Storefront for Art and Architecture on Letters to the Mayor

Storefront for Art and Architecture (NYC) wrote about the Letters to the Mayor project, carried out by IZOLYATSIA in Mariupol from October 23 to November 13, 2015. Mariupol has thus joined the international participants of the project, including New York, Panama City, Bogota and Buenos Aires.

The text can be found here.

The purpose of the Letters to the Mayor project is to provide a public forum for discussion. In this perspective, a selected diverse group of architects was invited to write a letter to the Mayor of the city of Mariupol, articulating some of their thoughts concerning possible city transformations.

The letters were exhibited as an interactive installation that also comprised specially designed “Office of the Mayor”, Poster and Wallpaper. Eighteen letters were presented in the exhibition, to which 20 more were added during the exposition, written by the local inhabitants of Mariupol. Issues of concern and in need of reformation include corruption, pollution and ecology, preserving historical sites, letting go of dying industrial focus and developing new creative industry, and the unconventional reaction that a shrinking city might have advantages after all.

Today all the letters were handed over to the current Mayor of Mariupol, as well as the candidates in the ongoing elections. They are given three days to respond.