The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts – will present its collection of media art for the first time and will conduct the educational programme featuring international experts
Cosmoscow 2018 Museum of the Year, the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, will present a new collection of media art created with the support of Mail.Ru Group and a three-day educational programme dedicated to the development of museum collections and the art market, as well as practical aspects of collecting new media art featuring such experts as Bernard Blistene Gary Hill, Kati Kivinen, Marina Loshak, Olga Shishko among others.
"All leading international institutions which understand the importance of preserving the ‘ephemeral’ cultural heritage, are engaged in the formation of media art collections. This is what shows us today the state of modern society and the main changes taking place in the process of understanding the world and its perception by a modern society. We are very glad that even before the opening of the Museum’s Quarter the Cosmoscow guests will be able to see our new collection. After all, what we are talking about is the art that is ‘alive’ where Today and Tomorrow live side by side," said Marina Loshak, Director of The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts.
"New media is one of the main vectors for the development of contemporary art and, at the same time, a very serious challenge for the art industry. I am very glad that Cosmoscow visitors will be able to get acquainted with the best examples of media art included in the excellent collection of The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts and know the opinions of established experts during the educational programme. I’m glad that it happens as part of our cooperation with the Pushkin State Museum, one of the leading museums in the country," added Margarita Pushkina, Founding Director of Cosmoscow International Contemporary Art Fair and Founder of Cosmoscow Foundation for Contemporary Art.
The collection of media art and the educational programme are organized with the support of the Cosmoscow Foundation for Contemporary Art, founded in 2017. The Foundation combines numerous initiatives of Cosmoscow. The main objective of the Foundation is the systematic support of contemporary art in Russia and the promotion of young artists. The Foundation’s activities include purchase of contemporary art works and their donation to museum collections. In 2017, as part of the partnership between Cosmoscow and the State Tretyakov Gallery a special acquisition of three works by Russian artist Andrey Kuzkin was made to the museum’s permanent collection with the support of Cosmoscow Foundation for Contemporary Art. This year, the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts will also receive a donation of works by contemporary artist whose name will be announced at the Cosmoscow Press Conference on September 6.
Presentation of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts’ media art collection
Unequaled in Russia, the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts’ media art collection includes works created on the basis of the museum’s collection, site-specific projects and works that allow us to comprehend classical art using the latest technologies. Formation of time-based art collection is the starting point for understanding the new experience of human perception of the surrounding world, in which visual images, tactile sensations and the perception of information by hearing are inextricably linked with the process of cognition. The core of the collection is formed by the works that expand the boundaries of perception and offer new formats of interaction with reality. Special attention is paid to the works that are iconic for the development of media art.
As part of Cosmoscow, the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts will present the works of media art classics. Among the works that have already entered the collection and will be represented at the fair are the video installations of Gary Hill (USA) and Fabrizio Plessi (Italy), the video art of Marianne Heske (Norway), and the trilogy of the Russian art group Provmyza (Sergey Provorov and Galina Myznikova) "Despair" (2008), "Inspiration" (2010) and "Eternity" (2011).
Educational programme
As part of the educational programme, the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts will present the concept of the development of the Museum’s media art collection, a promising project of a shared collection developed together with LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art), as well as practical issues of media art collecting, copyright, copies, originals, etc.
