of Government Relations and Socioeconomic Projects:
It is a common practice to put abandoned buildings and empty lots to good use and convert them into sites for creative projects and even startups allowing to both temporarily liven up the space and integrate it into the city's cultural scene, as well as to test its viability without investing a lot of money in renovation. As part of our Formula for Good Deeds program, we have already tried similar methods. Back in 2017, we successfully implemented our creative experimental platform ARTLAB by siting it in an abandoned building of what used to be a children's art center, and by later including the building in the Tobolsk-2020 urban development program, and now it houses a branch of an art school. The building of the vocational college is expected to be renovated as part of the True Tobolsk program, but in the meantime, its potential residents have a chance to get a feel for the space, try to experiment with their creative projects, and make up their minds.

The exhibition of archives, artwork by students of design, strolls around the building with an audio guide, film screenings, a dance show and a mono-performance are all inspired by the archives and artifacts found here as well as by memoirs of former students and teachers of vocational school No. 11. The project's masterminds believe that a careful and unbiased look at the past without denying its various sides will help shape the future of the place most sensitively and in concert with the desires of Tobolsk’s residents.