Please Wait to Be Built

An artist Katya Vagurina, who graduated from Saint — Petersburg Stieglitz State Academy of Applied Art and Design, in 2012 and currently lives in Serbia, uses the technique of paper collage to create an exciting series of works that serve as statements and reflections on the plasticity of environmental perception. At the recently opened first Art Festival Rama in Belgrade with the theme “Close-up. Reflection. Belgrade”, which brought together Serbian and Russian artists from all fields of art, Katya showed a series of collages dedicated to the city, or more precisely, small objects on the streets of Belgrade.

A modern city is a living being in which architectural elements, like cells, set its composition. In her project “Please Wait to Be Built”, Katya Vagurina takes on the role of an artist-archaeologist, exploring and rethinking the legacy of small architectural forms in Belgrade. The artist creates new iterations of street objects — her versions of urban street objects that could appear on the streets of Belgrade. These are not just street objects, but brutalist artefacts that the artist gives new life to, rethinking them through the technique of collage. Her project becomes an invitation to dialogue: how to preserve the spirit of the city when the external environment is changing so quickly. “Please wait to be built” is not just a reflection on form and material. Through her project, Katya calls to slow down and see: brutalist “invisible” elements of the city, simple, but incredibly expressive, carry value as archetypes of the city.

The technique of collage here becomes an ideal means of expressing the plasticity of perception and memory. Collage is not just a tool for collecting fragments, but a metaphor for the city as a collection of memories and meanings. Kate’s collages amaze you with their ability to express deeply felt problems. This is a reservedly colorful, expressive emotional project. “Please Wait to Be Built” is an invitation to rethink the city, to see its hidden aesthetics and to acknowledge that even the smallest forms carry the great history of urban life.