“FILARETOVA RESEARCH INSTITUTE. EKATERINBURG” at the Yeltsin Center Art Gallery, 7.09.2024 — 27.10.2024. 

Yekaterinburg artist Ksenia Markelova was invited to curate the exhibition “FILARETOVA RESEARCH INSTITUTE. EKATERINBURG” at the Yeltsin Center Art Gallery. Ksenia has chosen Fluidity as the exhibition’s primary motif. This fluidity is linked to the methodology and aesthetics of Elena Filaretova’s work, playing on the illusion and mutability of pareidolia. 

Public program as total collaboration in Yekaterinburg is also guided by a fluid method: local artists participate in the expositional, procedural, communicative and performative processes of the project. 

Artist Daria Skotina created airbrushes in the exhibition space, adding splashes of color to the gallery space. 

During the “FILARETOVA RESEARCH INSTITUTE. EKATERINBURG” exhibition, artists launched a laboratory based on the principles of participation. The lab was led by Ksenia Markelova, Galina Belova, Maria Plaksina, and Nastya Frants, inviting exhibition visitors and local residents to collaborate. Viewers and artists created a “map of visions” — a plasticine object straddling the line between abstract and concrete. The object came to life in the digital realm — digital artist Slava SAF and musician Mirny Gorod created a video art using AI. 

Elena Filaretova also participated in the collaboration as a performance. At the Yeltsin Center Art Gallery, the artist created works based on her impressions and emotions in Yekaterinburg. 

The final event of “FILARETOV RESEARCH INSTITUTE. EKATERINBURG” become a performance by dance artist Masha Kozulina at the Art Gallery. 

Exhibition organizers: Yeltsin Center Art Gallery, BERNASKONI bureau.

Studio Partners: Moscow Museum of Modern Art (MMoMA), Higher School of Economics, NTECH LAB, UU Self-Portrait Photo Studio. 

Project curator: Boris Bernaskoni. 

Yekaterinburg exhibition and public program curator: Ksenia Markelova.

Laboratory participants: Galina Belova, Mirny Gorod, HO GUY, Maria Kozulina, Ksenia Markelova, Nastya Frants, Daria Skotina, Slava SAF