4th Moscow International Biennale for Young Art will feature YARAT in ASTAR
26 Jun - 10 Aug 14
A Time for Dreams: Announcement of Strategic Projects
4th Moscow International Biennale for Young Art
Founders: Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, Moscow City Department of Culture, National Centre for Contemporary Arts (NCCA), Moscow Museum of Modern Art (MMOMA)
Organisers: National Centre for Contemporary Arts (NCCA), Moscow Museum of Modern Art (MMOMA)
In the summer of 2014, Moscow will host the International Biennale for Young Art for the fourth time. This year, Artistic Director of the Biennale is David Elliott, who proposed the motto 'A Time for Dreams' as the general Biennale theme, and selected works for the Main Project.
The Biennale programme includes several Strategic Projects that will be on view at three exhibition venues. These are the exhibition halls of the Biennale organisers – National Centre for Contemporary Arts (NCCA) and Moscow Museum of Modern Art (MMOMA), as well as a new spot on the Moscow map of contemporary art – Tsvetnoy Central Market. Seven Strategic Projects were selected by the curatorial group of the Biennale out of 67 applications received for the international competition of curatorial projects.
Members of the Biennale curatorial group: Andrey Egorov, Irina Gorlova, Karina Karaeva, Nadezhda Mindlin, Alexey Novoselov, Daria Pyrkina, Elena Yaichnikova.
Irina Gorlova, Head of Art Programs Department at the National Centre for Contemporary Arts (NCCA):
“As we reviewed the applications, which were received for the competition of curatorial projects within the framework of the Biennale for Young Art, we noted a considerable number of very interesting and well-thought concepts. Unfortunately, not all curators understood the conditions of the competition, and we had to turn down some marvelous exhibition projects with brilliant ideas and impressive lists of participants and works, just because of age limitations. Some of the artists
who were included by young curators in their proposed exhibitions not only passed the age of 35 but even ranked among the greatest figures of the early 20th-century art. Unfortunately we couldn’t violate the main rule of the Biennale. However, in spite of that, a lot of projects were selected for the final round, and they far exceeded the potential of exhibition spaces at NCCA and MMOMA.
I am really happy that NCCA will host Dreaming Machines exhibition that brings together artists from the UK, Russia, and South Korea. Thanks to the invitation from Tsvetnoy Central Market, Error Message project received an experimental exhibition space, which the curators loved so much. I hope that the viewers will find fascinating the exhibitions from Thailand, Pakistan, Czech Republic, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan that will be on view in the four floors of the building at Ermolaevsky Lane – they present the kind of art that is largely unknown to the public.”
Andrey Egorov, Head of Research Department at the Moscow Museum of Modern Art (MMOMA):
“The multifaceted format open for international participation defined the key feature of the Strategic Program of this year’s Biennale – namely, cultural and national diversification of exhibition projects. In a way, the selected exhibitions can be perceived as critically reinterpreted ‘national pavilions,’ especially those housed at Ermolaevsky Lane. They demonstrate an intense sensation of belonging simultaneously to the (pseudo)hermetic national tradition facing historic cataclysms, and the universal cultural and information space. Such a conflicted view of identity underlines the impressive geographical scope of these seemingly local projects, which transfer the viewer from former Soviet republics (Azerbaijan and Ukraine) to Central Europe (Czech Republic), and further to Southeast Asia (Pakistan and Thailand). The paradoxical coincidence of local and global is also evident in the projects presented at NCCA and Tsvetnoy: they, too, can be considered ‘national pavilions’ (of the UK and Russia) that lost the strength of their walls and became depositories for cross-cutting meanings and interpretations.”
ASTAR
Organisation: YARAT Contemporary Art Space (Azerbaijan)
Curator: Nailya Allakhverdieva (Russia)
Artists (Azerbaijan): Agil Abdullaev, Tahmina Ali, Farkhad Farzaliev, Lala Gasim, Sitara Ibragimova, Elturan Mammadov, Nazrin Mammadova, Samir Salakhov, Fidan Seidova, Zamir Suleimanov and Emin Azizbeili
The title of the exhibition seems to refer to the space and heroism, and sounds as an echo of per aspera ad astra. However, astar means ‘lining’ in Azerbaijani – this notion is rarely used in the critique and theory of contemporary art. ‘Lining’ (the same title is given to one of the works on display) seems the most appropriate word to comprehend the creation of the new generation of artists from Baku. It is exactly the lining, the basis that these artists are searching for, reflecting upon the surrounding reality and its underlying cultural contexts. An interest in the essence, the lining of the events gives rise to the semantic versatility and intimacy of most part of the works by this generation. The artists participating in the exhibition are visionaries and eyewitnesses. They don’t judge but eagerly study the world they are in. They care less about the issues of national identity or close integration with European culture (which are so important for Azerbaijani artists of the previous generation) than their personal freedom and possibility of speaking out, unbound by the requirements of ‘corporate ethics’ or ‘political correctness.’ It is through this prism of freedom that they assess everyday communal life, Soviet legacy, traditional culture, and the long and fascinating history of their country – in all of this they are looking for hidden meanings, reasons, and the ‘lining’ of things. This is why the works by these artists are at once analytical and dreamy – imagination helps better than deduction in penetrating beyond the ‘lining of reality.’
The project is supported by YARAT non-profit organisation.
Venues of Strategic Projects:
National Centre for Contemporary Arts (NCCA): 13 build. 2, Zoologicheskaya Street
Moscow Museum of Modern Art (MMOMA): 17 Ermolaevsky Lane
Tsvetnoy Central Market: 15 build. 1, Tsvetnoy Boulevard, 4th floor
Openings of Strategic Projects:
NCCA – June 24, 7pm (exhibition on view from June 25 through August 3)
ММОМА – June 24, 8pm (exhibition on view from June 25 through August 10)
Tsvetnoy – June 24, 9pm (exhibition on view from June 25 through August 6)
All venues of Strategic Projects are open for the press on June 24 from 3pm
Press tours with curators of Strategic Projects:
NCCA – June 24, 5pm
ММОМА – June 24, 6:30pm
Tsvetnoy – June 24, 9pm
