The first concert in 2018 took place at the Vinogradov Gallery in Berlin Prenzlauer Berg on January 13th. The occasion was the so-called Old Russian New Year and a cooperation with the artist collective “International Cultural Project Butterbrot” with Aleksandra Yurieva-Civjane and Alexandra Goloborodko. It was to be the first concert in the series with a reference to visual art. Arkady Shilkloper performed as a musician with didgeridoo, fluegelhorn and french horn. The two artists from Moscow collected dead Christmas trees found on the street, which were now unadorned and sadly waiting for their disposal, and turned them into a room installation. The unscheduled reuse of the dead plants illustrated the dark side of the glorification of the fir tree: until recently the symbol and aesthetic highlight of the Christmas celebrations, soon afterwards a throw-away article that people left heartlessly on the street because it already fulfilled its temporary function. Together with the remains of the trees, the artists also showed video projections with abstract and less abstract urban visual material and light effects of all kinds. Arkady Shilkloper moved through the gallery, playing and improvising with his various instruments. A very personal, virtuosistic, passionate journey along the threshold of jazz, classical and pop music. The artists wore a mask on their faces and carried our well-tried bowls with the lit incense in their hands, spread the smoke around the room and brought it directly to the audience. Concerning the fragrances, we decided together thematically and conceptually for woods and needles of the Nordmann fir, a plant from the genus Fir (Abies) in the pine family (Pinaceae). It was named in 1842 after the Finnish biologist Alexander von Nordmann (1803-1866) after he discovered it in the Caucasus. This plant can reach a height of 60 meters and can live for 500 years. It is native to the western Caucasus and the Eastern Pontic Mountains in Georgia, Russia, northeastern Turkey and Azerbaijan. The Nordmann fir is tipically used as a Christmas tree.
