Work of Naga artists adorn Russian wall in Vladivostok

Eastern Mirror Desk
Dimapur, July 7: Vineizotuo Tase and Khrisaviku Sachu, two self-taught artists from Nagaland, have had their work adorning an event in Russia during the V-ROX (aka Vladivostok Rock) festival in Vladivostok, Russia.
V-ROX is an expansive city music festival, and an international conference on matters of the music industry and cultural management that was launched in Vladivostok in 2013.
The festival’s program included street art, music, gastronomy, and sports, as well as blockchain and crowdfunding platforms, and new music streaming. This year, the festival was observed from June 21 to the 23rd.
Speaking to Eastern Mirror on Sunday about their journey, Tase (30) said they landed in Vladivostok on June 16. They were asked to paint the Amur Tiger, which for Russians is a symbol of good luck and might.
On reaching the place, the organisers requested the duo to complete an entire 60×30 ft wall in just four days time before the commencement of the festival.

“My fellow artist Chris (24) and I, we buckled up and pushed ourselves really hard and also to our good luck, the sun in Vladivostok sets around 9:00 pm, which gave us more time to work. So we literally ended up working for over 12 hours a day.”

“And in the four days time to finish up the mural, it rained and drizzled for two days, slowing us down further. But every stroke of the brush unfolded in our favour as the organisers, the media, and the people passing by loved what we did, and yes, by God’s grace, we were able to complete the mural in the stipulated time,” Tase said.

According to Sachu, the tour was organised as an initiative of the Rattle and Hum Society, and sponsored by the department of Tourism.

“It’s been amazing as we got to know and made friends with other artists who were from different countries participating at the festival sharing the same passion. We were really happy and satisfied with our work as we got a lot of positive feedbacks from the people there,” he added.

The two artists spent seven days in Vladivostok before returning to Nagaland on June 26.
Tase and Sachu are members of a group called Project 72 Hours, based in Kohima. According to the team leader, Sievituo Solo, the group was formed in 2015 with primary focus on cleaning the town through advocacy, and plastic recycling activities etc. The groups consists of 11 core members.