Practice for Everyday Life: Young Artists from Russia

Participating artists: Tanya Akhmetgalieva, Olga Bozhko, Alexander Ditmarov, Yulia Ivashkina, Sergey Ogurtsov, Taus Makhacheva, Anya Titova, Arseniy Zhilyaev

In association with the Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA) Moscow, Calvert 22 is proud to present new work from a selection of emerging artists from Russia. This unique presentation, conceived as an annual event, aims to convey a vivid sense of current artistic practice in Russia and introduce a new generation of artists and perspectives to the UK.

The participating artists have been co-selected by Joseph Backstein (Director of ICA, Moscow and Commissioner of the Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art) and David Thorp (Calvert 22 Associate Artistic Director) and drawn from the ICA, Moscow and the prestigious START programme, established by the Winzavod Centre for Contemporary Art in order to promote and develop young artists from across Russia.

Both the ICA, Moscow, and START have created a unique forum and context for a discourse in contemporary art among young Russian artists that has been largely missing from the Moscow art scene previously. Beside the ad hoc relationships that usually and perhaps naturally exist between artists, there was no formal means of offering practical and ideological support to assist – especially younger – artists in developing their ideas and being able to discuss and engage with contemporary art practice more globally.