"Artist of the Year" - Irina Korina,
"Institution of the Year" - art residence "Vyksa" (Vyksa, Nizhny Novgorod region),
"Museum of the Year" - Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow (MAMM)
Margarita Pushkina, the founder of Cosmoscow art fair, founder of Cosmoscow Foundation:
“Cosmoscow Foundation, which we launched in 2017 as a logical continuation of the fair's non- profit activities, has become an extremely important part of our project. Last year, thanks to the Foundation, we were able to quickly respond to the consequences of the pandemic and launch new programs in support of artists, allocating grants for the creation of new works. Today - and for the fifth time! - we are announcing the winners of our traditional programs: "Artist of the Year", "Institution of the Year" and "Museum of the Year". And in parallel, we continue to develop the Foundation and are making plans for 2021 with our winners and partners.“
Alexey Maslyaev, a culturologist, head of the scientific and methodological work sector of the educational department of Moscow Museum of Modern Art (MMOMA), has once again become the curator of Cosmoscow Foundation.
Alexey Maslyaev, curator of Cosmoscow Foundation:
“This year's choice is very inspiring. Our "Artist of the Year" Irina Korina masterfully works with space and creates installations that seem to be a habitat familiar to us, but appear as transformed, complex compositions, where the inner and the outer, the small and the fundamental, the personal and the public, are mixed. It is a great pleasure to introduce the Cosmoscow audience to such an important and vibrant art residence as Vyksa. It is one of the few institutions that provide artists with comfortable working and living conditions. And with the Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow, which celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2021, we are developing a rich joint program throughout the year (we will announce it a little later!). I am sure that in September we will introduce brilliant projects with each of the winners! “
"ARTIST OF THE YEAR"
The main goal of the Artist of the Year program is to support the free creativity of artists. Every year, the Expert Council, to which professionals from the art field are invited to participate in, proposes the most prominent artists in their opinion. The decisive choice is made by Cosmoscow Foundation Board of Trustees. The winning artist is given the opportunity to implement a new project that will be presented at Cosmoscow fair.
Expert Council 2021: Marina Antsiperova, Alexandra Obukhova, Nikolay Palazhchenko, Pavel Prigara, Andrey Cheglakov.
Artist of the Year Cosmoscow 2021
Irina Korina is an artist, set designer, author of objects made of textured materials and fabrics, as well as total installations. Graduated from the Russian Academy of Theater Arts, Faculty of Scenography (2000), courses "New artistic strategies" of the Institute of Contemporary Art and the Center for Contemporary Art of George Soros (1999-2000). She studied at the Valand Academy of Art, Gothenburg, Sweden (2000) and in the media class of the Vienna Academy of Arts (2002-2005). The author's strategy is to draw the viewer into their own reality, similar to the abstract scenery of an imaginary theater, where artistic material plays the leading role. Laureate of the Debut Theater Award (1999), three times laureate of the Companion Award (2006, 2009,
2012), laureate of the Innovation Prize in the New Generation nomination (2007). In 2009, Irina was included in the long list of the Kandinsky Prize in the "Project of the Year" category. Nominee for the 2010 Innovation Prize and finalist for the 2011 Kandinsky Prize. Participant of the Venice Biennale (2009, 2017).
"INSTITUTION OF THE YEAR"
Competitive selection of the best non-profit art institution is also carried out by the Board of Trustees of Cosmoscow Foundation based on a list of applicants proposed by invited experts. The winner receives funding to implement its project at the fair. Most of the attention is paid to regional institutions.
Expert Council 2021: Kirill Ass, Alexandra Generalova, Anna Zaitseva, Ksenia Lamshina, Ivan Streltsov.
Institution of the Year Cosmoscow 2021
Vyksa Art Residence was founded in 2017 by the OMK-Uchastiye Charitable Foundation. More than 30 artists visited it, including Haim Sokol, SASHAPASHA, Tatiana Efrussi, Dmitry Morozov Vtol, Ikuru Kuwadjima, Kirill Makarov, Ustina Yakovleva, Ivan Gorshkov, Dmitry Bulnygin, Elena Kovylina, Victoria Begalskaya and others. Vyksa Art Residence is a year-round platform for cultural professionals that allows residents to implement projects or conduct research in the city of Vyksa. The purpose of the residence is to support contemporary artists who are not limited by age, genre, country of residence or origin. The work of residents can be associated with the study of the local context and territory, or be autonomous. For Vyksa, the art residence is one of the few open city sites where art professionals and the local community gather together. The art residence makes a significant contribution to the development of the city, makes the cultural landscape of Vyksa more dynamic and diverse, and helps form new connections between artists and urban communities.
"MUSEUM OF THE YEAR"
The basis of the program is the replenishment of museum collections: Cosmoscow Foundation acquires works by contemporary Russian artists and donates them to the Museum of the Year. In addition, the nominated museum traditionally gets the opportunity to present a special project at the fair, and organizes a joint discussion program with Cosmoscow.
Cosmoscow 2021 Museum of the Year
Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow is the first museum of photography and contemporary art in Russia. It celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. MAMM has founded and holds two major international festivals every spring: Moscow Photobiennale (since 1996) and Fashion and Style in Photography Biennale (since 1999). These biennials and exhibitions of photography at MAMM have turned Moscow into one of the capitals of world photography.
Exhibition projects of the museum are constantly replacing each other. MAMM exhibits the history of foreign and domestic contemporary art, projects of international and Russian photography stars, as well as young artists, video art, VR, art associated with new technologies, performances and other types and genres of art. In addition to exhibitions, the museum hosts various educational programs for children and adults related to the practice and theory of art. The stars of the art world give lectures and master classes at MAMM. On a regular basis, MAMM hosts such programs as: MAMMcinema, MAMMusic, MAMMdiscussions. MAMM is one of the most visited museums not only in Moscow, but also in Russia.
Cosmoscow Foundation's Board of Trustees includes Marina Andreeva, Elena Lukovnikova, Simon Mraz, Valeria Rodnyanskaya, Vladimir Smirnov. This year, they were joined by Yulia Chernova and Ksenia Tarakanova.