2nd Ural Industrial Biennial of Contemporary Art

September 13 – October 22, 2012

Curator of the main project: Iara Boubnova

Curators of Special Projects: Dimitri Ozerkov, Valentin Dyakonov, and Vyacheslav Samodurov

The main project’s title “The eye never sees itself ” is a quotation from Joseph Brodsky’s “Report to the Symposium” which he wrote in 1989 on the eve of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

That historic event not only marked the collapse of the bipolar world but also kick-started neo-capitalism with its crisis of cultural models and the global migration of industries, human and financial capital. In his report, Brodsky stressed the necessity to find a guide amid the constant threats and hazards. Today, the role of such a guide can be taken up by the artist who would identify the maximum stress points of the global processes and thereby help contain their dangers. In her study of the artistic vision potential, the main project curator Yaroslava Bubnova asks a question of whether or not it is possible to preserve the world through art.

The special projects will take place at Ekaterinburg’s largest industrial venues. The Head of Contemporary Art Department of the State Hermitage Museum Dmitri Ozerkov will curate the project “From Production to Composition” intended to study the state of social consciousness in the conditions of the crisis of production and consumption and to identify new guiding lines in contemporary world. The ahistoric tour prepared by the critic and cultural scholar Valentin Dyakonov will help interpret the traditional museum exposition as an integral installation and appreciate its significance amidst contemporary artistic and social processes.

The final chord will be played by the Ekaterinburg State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater performing a special ballet production for one of the biennial’s industrial venues as a part of a centennial celebration of the Theater and the 195th birthday of the Uraltransmash factory. The one act performance directed by the choreographer, dancer and art director of the Theater Vyacheslav Samodurov synthesizes modern choreography, electronic and classical music, contemporar art and industrial architecture.

Main project participants:

• Adel Abdessemed (born 1971, Constantine, Algeria. Lives and works in Paris, France)
• Kutluğ Ataman (born 1961, Istanbul, Turkey. Lives and works in Istanbul, London and Barcelona)
• Zbyněk Baladrán (born in 1973, Prague, Czech Republic. Lives and works in Prague, Czech Republic)
• Luchezar Boyadjiev (born 1957, Sofia, Bulgaria. Lives and works in Sofia, Bulgaria)
• Malevich’s brigade (Marina Razheva, Viktor Oborotistov, Vladimir Romanov, Elena Gladysheva) (art-group, 2004, Ekaterinburg, Russia)
• Lize Harlev (born in 1973, Odense, Denmark. Lives and works in Berlin, Germany)
• IRWIN (Dušan Mandič, Miran Mohar, Andrej Savski, Roman Uranjek, Borut Vogelnik) (art-group, 1983, Ljubljana, Slovenia)
• Anna Jermolaewa (born in 1970, Saint-Petersburg, Russia. Lives and works in Vienna, Austria)
• Igor Eškinja (born in 1975, Rijeka, Croatia. Lives and works in Rijeka, Croatia)
• Adam Frelin (born in 1973, Grove City, PA, USA. Lives and works in Troy and Brooklyn, NY, USA)
• Peter Kogler (born in 1959, Insbruk, Austria. Lives and works in Vienna, Austria)
• Olga Kroytor (born in 1986, Moscow, Russia. Lives and works in Moscow, Russia)
• Irina Korina (born in 1977, Moscow, Russia. Lives and works in Moscow, Russia)
• Agnieszka Kurant (born in 1978, Lodz, Poland. Lives and works in Warsaw, Poland)
• Where Dogs Run (Natalia Grekhova, Olga Inosemtseva, Alexei Korzukhin, Vlad Bulatov) (art-group, 2000, Ekaterinburg, Russia)
• Cristina Lucas (born in 1974, Jaen, Spain. Lives and works in Madrid, Spain)
• Boris Mikhailov (born in 1938, Kharkiv, Ukraine. Lives and works in Berlin and Kharkiv)
• Elena Nemkova (born in 1971, Dushanbe, Tadjikistan. Lives and works in Milan, Italy)
• Anton Vidokle (born in 1965, Moscow, Russia. Lives and works in New York and Berlin)
• Dan Perjovschi (born in 1961, Sibiu, Romania. Lives and works in Bucharest, Romania)
• Lia Perjovschi (born in 1961, Sibiu, Romania. Lives and works in Bucharest, Romania)
• Timofej Radya (born in 1989, Ekaterinburg, Russia. Lives and works in  Ekaterinburg, Russia)
• Raqs Media Collective (Jeebesh Bagchi, Monica Narula, Shuddhabrata Sengupta) (art-group, 1992, New Delhi, India)
• Recycle (Andrey Blochin, Georgy Kuznetsov) (art-group, 2008, Krasnodar, Russia)
• Vladimir Seleznev (borin in 1973, Nizhnij Tagil, Russia. Lives and works in Ekaterinburg, Russia)
• Alexander Shaburov (born in Berezovsky, Sverdlovsk, Russia. Lives and works in Moscow, Russia)
• Slavs and Tatars (art-group, USA, France, Poland)
• Société Réaliste (Ferenc Gróf, Jean-Batiste Naudy) (art-group, 2004, Paris, France)
• Nedko Solakov (born in 1957, Cherven Briag, Bulgaria. Lives and works in Sofia, Bulgaria)
• Monika Sosnowska (born in 1972, Ryki, Poland. Lives and works in Warsaw, Poland)