3rd INTERNATIONAL MOSCOW BIENNALE FOR YOUNG ART
“Under a Tinsel Sun”
Founders: Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, Moscow City Department of Culture,
National Center for Contemporary Art (NCCA), Moscow Museum of Contemporary Art (MMOMA)
Organizers: NCCA, MMOMA, New Art Foundation for Art Development
In cooperation with Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.)
Main project:
Central House of Artists (CHA)
(10, Krymsky Val)
11.07.12 – 10.08.12
Art Park Muzeon
(10, Krymsky Val)
11.07.12 – 10.08.12
Gorky Park
(9, Krymsky Val)
11.07.12. – 10.08.12
Strategic project:
National Centre for Contemporary Art (NCCA)
(13, bld. 2, Zoologicheskaya st.)
12.07.12 – 12.08.12
Moscow Museum of Modern Art (MMOMA)
(17, Ermolaevsky lane)
12.07.12 – 19.08.12
The opening of the Main and Strategic Projects of the 3rd International Biennale
of Young Art took place on July 10th and 11th
The Main project of the Biennale, presented at the Central House of Artists, Museon Art Park and
Gorky Park, opened on July 10th.
The theme of the Main project, “Under a Tinsel Sun”, reflected the key issue in its concept – the
indiscernibility of “the genuine” and “the fake”, the loss of identity in the conditions of the speedy
medialization of the contemporary world, the endless possibilities of artistic self-positioning in the
absence of a common development route. According to the curatorial concept, the public was
presented with a multimedia project that aimed at showing the contemporary panorama of the young
generation’s art, its characteristic multitude of methods, languages and styles. In general, the
biennale touched upon the issues of artists’ positioning in the contemporary world as well as the
context in which their art is developing.
The curator of the Main project was Katrin Becker – German art critic, head of the Video-forum
of Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k). Besides major exhibitions in Berlin, New York, Barcelona
and Prague, Becker has also curated personal exhibitions of Louise Bourgeois, Maryam Jafri,
Matthias Muller, Artur Zmijewski and famous Russian artists Andrey Monastyrksy and Dmitry
Prigov.
The Main project featured works of 80 authors, both single artists and art collectives (a total of 98
artists) from 33 countries, including 11 authors from Russia, 7 from Germany, 6 from the USA, 6
from Austria, 4 from Pakistan, 4 from South Africa, 3 from Israel, 3 from Great Britain, 3 from Iran
as well as artists from Azerbaijan, Argentina, Belarus, Vietnam, Georgia, Indonesia, Spain, Italy,
Kazakhstan, China, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Swaziland, Slovakia, Thailand, Turkey,
Finland, France, Czech Republic, Switzerland and Sweden.
The Strategic project of the Biennale had a separate title, “Inconclusive Analysis” and was
presented at 2 locations: National Center for Contemporary Art and Moscow Museum of
Contemporary Art. The opening of the Strategic project took place on July 11th.
The main goal of the “Inconclusive Analysis” project was not only in giving a second chance to the
artists who didn’t make it to the Main project but also to deeper analyze the state of young art, to
reveal its main tendencies and trends and the wider context in which artists exist today.
The curator of the Strategic project is a famous Russian art critic and gallery owner Elena Selina.
The Strategic Project included works by 71 authors from 33 countries.
The Special Program of curatorial projects of the Biennale was formed by the main curator and
organizers based on the open competition results, for which applications were accepted both from
single curators and curator groups. There were a total of 56 applications from 15 countries, including
USA, Poland, Latvia, Iran, Belgium, France China and others. 17 applications were selected for the
Biennale and presented at various exhibition spaces in Moscow.
The Special program of curatorial projects allowed for the presentation of a relevant picture of the
issues and approaches that young curators deal with in the contemporary world. One of the main
goals of the special program was to show the wider public the results of cooperation not only
between artists but also between young generation curators.
The Parallel program of the Biennale featured 9 projects by young artists and curators as well as a
lecture and a special selection of shorts. According to the Biennale rules, the Parallel program
projects could be implemented at any location and didn’t necessarily have to match the main theme
of the Biennale but still had to be approved by its organizers.
A number of Parallel program exhibitions opened prior to the Main project of the Biennale, giving
the public a chance to become familiar with the themes that contemporary young art problematizes
today and the context in which it exists. Moreover, the projects included in the program represented
alternative art genres, extending the formal frontiers of the Biennale.
The Educational Program of the Biennale, which took place between July 12-15 at NCCA and
MMOMA (Tverskoy Boulevard, 9) consisted of various format events: master classes, round tables,
lectures and film screenings. The goal of the program was to maintain an active dialogue between
artists, art theorists, curators, gallery owners, collectors, critics, art students and the wider public.
Participation of various professional groups in the Biennale allowed for utilizing the artistic,
theoretical and curatorial approaches to the study of contemporary art in the discussion. And the use
of various meeting formats is meant to help study these approaches and methods of analysis of
“objective” reality in the form that it is presented by young artists in their works.
The program included two round tables:
“Multiple realities in contemporary art practice”
“Reality strikes back: the economic and political crisis and its consequences for contemporary art
practice”
The round tables brought together Russian and international professionals, working in various art
fields.
Participating specialists and artists included: Bridget Baker (artist, London), Julia Draganovic
(curator, Modena), Shahram Entekhabi (artist, Berlin/Tehran), Niklas Goldbach (artist, Berlin),
Ekaterina Degot (curator, Moscow), Katie Ray Hoffman (curator, Long Beach/Berlin), Adrienne
Goehler (curator, Berlin), Melentie Pandilovski (director, Video Pool Video Arts Center, Winnipeg),
Aneta Szylak (director, Wyspa, Gdansk), Dmitry Vilensky (artist, member of What is to be Done?
Group, Saint Petersburg).
Based on the voting results, the jury of the Moscow International Biennale of Young Art
awarded the Main prize to Aslan Gaysumov for his project “No title (the war)”
The Special Mention prize was awarded to Emre Huner for the project “Juggernaut” and Iqra
Tanveer for the project “Paradise of Paradox”.
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