Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art
28 Jan - 28 Feb 2005
Theme: Dialectics of Hope
One of the most obvious consequences of political and economical stabilisation in Russia is the growing interest of the Russian society in contemporary culture, and more precisely in contemporary art. As a result a totally new Russian art infrastructure has emerged through art fairs, commercial galleries, non-profit exhibition spaces, festivals and conferences. A new Russian public, as well as the new Russian media, have become especially sensitive to everything that is new and current in contemporary culture.
The Russian art world is developing fast and there is a certain opinion, conviction, vision and understanding that the country needs to organise a major international art event, which would be able to introduce current and relevant art movements to a Russian audience by presenting the most interesting examples of contemporary art. It is the right time in Moscow to create a major international art event, the first of this kind for our country. Visual art is the only art form which does not have a major international forum in our national capital. The Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art would build on the success of other events like the famous Tchaikovsky Musical Festival, Moscow International Film Festival and «The Golden Mask» Theater Festival.
The idea of the Moscow Biennale is based upon some serious international expectations. Moscow is a major metropolis and a geopolitical and multicultural centre.
Today, there are several international art biennales which have emerged around Russia in Berlin, Kwangju and in the last two years there have appeared two other biennales in Shanghai, China and Yokohama, Japan. With the Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, Moscow itself would become a centre in the art world with its pivotal location in the region stretching across Eastern Europe and former USSR, to Central Asia and the Far East. At the same time, Moscow could find its place in the network of other major international art forums, such as the legendary art biennales in Venice and Sao Paulo, Documenta in Kassel and Manifesta (European Biennale for Contemporary Art).
The international interest in the idea of a Moscow Biennale can draw upon the authority of a Russian art tradition in the history of twentieth century art, and in particular the role which the Russian avant-garde has played. And finally, this biennale would become the next step in developing the image of Moscow as one of the world’s major cultural capitals, as well as to satisfy the very different economic, political, and geopolitical interests of Russia.
dates and venues
The Federal Agency for Culture and Film has scheduled the Moscow Biennale for January-February 2005. The opening of the Moscow Biennale is planned for January the 28th. The main exhibition of the Biennale will be located at the former Lenin Museum (branch of the State Historical Museum), The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, The State Tretyakov Gallery, The Schusev State Museum of Architecture, and The Moscow Museum of Contemporary Art.
Curators:
Joseph Backstein
Daniel Birnbaum
Iara Boubnova
Nicolas Bourriaud
Rosa Martinez
Hans Ulrich Obrist
Artists:
Boris Achour
Saadane Afif
Pilar Albarracin
Jennifer Allora & Guillermo Calzadilla
Pawel Althamer
Vasco Araujo
Micol Assael
Michael Beutler
Johanna Billing
Blue Noses
Blue Soup
John Bock
Jay Chung & Q Takeki Maeda
Santiago Cirugeda Parejo
Jeremy Deller
Trisha Donnelly
Sam Durant
Cao Fei
Yang Fudong
Carlos Garaicoa Manso
Gelatin
Subodh Gupta
Koo Jeong-A
Alexei Kallima
Irina Korina
Constantin Luser
Ivan Moudov
Aydan Murtezaoglu
Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba
Melik Ohanian
Paulina Olowska
Diego Perrone
Michael S. Riedel
De Rijke / De Rooij
Tomas Saraceno
Tino Sehgal
Santiago Sierra
Rostan Tavasiev
David Ter-Oganyan
Fatimah Tuggar
Clemens v. Wedemeyer
Venues
Former Lenin Museum, Moscow
Schusev State Museum of Architecture
Metro station Vorobyevy Gory (Sparrow Hills)
http://moscowbiennale.ru
