KATERINA LEINEN
(St. Petersburg, Russia)
The Unity Bug
Drawing on her nine years of experience in dance, as well as leading art education groups, Leinen explores the line between collective participation and personal discomfort. The Unity Bug is a 30-minute rehearsal session for a troupe led by the Choreographer. The Choreographer is an indisputable authority and the only one who knows the steps of the dance. Their instructions are targeted and specific: “Point your toes. Smile. Don't let the group down. Be as in sync with the others as possible.” The rehearsal ends. So why are you still hearing the voice of the Choreographer? And why do you keep pointing your toes?
Katerina Leinen is an art historian and art educator. She graduated from St. Petersburg State University of Film and Television, studying arts management; she is currently a student in the Repin St. Petersburg Academy of Arts’ Department of Art Theory and History. In 2018, Leinen managed exhibition programs at Erarta, helping stage over 15 shows. In the summer of 2020, she was in residence at the ZIL Cultural Center. Leinen has interned internationally as a tour guide and archaeologist (the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, European Heritage Volunteers). She has been active as an art educator since 2018, developing and testing ways of transmitting knowledge about art through activities and sensory and creative experience. She has developed tours for exhibitions at Anna Nova Gallery, DiDi Gallery, Ozero Gallery, Pushkinskaya 10 Art Center, and elsewhere. Leinen’s work integrates performative and participatory practices into communication with viewers, exploring their experience of encountering visual art. She is based St. Petersburg.