Volga-Vyatka branch National Centre for Contemporary Arts
1
Volga-Vyatka branch of the National Centre for Contemporary Arts is the only museum and exhibition institution in Nizhny Novgorord aimed at development and popularization of contemporary art. Founded in 1997 (initially as Nizhny Novgorod branch) at the premises of public organization Nizhny Novgorod centre of contemporary culture “Kariatida”.
In 2007 it was granted a status of Volga region branch with sub branches in Samara, Izhevsk, Kirov and Kazan. Since 2015 – Volga-Vyatka branch with regional sub branch in Kirov. Mission: Arsenal is the space of artistic communication for 2 human and territorial development.
NCCA Volga-Vyatka region branch is located in the heart of the city, in the Arsenal historical building (2nd half of XIX century) on the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin territory. Arsenal is one of the largest buildings of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin. Total floor area – 7 000 sq.m. Architectural style – late Classicism. Architect – A.L. Leer, engineer – colonel P.D. Gotman. 1839-1843 – construction of Arsenal by decree of the Emperor Nicholas I. 1843-2001 – Arsenal operates as a military depot and archive. 2002 – Arsenal is conveyed to the Nizhny Novgorod (Volga region at present) branch of the National centre for Contemporary Arts.
3
2006 – beginning of restoration works, project of an architect Alexander Epifanov; adaptation for museum needs, project of an architect Evgeniy Asse. 2011 – first phase of reconstruction works is finished, opening of the Arsenal’s renovated part – 1/3 of the building. The centre switched from summer exhibition campaigns to full-scale institutional activities. The Arsenal became a centre of contemporary culture with modern infrastructure, which on a daily basis acquaints the Nizhny Novgorod audience with the major trends and the best names of contemporary art. 2015 – completion of restoration works and putting the Arsenal building in operation.
4
Concept of the Arsenal’s restoration and its adaption for facilities of a contemporary art centre
• Transformation of the Arsenal from
closed military establishment into contemporary public institution, territory of contemporary art; •Preservation of the spirit of the time
and historical space in combination with the latest technical equipment.
5
• Division of the Arsenal into several zones: exposition zone
with enfilade of exhibition spaces; public and information zone which includes mediateque, bar and concert hall; production zone with art and technology workshops, warehouses and other technical premises; •Transformation of the pathway in front of the building into
active public space which will be used as an open contemporary art gallery and venue for various actions, performances and show.
6
Before and after restoration
7
Before and after restoration
8
Our activity:
•Support
of contemporary art and culture
initiatives; •Development of cultural environment of Nizhny Novgorod, its modernization and Europeanization; • Improvement of living quality of Nizhny Novgorod population: organization of diverse cultural entertainment for people of different age and interests; • Collaboration with cultural institutions for creation of integrated cultural environment; • Cooperation with artists, provision of venue for realization of their ideas; •Investments into the region’s human capital: intellectual and creative development of children and youth. 9
Areas of activity Exhibitions In-house projects based on curatorial research and museum collaboration.
Walter Benjamin’s New Year Tree 26 December 2012 – 10 March 2013 Total installation based on the Moscow Diary book by a German philosopher Walter Benjamin.
10
Moscow Conceptualism. The Beginning. 29 September - 2 December 2013 Research of the beginning period of one of the most significant contemporary art trends. Wildlife Corner 8 February – 30 March 2014 Artistic research of the wooden architecture of Nizhny Novgorod. Optimistic Studies 27 June – 31 October 2014 The project continued the theme of wooden architecture, memory, ecology, aging. Participant of parallel program of the international biennale of contemporary art Manifesta 10 in SaintPetersburg.
11
Blizzard 29 April – 19 June 2011 View of famous contemporary Russian artists on the “blizzard country”.
Communal Avant-garde 9 November2011 – 22 January 2012 Research of a socialist town as a bright example of complex approach to creation of a new way of life and a new man by example of GAZ (Nizhny Novgrorod) and Uralmash (Yekaterinburg). 12
Nizhe Nizhnego (Lower than Nizhnhy) Winner of the Changing Museum in a Changing World contest. Traveling exhibition in 8 cities of the Volga region: Kazan, Kirov, Izhevsk, Cheboksary, Ulyanovsk, Saratov, Engels, Tolyatti. Firs opening took place in Kazan on the 12 of February 2014. Exposition imitating a local history museum united fiction and real facts. Purpose of this museum mystification was to attract attention to history of the cities and destroy stereotypes of their representation in local citizens' minds by efforts of artists. 13
Presentation of art of the new generation Bestiary 30 March – 19 May 2013 Insight into the future through images of the past by the Bestiary art group (Moscow). This Workshop Strives to Be Exemplary 5 July – 4 August 2013 Search of a boundary between art, non-art, object and subject of art by the ZIP art group (Krasnodar). Mermaids 14 April – 18 May 2013 Video of Antonina Baever (Moscow), in which the artist compares “commercialization” of a contemporary woman’s life with mythological plots about mermaids.
14
International projects Jannis Kounnelis ST 18 April – 20 May 2012 Exhibition of the founder of Arte Povera – avant-garde Italian art movement, created specifially for the Arsenal space, dedicated to the themes of European and Russian history. Portrait/Landscape: Genre Boundaries 2 June – 5 August 2012 Exhibition from collection of the Museum of Nantes (France). Evolution of portrait and landscape from classical painting to contemporary photography, installation and video performance.
15
Public Art
The Park of Love Terry Hardy (USA) 3 – 9 September 2012
Tarantas Installation by Philippe Jouillat (France) 18 May 2013
16
Air Cube Andrey Amirov (Nizhny Novgorod) 18 May 2014
Wind Face MishMash group (Moscow) 18 May 2014
17
Synthetic projects
18
Festivals of contemporary academic music. The Arsenal actively participates in creation of contemporary music community in Nizhny Novgorod. Three Thursdays with John Cage festival with participation of Vladimir Tarasov, Vladimir Martynov and Alexey Lyubomov. 13, 20 and 27 September 2012
Lead Voice - Festival of contemporary academic music: Beat Furrer and Contemporary Russian Composers. 29 and 30 November 2012
19
Experimental productions Theatre, music and art projects mixing different genres and trends of contemporary culture Marevo opera by PROVMYZA group 16 – 19 July 2012
Authorial project of artist-conceptualist Vadim Zakharov and Maria Porudominskaya Ideological Defile inspired by Me-Ti. Book of Changes by Bertolt Brecht ME-TI. THE BOOK OF CHANGES. 26, 27 and 28 February 2013 20
Educational projects
Public lectures, cinema and video screenings, concerts, creative meetings. Lectures on art, literature, science, cinema and design, as well as video screenings are organized for audience with different interests throughout a year. Authorial lecture cycles of art historian Anatoly Golubovsky, art critic Valentin Dyakonov, literary critic Evgeny Proschin, The Enlightener award laureates, etc. 21
Department of Contemporary Culture in the Arsenal The project was organized in collaboration with the Theories and Practices of Humanitarian researchers laboratory for professional study of topics related to condition of culture, contemporary art and humanitarian knowledge, their perception in global, as well as in local context. Vasari-fest Annual festival of art texts with participation of lead academic institutions, publishing houses, periodicals, network projects, art critics.
22
Arsenal for children and teenagers
Arsenal + Family - program of interactive lectures, guided tours and master-classes for children from 3 years old and their parents functions throughout a year. Main directions of the program: “Main characters of contemporary art” “Family workshops” “Arsenal Cartoon” “Architectural workshop” In 2015 the program includes three new workshops – music, theatre and photography, conducted by experts of their craft – Ksenia Anufrieva (music), Lev Kharlamov (theatre), Evgeniya Shlivko (photography). 23
Continuation of the program - Arsenal + School is intended for pupils, students of colleges and universities.
For teenagers there is the Arsenal teenage club “TAK!� It is intended for high school pupils (from 13 years old) and students interested in traditional and contemporary art.
24
Arsenal for leisure
Entertaining and educational festivals, marathons and other events for wide audience with different interests
25
Museum Night – annual event which attracts a big audience. It is held on the international Museum Day on the 18th of May. On this day events are organized as a marathon, all the Arsenal spaces and branches of activities are involved. In 2012 over 5 000 people attended the Arsenal Museum Night, in 2013 – almost 10 000. Audience of street projects in 2014 – 130 500 people.
Big Animation Festival – international animation festival and cartoon factory. Held annually in June. 26
Social projects
Social program “Contemporary Art for Contemporary People! ” Wednesdays were announced to be the day of free admission for all types of public. Guided tours are organized for disadvantaged social groups, blind and visually impaired people, people with mental disorders. Society for Encouragement of Art The project is addressed to people of the “third age” (55+) who in their free time would like to realize their long-nurtured dream – to learn to see, think and draw as an artist. MEST.COM - program of support of local cultural initiatives and local cultural space monitoring. 27
Mediateque Mediateque was opened in 2012, it contains a large library and collection of documents and video materials on art, design, architecture, cultural science, philosophy, cultural policy, museum pedagogy, etc. The collection has over 6 000 books.
28
Museum Shop The shop is a unique place for Nizhny Novgorod where people can acquire literature dedicated to contemporary art, books on humanitarian sciences, modern poetry and prose. Mission of the shop - to be a guide for a reader to the world of contemporary intellectual literature. If necessary, delivery of materials, which are currently absent, can be ordered. The shop’s assortment also includes original museum souvenirs and gifts.
29
The Arsenal coffee shop The coffee shop has a wide choice of desserts, ice cream, cold and hot coffee and tea. Receptions are held here, as well as press conferences. The coffee shop always has information flyers about current events in the Arsenal.
30
Awards and nominations 2011 Sergey Kurekhin award – contemporary art award in Grand Prix nomination “Pop mechanic for interdisciplinary projects “Three string quartets for one video”. Top-50 of “Arcthronika” magazine The director of the NCCA Volga region branch Anna Gor was at the 31st place in rating of the most influential people in Russian art. Person of the Year 2011 – according to “Delovoy Kvartal” magazine. The director of the NCCA Volga region branch Anna Gor was the award’s laureate in nomination “Person of the Year in Culture” 2012 Main award of the national award INNOVATION-2012 for the Marevo opera by PROVMYZA group. 2013 First annual award of The Art Newspaper Russia in nomination “Restoration of the Year” for restoration works in the Arsenal. 2014 Special prize of the jury “For contribution to preservation of the historical environment” of the Intermuseum 2014 festival. The Volga region branch is one of 16 Russian museums which were included into Museum Guide 2014 of the Vladimir Potanin Foundation. 31
Partners
32
Contacts
Volga-Vyatka region branch of The National Centre for Contemporary Arts 603082 Russia, Nizhny Novgorod, Arsenal, Kremlin, building 6 Phone +7 831 422 75 55, +7 831 423 57 41 www.ncca.ru/nnovgorod Director: Anna Gor Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ncca.arsenal VK: http://vk.com/arsenal_nnov_club Twitter: https://twitter.com/Arsenal_ncca Instagram: ncca_arsenal YouTube: ArsenalNCCA 33