We aim to provide opportunities to artists outside of the U.K. through a series of Open Calls for exhibitions, digital residencies, collaborations and grants.
Please check back for upcoming open calls and other opportunities.
PAST AWARD WINNERS ARE BELOW
COLLECTIVE EAST PHOTOGRAPHY AWARD 2022. WINNER: KAMILA KALAEVA (AKA KAMILA BANKS)
Kamila Kalaeva (b. Moscow 1996) has studied and worked in the UK, Moscow and in Dagestan in the Russian Caucasus. Her photographs of the Anji Bazaar building in Makhachkala explore the changing lives of the new generation against the backdrop of crumbling Soviet modernist architecture. We look forward to working with Kamila in 2022 on a digital residency and physical exhibition.
COLLECTIVE EAST 2022 PHOTOGRAPHY AWARD:
WINNER - Anna Bobkova (Visual Snow Series 2022)
Anna Bobkova is a fine art street photographer and video artist based in Taiwan. She has an MA in Cultural and Creative Industries from Taipei National University of the Arts and works for a local radio station.
Visual Snow Series, 2022
In the ‘Visual Snow’ series the artist edits the right side of the shot to share what she sees because of the ‘visual snow’ which in essence is seeing constant flickering static in front of the eyes.
The syndrome is rarely diagnosed and barely researched. Some question whether it even is real, since the eye is in perfect health with this condition. It might appear suddenly, reasons unclear, cure unavailable.
Artist lives through the loneliness and fear of the unknown future, grieving the suddenly changed eyesight that is so crucial for her as a photographer.
At the same time, she discovers how unique a human experience can be, using this mysterious eyesight problem and the unexpectedly dismissive reaction of society to her story as a metaphor for people being blind to an opinion that differs from their own, because it is too hard to imagine seeing with anyone else’s eyes.
COLLECTIVE EAST PHOTOGRAPHY AWARD 2021. WINNER: MARIYA TATARNIKOVA
Suprematist Composition, 2021 in collaboration with the brand COEUR 1898
Tatarnikova picked a zinc quarry in the Leningrad region for her photographs for this project, providing a washed out background symbolising endlessness. The shapes and colours she employed echo those used by Kazimir Malevich, the father of suprematism in his paintings. Her simple yet effective concept, brought to life in her direction of the models creates a modern and witty rendering of recognisable supremacist ideals.
Tatarnikova is working on a commissioned work with us which we look forward to publishing in July 2022.
COLLECTIVE EAST 2022 DIGITAL ART AWARD WINNER: ARYUNA TARDIS with her work Looking For Oneself
The digital work of Aryuna Tardis explores the theme of self-acceptance. Due to Aryuna Tardis unusual appearance and Buryat background (ethnic minority in Russia), she admits that she was doing everything to become "ordinary", she was even hiding her face in the social media. Based on this experience, artist develops her own creative language, which allows her to play with her appearance and mock the media standart of beauty. In this project Tardis gives the spectator an opportunity to try different faces on and discover the relationships with ones appearance. With a series of photographs of people with pigmentation disorders, scars, etc., she helps finding their own beauty and appreciation towards oneself for those who were traditionally excluded from the media conventions.
COLLECTIVE EAST PAINTING AWARD 2022. WINNER: KIRILL MAKAROV
Kirill Makarov is an artist , born in Leningrad in 1988. He graduated from Saint Petersburg Stieglitz State Academy of Art and Design. Makarov works with various media, including painting and computer graphics. His work explores game engines and the emergence and production of relationships between humans, images and machines. By using different graphic languages, he creates hybrid spaces in which natural, artificial and algorithmically produced objects and actors coexist.
The sun has musk scent in salty sand
Kirill Makarov, together with Ksenia Kononenko, 2020
Unreal Engine, installation, mixed media, painting (oil on canvas, 120 х 90 cm)
An excerpt from the artist statement about the work:
'Media technology, art and poetry meet in the project representing a virtual game space. We chose these areas
of technology, because they give us the most comprehensive opportunity to work with poetic and visual
languages and on-line and off-line communication through displacement and condensation of practices in the
game world of post-utopia. By placing objects of everyday experience in “Games” space and working on
different types of language products, we engage in virtual space mechanics of constant world renewal, in the
near-term we are planning to integrate a neural network into the game for continuous generation of new
objects and maps for enhanced user experience in interaction act.
The goal of our project is to create a GAME, which would not be a game in the ordinary sense of the game as
an active gameplay. We make the game world inconstant and variable to volumize the space for each player
creating as free world as possible. We create the world of visual poetry throwing together poetry and art
objects in the decision to push the “player” to the experience of interaction with the phenomena of excessive
beauty, poetic lyrics and structural absurd.'
COLLECTIVE EAST SCULPTURE AWARD 2022
WINNER: ANNA SALYAEVA with her work Body Lamp
Anna Salyaeva is a Bashkiria-born ceramist who explores the nature of human consciousness by following the form of her creations and searching for self-identity in the variety of cultures of the world. She graduated from various high-profile professional ceramic courses, such as Savour Ceramic School ( 2019 ) and Stroganov Moscow State Academy of Arts and Industry ( 2020 ).
Body Lamp, 2019 (ceramics)
This object is a reflection of various aspects of Anna Salyaeva’s creative practice. The title leads us to the direct association with feminine form and the kind of spiritual energy it can generate. The raw, porous texture of this lamp as well as its complex shade of black refer to the deep emotional states that women experience naturally. The juxtaposition of black and white reminds of the Yin Yang concept, the duality of the world that is symmetrical and stays in constant movement and flawless perfection.
COLLECTIVE EAST MIXED MEDIA AWARD 2022
WINNER: ELENA REZNIKOVA with her series Thoughts Flying
Elena Reznikova was born and raised in Moscow and growing up she has always been fascinated by the multifaceted cultural life of the megalopolis. Elena uses mixed media, primarily watercolour and pen drawings, that become the palette for her digitally manipulated collages.
Thoughts Flying, 2021
In this series of rapid and impulsive mixed media artworks, Elena Reznikova is seeking and finding her escape into individual self-expression. Elena has started this search for artistic freedom confronting constraints, which one typically experiences in daily life. The rigid structure and the repetitive technical quality of the drawings serve as a departure point to take a leap of faith into the unchartered territories of abstract shapes and colour. This is the artist’s personal story, which nevertheless echoes the universal search for meaning and individual creative identity.
COLLECTIVE EAST PHOTOGRAPHY AWARD 2022
WINNER: GEORGE KASCHEEV with his series World is Not Our Home, 2020-2022
George Kascheev is a multidisciplinary artist who uses photography as a way to capture the hidden aspects of our world. Born in the Komi Republic, Russia he moved to St. Petersburg at the age of 18, and a year he quit university in order to fully dedicate himself to his first project and a trip to Africa. He is a Panasonic Lumix ambassador.
World Is Not Our Home, 2020-2022
In his project "World Is Not Our Home", the artist strives to reflect the most subtle facets of our nature and tries to discern the human aspects of it. In his photographic works, he does not stick to one style but adheres to his core concept of letting the viewer know that they belong to something ethereal. He uses his highly experimental photographic language to show people the unconventionality of the image of our world, to highlight an overall state of surrealism in what is happening around us and to reveal the deeper meanings of our universe.
Kascheev has already extensively travelled the world at the age of 23. He has been to 53 countries and counting. This is why this series consists of such a variety of colours and landscapes, that George uses as the means to express the overflow of emotions that he experiences on his travels.
Through his photography, George communicates his excitement and his love for life on this planet, which makes perfect sense, because he sees himself as a guest, a traveler on this planet, which is exciting, isn't it?
COLLECTIVE EAST MIXED MEDIA AWARD 2021
WINNER: ISLAM KHUSNETDINOV with his collage series Genius Loki
Islam Khusnetdinov is a mixed-media artist based in Moscow. He is a distinctive voice in the contemporary art scene of the russian capital and internationally: his works were recently exhibited at such shows as "Eco Art" in Minsk, Belarus and "Under Construction" in Moscow.
Genius Loki, Collage Series, 2019
Genius Loki is a series of experimental collages made from materials, collected during Islam's artistic scouts around Moscow.
The artist is inspired by bright and vibrant places, full of people, sounds, colours...and especially textures. The tactile experience of collecting the various branded paper, packaging, newspapers, and transport tickets is his way to convey the mysterious Genius Loki of the place. In such a way, "Danilovsky Market" is collected from materials found on the spot during one of his usual breakfasts in this iconic food market of Moscow.
Islam is seeking to find an answer to why we feel a certain way in a place, and what atmospheres and unseen energies it is comprised of. These precious tokens he is collecting on his walks are his evidence of being an insider of these places and letting these atmospheres permeate his soul and create emotions that he can then transform into artworks. "New Arbat Avenue" collage was made from the materials, collected during one of Islam's walks along the rushing New Arbat, fueling him with its energy and sparking a sense of ambition and possibility.
These artworks also serve as artist's statements on how much unrecyclable packaging is being used: he mataphorically makes the entire image, the entire space from packaging: so much it is full of it.
COLLECTIVE EAST PERFORMANCE ART AWARD 2022
WINNER: Kristina Bayeva with her performance work Oh
Kristina Bayeva was born in 1994 in a little village near Podolsk, Russia. In 2016 she graduated from the Institute of Theatre Arts in Moscow. Beside theatre Kristina fulfils her potential performing on various stages in various genres. She uses a number of techniques from video art to painting. She often uses her body as an artistic tool, exploring its possibilities in various spaces and conditions.
Performance ‘Oh’, 2022
Kristina’s performance ‘Oh’ speaks about the way external circumstances and actions impact our body, and what changes it can evoke in the surrounding space.
The stage is made of metal blocks, and the floor is covered with white paper sheets with slits pointing towards the audience. The backdrop is also white drapes that are used for recording what is happening during the performance. Records are made by marker pens and paints. This storytelling is unique, cave painting is used on different levels of its development. The space is divided in two. Painting on the one side, and text elements on the other. Such trick is necessary for making records of deciphered messages and their analysis. It expresses what we ‘see’, and what we ‘get’ from the information given, and how differently this information is perceived depending on which side we’re looking at. A gripping, unique dialogue of senses, mind and perceptions urging to be expressed on paper. White sheets on the floor also serve as a canvas.
COLLECTIVE EAST PHOTOGRAPHY AWARD 2021
WINNER: Lesya Bukaytis with her photograph Rhythm, 2020
Lesya Bukaytis was formerly an investment banker but has always been passionate about photography, to which her father introduced her when she was a kid. Being also a globetrotter and architecture lover, she is looking for inspiration in the eternity and fragility of the world around. She sees angels, textures and play of light everywhere, finding balance between elements, serenity in small details and vast landscapes, poesy in geometry.
Rhythm, 2020
The rhythmical black & white image creates a strong emotional reaction in a viewer: it is ambiguous and disorienting. The repetitive composition of trees and rods that are vanishing into the background concerns the inevitable continuity of life as well as reminding that it is finite. The village that we see in the background highlights that these major spiritual questions that the artist is reflecting upon, are, in fact, primary in our experience of existence.
COLLECTIVE EAST MIXED MEDIA AWARD 2021
WINNER: Nailia Kublashvili with her work Flow States, 2021
Nailia Kublashvili is a mixed-media artist born in St Petersburg, Russia. She obtained her PhD in Philology, where she worked on emotions in the language. Then she gradually pivoted her career to the pursuit of studying human emotions through mixed media painting. For Kublashvili the act of making art is always structured as a dialogue with the world of feelings and reminiscences.
Flow States, 2021
In this enamel Nailia is aimed to explore the nature of the state of flow in its various shades and nuances.
“Most people see the definition “State of Flow” as something specific and equal for everyone, as if it was some emotional summit that everyone ventures for. But a soul can be attuned to an infinite variety of emotional flow states - each would have its specific colour and vibration, that I try to capture with enamels flowing on glass.”, the artist says, describing her work.
COLLECTIVE EAST PAINTING AWARD 2022
ELVIRA SHAKIROVA, Laney, Dreamlands Portraits 2022
This project by Elvira Shakirova (b.1987) is about the faces she saw in her dreams, that she tries to remember when she wakes up. But the faces slip away and dissolve. In this series the artist refers the viewer to the Fayum portraits. Fayoum is a small town south of the Nile Delta that was the last cradle for three dying civilizations - Egyptian, Greek and Roman. In Fayum, both Greeks and Romans were buried according to the Egyptian custom. It was important that the soul be able to find its body after death, so people ordered such portraits for themselves, which they then inserted into their sarcophagi. The portraits created by the artist seem to be the portraits of those dead people who were called and they turned around for a second to look at their past life.
COLLECTIVE EAST PHOTOGRAPHY AWARD 2022
IULIIA CHEBURKOVA with her photograph Manifesto, 2022
Iuliia Cheburkova explores the deepest colours and moods through the camera. The "Manifesto" is about the power inside a dead sculpture, strong and indifferent. The artist is inspired by nature, the feeling of love, creativity, art. Her childhood was spent in Yakovlev, the village of artists. The constant presence of people in the life of the artist has grown into images and meanings that Yulia conveys through photography.
COLLECTIVE EAST MIXED MEDIA AWARD 2022
DANIELLE FORM with her project Kindred, 2022
In this project Danielle Form shows us all the difficulties of immigration and the question of identity and belonging. If nothing is solid and could be lost in an instant, the only way to find solace and a feeling of "home" is through human connections. Friends and family. People. But relationships are also fragile. Distance and time, circumstances and disagreements divide us. In thoughts precious moments of peace are revisited again and again. Nonetheless memory fades. The mind questions the reality of the past while desperately trying to recreate it.
COLLECTIVE EAST DESIGN AWARD 2022
LERA SHEVTSOVA with her design for a poster Vyshibaly, 2022
Lera always uses contrasts within texts and colors for her most powerful works. She turns the usual vision into a powerful art tool. In her works the artist tries to explore, rethink and reshape various artifacts of Russian culture. Sometimes Lera gets a mix of modernity and ancient times. The artist also uses some Soviet visual artifacts for her works.
COLLECTIVE EAST MIXED MEDIA AWARD 2022
ALISA KUKLINA with her work Threads on Green, 2019
Threads on Green is part of the series of mixed-media artworks by the Moscow-based conceptual artist, Alisa Kuklina. Сontinuing the line of Moscow conceptualism of 1970-1980s, Alisa explores the ideas and methods first suggested by such artists as Erik Bulatov and Ivan Chuikov against the backdrop of the contemporary world where images have become omnipresent on social media and can be multiplied infinitely in a matter of seconds. By focusing closely on everyday objects and using striking contrasts, the artist explores closely the depicted objects and invites her viewer to ponder the illusionary nature of the world of forms.
In "Threads on Green" the artist uses a metaphor of threads to refer to the concept of human destiny and of all the paths of various individuals being intertwined with one another. At the same time, this symbol is ironic and playful and invites us to smile at our strange predicament as human beings.
Alisa Kuklina, 2019, Pink threads and green textured paper, fixed on panel.
COLLECTIVE EAST PHOTOGRAPHY AWARD 2022
MARGARITA LANTSMAN with her work Her Fire, 2022
Margarita Lantsman is a Tel-Aviv-based photographer, who explores the genre of a psychological portrait in its various facets.
"Her Fire" is one of the five works from the series "Her Elements", which represents each element: wood, fire, earth, metal and water. These are derived from the Five Elements Theory—or Wu Xing—a philosophy used to describe the relationship and interdependence between all things.
"Her Fire" is a beautiful contradiction; the direct aggressive strength of the red colour is juxtaposed by the tenderness of the fragile transparent material of her gown. This image suggests a power, which is inherently feminine; she derives it from interconnectedness with nature and her ability to trust the flow of life and immerse herself in it.
COLLECTIVE EAST DIGITAL ART AWARD 2022
ALEXEY ANDREEV with his work Stasis
Alexey Andreev is a digital artist from Saint Petersburg whose vast portfolio focuses on creating surreal worlds where everything exists within the author's rules.
Alexey enjoys playing with the viewer's imagination as well as with colour and fantasy. Many of his visuals have a deeper meaning that is sometimes difficult to understand. Some of them must be read over and over again before the author's point can be fully grasped.
"Stasis" is an imprint of a unique moment in a space where time has stopped. The piece plays on the theme of nature being construed by the author's imagination, paradoxically making it feel boundless.
COLLECTIVE EAST MIXED MEDIA AWARD 2022
OLGA REGINA
Olga Regina is a Moscow-based mixed media artist and photographer who derives her inspiration and her imagery from various historical cityscapes around the world.
Having sourced an original image on-site in Milan, Olga continued to digitally manipulate it using the scan of her painting and extracting the splash of grey colour from it.
This unusual creative process led the artist to the gloomy supernatural image of the iconic Duomo of Milan; the building begins to flow, melt and disappear into the void, into a formless and timeless space of pure memory.
