Aloe always survives and it is very beautiful; if there is no water or food, aloe can eat itself for a very long time. It is very useful, but bitter. There are four letters in the word “Алоэ” – Russian for “Aloe” and three of them are vowels; you do not often see the word with the letter “Э”. It also looks like the shout of Freddie Mercury in the song “Living on my own

“Aloe” is a secret kingdom created by Yana Perovskaya in 2011 at her own expense with the help of two close friends.

During the time of its existence, “Aloe” has moved several times, reaching the limit of its resources, and is now located in one of the apartments of St. Petersburg. Yana has always tried to break out of the usual, she did not like the rules of the game of the adult world and, eventually, once becoming a successful director in a serious company, she decided to create a fairy-tale world with its own laws.

“Aloe” is difficult to describe. This is a store with its own brand of clothing, a second-hand, a museum, disco balls, unexpected events. The kingdom has its manifesto, coat of arms with a unicorn, a special time count (now it is the era of love), the rules of life, the royal colors (pink, green, leopard) and court cats. Now Princess Magic (Yana) rules in the kingdom and Princess Cosmos (Julia) helps her, but there is a whole team of people who support this world. The main inscription on T-shirts of Aloe, “Who is normal?”. I think it means that a person is capable of much, if he/she gets rid of imaginary boundaries and standards and try to do something of his/her own. “Aloe” is a holiday space, a territory of freedom of expression, a daily fairy tale. This is not an escape from reality, but a challenge.

About Daria Nazarova

Daria Nazarova is a visual artist working with documentary photography, archive, book projects. She was born in the city of Vologda in 1991. In 2015 she graduated from the Faculty of Architecture in Ivanovo University. She is a member of the Union of Photographers of Russia. Currently studies at the Academy of Photojournalism and documentary photography “Photographika” in St. Petersburg. Daria is interest with the topic of the memory of generations and the ability of man to adapt to new conditions of life. For the past year and a half, she has been interested in the topic of horizontal communities as an alternative to the conservative system in Russia. The important part of her work are personal narratives. [Official Website]