OPEN CALL:5th Round of Artists Residency in Special Astrophysical Observatory

The Gogova Foundation announces an open call for participation in the 5th round of its artists residency at the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic.

The applications received by October 14 will be reviewed by an Expert Committee, who will announce the recipient in October 2018. The selected artist will present a solo project in Karachay-Cherkess Republic in November 2018.

The Gogova Foundation Artists Residency launched in Baku in 2017 as a residency for emerging artists. Since 2018, the residency has been located at Nizhny Arkhyz, at the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Karachay-Cherkess Republic.

Karachay-Cherkess Republic, its natural landscapes and cultural heritage, the ecological attributes of the region, its ethnic diversity—all of these features combine to offer artists a unique opportunity for the research and creation of new works. The territory is home to the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences, one of the buildings of the dedicated research town that will serves as the exhibition space for the artists residency. Having celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, the Special Astrophysical Observatory in Nizhny Arkhyz remains the largest such facility in the country, and host to the largest optical telescope in Eurasia. Its research town boasts a population of around one thousand inhabitants, who regularly hold scientific conferences, in addition to developing and implementing new technologies for studying Space.

The Gogova Foundation for the Support of Contemporary Art and Culture is a nonprofit initiative founded by Mariana Guber-Gogova in 2016, and dedicated to the promotion of emerging artists from Russia and its neighbors near and far, through the organization of non-commercial exhibitions, including collaborations with state institutions, the establishment of an artists residency for artists from several targeted regions, and educational programs that bring together artists, critics and curators. Among Gogova Foundation’s past projects are a solo exhibition of Olya Kroytor at the Kasteyev Museum in Almaty (Kazakhstan) and a large-scale exhibition Observatory which was produced in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture of Karachay-Cherkess Republic and the Austrian Cultural Forum. Participants included russian artists like RADYA, Irina Korina, Alexandra Paperno, Anya Titova and Sveta Shuvaeva, etc.

Expert Committee: Suad Garayeva-Maleki (YARAT Contemporary Art Space, Baku); Jarrett Gregory (Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, DC); Mariana Guber-Gogova (Gogova Foundation, Artwin Gallery, Moscow); Ekaterina Inozemtseva (Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow); Simon Mraz (Austrian Cultural Forum, Moscow); Olga Nefedova (an independent consultant and curator); Alexey Novoselov (Moscow Museum of Modern Art).

Conditions for participants
The Gogova Foundation Artists Residency is open to artists 35 years old and under, who are living in the countries of the CIS, Transcaucasia, Central Asia and the Middle East. The length of the residency can vary from 1–2 months, depending on the project proposal (applicants are kindly requested to indicate their desired period on their application.) Participants in the artists residency will receive a honorarium/stipend of 1000 Euros. Each participant will be provided with accommodation for the length of the preparation of the project, though not exceeding 2 months. The artist is responsible for travel to and from the residency. Participants are not provided a per diem. Artists are allowed to bring assistants, who can share their accommodation, but the program will not cover additional expenses or honorariums for the assistant. Each project is allotted a production budget of 1000 Euros, which is intended to cover the costs of materials and the installation. Please note that application submission is only in English. For more detailed information and applications, please refer to the website.

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