Anastasia Peshina
!Great Land / !Ngarka Ya

The installation centres around a spatial model of the Yamal peninsula built using historical and geographical data. It is a topographical visualization of areas of overlap: the higher an area is, the more frequently the paths of reindeer herders and those of industry have converged. The projection shows how these areas of overlap unfold over time, revealing how this territory changed as “civilization” and industry took hold.

The work addresses the coexistence of gas production facilities and the traditional nomadic lifestyle. Both systems are linked through continuous adaptation, but they do not bear the consequences of these changes equally. When industrial infrastructure expands without due coordination with indigenous communities, it is the reindeer herders that are forced to change their migration routes, rhythms, and settlement sites. Loss of pasture puts the very survival of the nomadic lifestyle at risk.

The project recontextualizes this process through spatial analysis and data visualization. !Ngarka Ya is a Nenets phrase meaning “great land”, while the exclamation mark at the start represents negation, pointing to fragility. The project not only makes visible the overlap of infrastructures, but the asymmetry of their interaction, where a change of landscape is directly linked to a change in lifestyle.