Delai Sam: social activism as contemporary art in the emerging discourse of DIY urbanism in Russia

Adeola Enigbokan

Journal of Urbanism: International Research on Placemaking and Urban Sustainability, 2016, vol. 9, issue 2, 101-116

Abstract: Delai sam (do it yourself) is a deeply rooted phenomenon in Russian life. However, as a form of contemporary art, this phenomenon has taken on an activist tenor in post-socialist urban Russia. Founded in 2010, the Delai Sam Festival of Urban Actions represents a politicized approach to DIY urbanism in today’s Russia, in which artists, designers, activists and scholars are joining together to develop alternatives to official visions for the design and planning of their cities. This article critically examines the discourse of the first few Delai Sam festivals in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, and related urban interventions, to understand how these actions are both situated within their local context, and linked discursively to global trends in art and urban activism. DIY actions like Delai Sam open windows into the convergence of art and social activism, the aesthetic and the political, currently taking shape within the global city.

Date: 2016
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DOI: 10.1080/17549175.2015.1029507

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