Pikene på Broen designated ‘undesirable’ in Russia
The Kirkenes-based organisation works to promote contemporary art and cross-border cooperation in the North.
Norwegian cultural organisation Pikene på Broen has been added to Russia’s register of “undesirable” organisations by the Russian Ministry of Justice, which accused it of posing a threat to “the foundations of Russia’s constitutional order and security” – a standard formulation used for such designations.
The status effectively bans the organisation from operating in Russia, while its assets may be frozen and its members and partners face administrative or criminal liability.
Pikene på Broen, whose name means “Girls on the Bridge”, was founded by Norwegian curators in 1996 and works on cultural projects in northernmost Europe and the Arctic. The organisation is based in Kirkenes, a Norwegian town just 15 kilometres from the Russian border and 50 kilometres from Finland. Artists involved with the organisation consider the location an ideal setting for cross-border cooperation and cultural exchange.
Each year, Pikene på Broen organises the Barents Spektakel arts festival, which has developed into an international forum for discussing pressing issues facing the Arctic. The festival brings together theatre, music, debates, film and performance art, creating a meeting place for people interested in contemporary art.
Pikene på Broen also runs Terminal B, a project and gallery space in central Kirkenes. The venue hosts exhibitions, performances, workshops and concerts.
According to Pikene på Broen’s administrative director, Franziska Kraiczy, the “undesirable” designation creates a “major problem” for the organisation because it actively works with artists based in Russia. However, the decision by the Russian authorities did not come as a complete surprise to its curators and producers.
“The whole system in Russia is unfair, and the regime itself is unfair,” Kraiczy said. “If something like this happened in Norway, yes, it would be something completely out of the ordinary. But when it comes to Russia, it is not such a big surprise.”
Franziska Kraiczy said Pikene på Broen’s staff plan to contact other Norwegian organisations that have also been designated “undesirable” in Russia.
“We have to find a way to continue our work. Because our ‘border-crossing activities’ cannot stop,” the administrative director stressed.
Pikene på Broen is the third organisation in Kirkenes - and the ninth in Norway - to be declared "undesirable" by Russia's Prosecutor General. The others are SmåRådina, Ukrainian Freedom Convoys, the Norwegian Barents Secretariat, the Bellona Foundation, the Human Right House Foundation, the Barents Observer, Nature and Youth and the Norwegian Helsinki Committee.
