KW14 Actueel

Travelling exhibition VoTH
VoTH is a cultural exchange project with the Russian Federation,
initiated by Ine Lamers and Marjan Teeuwen (Marjan Teeuwen/
KW_14 is responsible for the organization of the exhibitions and
the catalogue). The core of the exhibition VoTH is an endeavour
to investigate the way 8 Russian and 8 Dutch contemporary art
practices analyze and reflect upon aspects of Russian contemporary
society, culture and history.
All artists have created new work for this exhibition. Intensive and
numerous movements to and from this immense country form the
basis of this project.
Travelling scheme of VoTH:
Krasnoyarsk Museum Centre: 20 August – 23 September 2010
State Museum of Fine Arts of the Republic of Tatarstan, National
Gallery of Art Khazine, Kazan: 4 October – 17 October 2010
Ekaterinburg branch of the NCCA/Ekaterinburg Museum of Fine Arts:
28 October – 20 November 2010
Moscow MOMA: 17 December 2010 – 23 January 2011
Yaroslavl Art Museum: 18 February – 27 March 2011
Stedelijk Museum ’s-Hertogenbosch/
CBK ’s-Hertogenbosch: 28 May – 21 August 2011
of Fine Arts,
Participating Dutch artists are: Paul Kooiker, Daya Cahen, Paulien
Oltheten, Natasja Kensmil, Aliona van der Horst, Jasmijn Visser,
Ine Lamers, Marjan Teeuwen.
Participating Russian artists are:
Ksenia Galiaeva, Andrei Roiter, Victor Alimpiev, Alexandra
Demenkova, Provmyza, Arkady Nasonov, Chto Delat and
Roman Wolgin.

Holland has special historic ties with Russia, yet collaboration and
exchange in the field of contemporary art has not been developed
intensely. From a sincere interest in the position of art and culture,
VoTH wants to discover in which ways contemporary artistic
positions can be a binding force. The long-term aim of this travelling
exhibition is to realize cultural and artistic exchange on a high
level.
While manifestations of and views on art may differ considerably
in various positions in VoTH, a common feature is that they all
explore existential and cultural questions.
VoTH is informed by the view that a transfer to a different culture
(in this case Russian culture) goes beyond a simple incorporation
of visual elements or clichéd translations. Rather than by
unequivocalness and predictability, the works created are
characterized by ambiguity and individual engagement. Both the
nomadic nature of the artist’s position and the current social and
economic relationship between the West (Holland) and Russia
place the exhibition in contemporary international discourse.
Art thrives particularly well at the interface of outsider and
insider, where the polarities of distance and proximity take
place alternately.
Inhabiting a distant viewpoint, the outsider oversees the whole
and has an innovative perspective on it; with a personal sensitivity
he may penetrate to the very core, the heart of the matter.
This dual position, which we find embodied in the practice of the
travelling artist, is an excellent position for autonomous reflective
artistic gestures. Continually engaging themselves these artists
produce works that reflect on Russia in the broadest sense.
Obviously, the starting points are different for the Russian and
Dutch participating artists of VoTH respectively. The Russian
artists have distanced themselves from their home country
(temporarily or permanently), they disconnect from their familiar
surroundings. As such, they embody the position of the outsider,
if only temporarily. The Dutch have been travelling to Russia and
worked there, being foreigners in the Russian Federation. At the
same time, both Russian and Dutch artists try to get close to the
subjects. For both Russian and Dutch artists it is the precarious
oscillation between distance and proximity that produces the right
attitude to touch upon the essential issues of the human condition.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalogue. The publication
will serve as an introduction to the artists’ practices and will
contain articles which constitute an in-depth elaboration of the
concept of VoTH.
The essays will be written by: Sjeng Scheijen (art historian,
author and former cultural attaché of the Dutch Embassy in
Moscow), Kseniya Fedorova (curator of National Centre for
Contemporary Art Ekatarinburg), Bas Heijne (Dutch author
and columnist), Sergey Kovalevsky (curator in Museum Centre
Krasnoyarsk) and Elly Stegeman (curator Stedelijk Museum
‘s-Hertogenbosch).
VoTH has been realised with the support of Fonds BKVB
Amsterdam, Wilhelmina Jansen Fonds, the Dutch Embassy
in Moscow, DSM/DNP, BKKC, the local authorities of
‘s-Hertogenbosch and Stichting Stokroos.
For more information Marjan Teeuwen/ KW_14
e-mail: kw14-teeuwen@hetnet.nl