WINNERS Open International Grant Programme "ARTKOMMUNALKA 2021"

On 18 January 2021, we announced the results of the Open International Grant Competition in Visual Art and Literature "ARTKOMMUNALKA 2021".

The competition is organized by Kolomna museum-residence «Artkommunalka. Erofeev and Others» and the autonomous non-commercial organization «Kolomna Old Merchant District» with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Moscow Region and the Centre for Cultural Initiatives of the Moscow Region.

The competition is to support the boldest and most radical creative projects in keeping with the spirit and objectives of developing modern art and literature. Attention to artistic interpretation of the Kolomna’s modern life and heritage is welcome.

ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE FOCUS

Contemporary visual arts: art projects revealing the artist’s world and presenting the artist in their context.

Modern prose, poetry and drama: the literature residence is a laboratory of meanings, a ‘writer’s study room’ with the opportunity for communication with the public. The outcomes of the writing projects should be texts in Russian.

Silk and weaving. A timely theme for Kolomna connected with the launch of the project to revive the art of the Kolomna silk weaving, to interpret the ’genome’ of a textile Kolomna through contemporary art and creative writing.

Following the review of all applications, our panel of experts selected five winners, who will live and work in our art residency 2021. The artists will also be awarded a grant for bringing their projects to life in Kolomna.

Visual Arts:

1. Vyacheslav Nesterov (Moscow, Russia), “Untitled”

2.  Chung Ling Jolene MOK (Hong Kong & United Kingdom), «Farming, Foraging for Filmmaking».

3. Alena Tereshko (St.Petersburg, Russia), “Toy Kolomna”

4. Maria Arendt (Moscow, Russia), “Kolomna. The Town Texture”

Literature:
Karina Papp (Berlin, Germany), “Non Local”

Find out more about the winners’ projects>>

Our sincere congratulations to the winners

This year the winners will be joined by two former artists-in-residence – Natalia Petrova (Moscow, Russia) with her project “No One Will Find Us in This Forest” and Anna Arkatova (Moscow, Russia) with “Once Upon a Time in Kolomna”. These projects will be brought to life in Kolomna in 2021.

“Our grant programme received a record wave of attention with twice as many artists applying for this round. This is a reflection of the difficult times artists and writers, and the society as a whole, are going through. This is exactly why we continue running artistic residencies, as we can see how vital ongoing communication and mutual support are for creative people and communities. We received a high number of outstanding bright projects where artists respond to the images of Kolomna through visual art or literature, and reflect on the values of contemporary society”, commented Ekaterina Oinas, Director of Museum Residence “Artкommunalka. Erofeev and Others”.

“From all experts in the selection panel I would like to express sincere gratitude to all applicants. We are very pleased with the outcomes and have immensely enjoyed deep and meaningful content of the applications. It should be said that it was not an easy task for our experts to select the winners, not only because of the large number of projects submitted, but because of their high quality. Among the projects that received top marks from our selection panel and drew most of the discussions, were projects from Italy, Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, Portugal, Iran, Mexico, France, Russia, India, UAE, Argentina, South Africa, Bangladesh, South Korea, Turkey, and Thailand… Unfortunately, as we operate within the framework of contest regulations and our possibilities are limited, we could not award grants to all of the above mentioned applicants. However, we want to encourage everyone to continue applying to our competition and hope we can collaborate in the future. Finally, we are, of course, looking forward to impressive outcomes of the winning projects”, said Mikhail Lezhen, Art Director of Museum Residence “Artкommunalka. Erofeev and Others” in his address to all participants.

Competition Statistics

213 applications – 181 for visual arts, 32 for literature – were received this year.

The competition attracted worldwide attention. The applications are from 35 countries: the Czech Republic (4 applications), RSA, Bangladesh, Great Britain, Austria (3 applications), France, Germany (8 applications), Belarus (3 applications), Indonesia (4 applications), USA, Spain (2 applications), Uzbekistan, Georgia, Turkey (3 applications), India (3 applications), the Netherlands, UAE, Portugal, Australia, South Korea, Denmark, Peru, Pakistan, Argentina, Cyprus, Ghana, Gambia, Nigeria, Canada, Mexico, Romania, Thailand, Italy, and China.

Iran holds a special place on the list of foreign applicants: we received a record-high number of 60 applications (46 for visual arts, 14 for literature).

Artists from all-around Russia took part in the competition. Apart from Moscow (24 applications) and Saint-Petersburg (19 applications), we received applications from Ekaterinburg (8 applications), Volgograd, Cherepovets, Dmitrovgrad, Karachaevsk, Arzamas, Terpigor’yevo, Perm, Vladivostok, Bryansk, Omsk, Tomsk, Samara, Ulyanovsk, Chelyabinsk, Kaliningrad, Magnitogorsk, Krasnodar, and Lyubertsy.

ABOUT THE MUSEUM RESIDENCE

The museum residence Artkommunalka. Erofeev and Others captures the feel of the 60s of the Soviet Kolomna, evokes the features of communal living and the Khrushchev thaw dissident spirit. It is located at the very heart of the Old Town. Artkommunalka is situated in the building which is notable for its being a major pivot point in the fate of the writer Venedikt Erofeev, the author of the poem “Moscow – Petushki”. ‘Venichka’ Erofeev was send down from Kolomna Pedagogical Institute in 1963. He became a laborer in the wine section of the Ogonyok delicatessen shop. It was exactly at this point that his “very way of life” began – a life of wandering and creative freedom. The recognized genius of Venedikt Erofeev’s creative freedom has become the guiding light of the museum residence.

Artkommunalka operates in the format of a residence for artists and writers who are creating new art and new literature right here, right now. The art residence and literature residence work as an open laboratory and workshop all year round.

The museum residence hosts educational classes, master classes, expert meetings, lectures, and musical events – all of which fuse together around the creative people involved in the museum residence, generating a new and much-needed intellectual space for the inhabitants of the city. The art residence and literature residence work as an open laboratory and workshop all year round. Each year artists and writers from Russia and abroad work here and present a variety of creative interpretations of the historical heritage and modern culture of Kolomna. Since 2012, Artkommunalka has welcomed artists and writers from Russia, Romania, Germany, South Korea, Sweden, Great Britain