Collective ALIVe

aliveduo is an artistic collaboration between Alena Starostina and Ivan Nikolaev, born in 1983 and 1985 respectively in Saint Petersburg/Russia. Both graduated with an MA in Acting from the Saint Petersburg Theater Academy in 2007. From 2010 to 2022, they co-directed the independent theater collective theater post in Saint Petersburg, with a focus on experimental and contemporary performance. Their work was presented at numerous international festivals and twice awarded the Russian national theater prize, the Golden Mask.

Since relocating to Germany in 2022, they have expanded their interdisciplinary practice across borders. In 2023, they founded aliveduo, based in Dresden/Germany. Their artistic work combines performance, visual arts, and curatorship, exploring the intersection – and dissolution – of performative art and cinema.

Their current long-term project Letters Home began with two parts presented at HELLERAU – European Center for the Arts, Dresden. In 2023, they also initiated Trace of a Silent Tear during their residency at the Saari Residence in Finland. In 2024, they participated in the group exhibition Unterwegs at Galerie Ursula Walter in Dresden, showing recent visual works.