Last Sunday, December 21, at the Center for Culture and Contemporary Art. Yu. A. Gagarin hosted the Khoton Festival of Contemporary Geek Culture. The format – a mixture of fan geek culture, craft workshops and interactive shows – allowed participants and spectators to spend an intense day – from an intellectual quiz and cardboard battle to a cosplay fashion show and auction. Kirill PAVLOV, chief organizer of the festival:
— The Khoton Festival is an attempt to gather all areas of creativity in one place, so that people feel comfortable showing what they do and finding each other. We wanted artists, cosplayers, animators, game developers and simply fans of geek culture to not only perform, but also communicate, exchange ideas, and test formats. This is not about competition for the sake of competition – this is about community.
— Where does the name of the festival come from?
— Initially, the name came as a shocking idea: AGIKI students were once tasked with coming up with a poster for a non-existent event, and the word “hoton” turned out to be effective. It’s like we’re going to a hoton and having fun. Then we came up with a character – a cow, and the name stuck. We are not reinventing the format: we look at what works with our colleagues and on the Internet, and try out hypotheses. If something passes, we leave it.
Various master classes were held at the festival, and a quiz “The Wisdom of the Ancestors” was held: people assembled teams right on the spot, questions were about movies, games and anime. There was our “Cardboard Battle”. This is not about “did it quickly and showed it,” but about engineering in conditions of limited time and material: the teams received blanks, and the task was not only to come up with an effective image, but also to make it durable and movable.
Art trades were organized in the space for artists. The cosplay fashion show – traditionally the central part of the festival – this year took place in a more dense form: short three-minute performances, but full of meaning and thoughtful images. It was important to us that each performance told a story – not just show the costume, but give the character movement, emotion and visual metaphor.
By the end of the festival, the “Bargaining at the Ice Throne” auction and the “Face of Winter” sculpting tournament took place. We conducted the auction with elements of play and improvisation, so that the audience was involved in the process, reacted louder and enjoyed the bargaining as a show.
In the modeling tournament, participants competed not for prizes, but for the opportunity to show their skills and interpret the winter theme in their own way.
— When will the next “Hoton” be?
— We are planning in April, probably to coincide with Cosmonautics Day. We are discussing innovations – I don’t want to reveal everything now, but we will experiment with the lineup and partner blocks.
Anya KVON, winner of the cosplay fashion show:
— I performed as Princess Yui from Avatar: The Last Airbender. It was important for me to show not just a costume, but an idea – mixing an image from pop culture with Yakut motifs. Yui in the context of history is associated with the moon, with the spirit of water, so I added elements that refer to the Yakut decorative language: jewelry, ornaments in decoration, small ethnic inserts in a sheepskin coat. I made the costume myself in about two weeks: dress, short fur coat, jewelry, wig – all by hand. I often participate in festivals, but for me every performance is a new challenge and a chance to tell a story. I’m very happy. This is not just first place – it is an assessment of work, ideas and labor. At festivals where the local moment and handcraft are valued, winning is especially gratifying.
Dmitry SIVTSEV
