The Digital Earth project, aimed at popularizing modern technologies in terms of accessibility and supporting creative potential, announces an open call fr om September 23 to October 23, 2020.

The Contemporary Art Support Fund Winzavod and the re:Store network of monobrand stores have joined together to implement the contest. The expert council of the contest included prominent curators and artists in the field of digital visual art:

 - AES+F artists (Tatiana Arzamasova, Lev Evzovich, Evgeny Svyatsky and Vladimir Fridkes);

- PhD, specialist in video art, curator Antonio Jeuza;

- curator, art historian, program director at the Department of Design of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Civil Engineering Svetlana Taylor.

About the contest

Digital Earth - the name of the concept, introduced in the late 1990s by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore. It described the future as a space with open access to all knowledge, scientific and cultural information that will enable people to better understand our planet and the impact of human activity on it.

The contest will be held in two stages: open call fr om September 23 to October 23, resulting in the selection of 15 finalists by the expert council, and in November, the launch of a network platform to host their work. The winner of the contest will receive a grant to participate in one of the largest international art residences. 

Sofia Trotsenko, president of the Contemporary Art Support Fund Winzavod:

"The strategic direction New Names, wh ere we implement support programs for artists, presents new opportunities for creative realization. Thanks to the joint project, modern technologies are becoming more accessible and increasingly attract our attention as institutions. This contest will be the first stage of long-term programs in this direction, and I hope that new names will be discovered along this way.

Antonio Jeuza, member of the Expert Council of Digital Earth:

"Technology is not an art in itself. It's just a tool for creating art. However, the digital paradigm is at the core of today's life. Art, as we all know, is the best way to better understand the world in which we live. Artists who use digital technology in their work are the most reliable translators of our time. Digital Earth is above all a challenge, an answer to the question: why is art still the best way to understand our reality?

Tikhon Smykov, president of Inventive Retail Group (runs re:Store):

"Our many years of experience in supporting and organizing creative expositions and contests within the re:Store digital art project allows us to assert that mobile equipment today gives everyone an opportunity for creativity. Creators from any part of the world can share their vision of the world simply by placing a work in social networks or sending it to a digital exhibition.

We live in an amazing time, when opening new names is simultaneously easier due to the transparency of the world and harder due to the amount of content created. Finding real gold in the creative flow, as well as popularization of mobile content is the goal of our cooperation with Winzavod".

You can take part in the Digital Earth contest by sending an application to the project website https://www.re-store.ru/promo/digitalart/

Expert Council

AES+F

Russian art group AES+F works in various graphic genres - installation, photography, video, sculpture and others. The group has existed since 1987 consisting of Tatiana Arzamasova, Lev Evzovich and Evgeny Svyatsky, and in 1995 photographer Vladimir Fridkes joined the group.

Through their monumental video installations, AES+F explores contemporary society, addressing grand visual narratives, global values, vices and contemporary conflicts. Since its inception, AES+F has held over 100 solo and 200 group exhibitions worldwide. The art group has participated in international contemporary art exhibitions: Biennale in Venice, Sydney, Lyon, Moscow, Kwanju, Istanbul, Kochin, Bangkok and others. In their more than thirty years of career, AES+F has won awards from Kandinsky, Kurekhin, Pinot Pascali and others.

Svetlana Taylor

Art historian, curator, teacher at the RANEPA.

Svetlana Taylor has implemented projects with the participation of Russian and foreign artists as curator, she has worked with the Winzavod, ARTPLAY, the Museum of Moscow, CEH "Manezh", In Artibus Foundation and many others. In 2010 she founded the program "Photography" in the British Higher School of Design, in 2015 - "Photography.Video Art". In February 2017, Svetlana became the author of the "Multimedia Art" course.

Since September 2019, she has been working with the Russian Academy of Sciences and Civil Engineering in the Department of the School of Design (program director). Her area of interest is the study of transmedia processes in image change, wh ere the main focus is on visual images of the digital age, a unified information system for data transmission, mechanisms for interaction between cultural and cognitive processes.

Antonio Jeuza

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD in media art at the University of London), specialist in philology (University of Bari, Italy) and media art (University of London, UK).

Antonio Jeuza is Russia's leading expert in the art of new technologies, chief researcher of Russian video art. Jeuza is also one of the experts on Russian contemporary art in the regions. Antonio writes articles on contemporary art and is a laureate of the "Innovation" and The Art Newspaper Russia awards. Antonio is the Head of the Art Programs Sector of the State Art Center of Russia (Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts), independent curator, lecturer and teacher.

Contemporary Art Support Fund Winzavod

Founded in 2007 and occupying the territory of a former wine factory, the Winzavod Centre for Contemporary Art is the largest private contemporary art center in Russia, bringing together all areas of contemporary culture in one space open to a wide audience. The Contemporary Art Support Fund, established on the basis of the CCA Winzavod, supports relevant Russian art and creates a comfortable environment for its development.

re:Store

re:Store - the world's largest network of monobrand stores format Apple Premium Reseller (APR). In stores re:Store presents the whole model range of Apple equipment, as well as accessories for it. 

re:Store pays a lot of attention to training programs for its customers the most effective use of Apple technology in life and work. Customers can attend regular free seminars and lectures of the re:Store Academy. Consultants and speakers of the educational project are real experts in Apple technique, ready to help and answer all questions both in person and online. The re:Store pays special attention to the creative part of client experience. The company regularly organizes competitions of photo/video content, annually holds exhibitions of mobile photography, created by both professional and amateur audience.