ARSENALE 2012 Awards Ceremony
30 July 2012, 19h
ARSENALE 2012: The First Kiev
International Biennale of Contemporary Art
24 May–31 July 2012
ARSENALE 2012 Commissioner Nataliia Zabolotna and Artistic Director David Elliott will be announcing the winners of the ARSENALE 2012 Awards on 30 July 2012 at 19h.
The organisers of ARSENALE 2012 are proud to be presenting three awards totalling 50,000 euros, celebrating the artists who have participated in the Biennale:
–Award for the Most Significant Contribution to the Development of Contemporary Art
–Award for the Most Significant Discovery (for young artists and emerging artists)
–Audience Choice Award
The organisers are also pleased to announce that the first Kiev Biennale has welcomed about 86,000 visitors from Ukraine and abroad in the first eight weeks since opening.
Under Elliott’s title The Best of Times, The Worst of Times. Rebirth and Apocalypse in Contemporary Art, the main programme for the Biennale is being presented in the historic Mystetskyi Arsenal until 31 July 2012. This marks the first major international contemporary art biennale in Eastern Europe and showcases both Ukraine’s rich culture and its relatively unknown legacy of producing leading international contemporary artists such as Boris Mikhailov, Oleg Kulik, and Ilya Kabakov.
This extremely ambitious Biennale has brought together over 220 art works by over 100 international and Ukrainian contemporary artists, including 40 new works made especially for the exhibition by internationally renowned artists including Yayoi Kusama, Phyllida Barlow, and Boris Mikhailov, and major art works by artists including Ai Weiwei, Louise Bourgeois, Song Dong, Jake and Dinos Chapman, and Ilya and Emilia Kabakov. Work featured in the Biennale has been installed over the 24,000 square metres of the Arsenal’s magnificent exhibition space.
For more information about ARSENALE 2012 visit www.arsenale2012.com.
Upcoming events
Biennale Night 2: ART DOES NOT SLEEP!
30 July 2012, 21–3h
Due to the huge success of the first Biennale Night, which attracted over 12,000 visitors, the Biennale will once again open its doors to the public after the award ceremony.
David Elliott, Artistic Director of the main project:
“The Best of Times, The Worst of Times, the 1st Kiev International Biennale of Contemporary Art, has been a resounding success. Out of 220 works by 100 artists in the exhibition, 40 major new works have been presented and all of which reflect directly on a theme which could not be more fitting for the historical turning point at which the world now finds itself. All this is clearly elaborated in the magnificently designed catalogue of over 400 pages. Moreover, the exhibition has brought together a wide range of contemporary art from Ukraine, China, the former Soviet Union, and much further afield, which reflects how many artists of the highest quality are critically intersecting with contemporary reality in ways that are presently barely acknowledged by the art market. The most striking motif, however, is that the artists in the exhibition all measure up to the same exacting standards whether their work is well known or not. This is a fantastic debut and a strong platform on which to base future Kiev Biennales.”
Nataliia Zabolotna, Commissioner of ARSENALE 2012:
“As the organisers of ARSENALE 2012, we are impressed by the incredibly positive response to the First Kiev Biennale from both the Ukrainian public and the international community. We are delighted that ARSENALE 2012 could gain recognition as one of this year’s top art events. A significant number of art professionals have now discovered Ukrainian artists and the Ukrainian art scene for themselves, and it can now be viewed more clearly in the context of the international art world.
The success is a result of a combination of the Mystetskyi Arsenal’s splendid exhibition space, the amazing work of ARSENALE 2012 Artistic Director David Elliott, and the strong range of artists taking part in the Biennale.
If you have not yet visited the Biennale, you can still do so until 31 July. We would be happy to see you in Kiev for the last two weeks of the Biennale.”
Media requests
For further press information, images, or interview requests please contact:
Jenny McVean, Sutton PR
jenny [at] suttonpr.com
+44 (0) 20 7183 3577
+44 (0) 7595 217 650
