Public programme

The public programme for the exhibition "What are you afraid of?" is conceived as an extension of the stated theme (fear) into related fields: philosophy, psychology, cinema, media, literature. Every fortnight, experts explore, discuss, engage in debate with invited guests.

29 June, 14:00, "What is an artist afraid of?" (Fear makes people think. Aristotle). Complex questions about the artist's career will be answered by the curator of the exhibition "What are you afraid of?" Elena Selina. The public talk will be attended by artist and participant of the exhibition Katika, moderator Lera Agafonova, art historian, programme director of the Zotov Centre;
The public talk with the curator of the exhibition "What are you afraid of?" Elena Selina is built around artists' questions and doubts during their career paths. 

Speakers

Elena Selina, gallery owner and curator, founder and director of XL Gallery, one of the leading Russian contemporary art galleries, member of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA). She has curated and organised more than 300 exhibitions, including "Lemon Eaters" (Viktor Pivovarov, MMSI, 2006), "Aidan" (Aidan Salakhova, MMSI, 2006), "Oleg Kulik. Chronicle. 1987-2007" (Central House of Artists, 2007), "Earthly and Heavenly Host" (Boris Orlov, MMSI, 2008), "Weightlessness" (Rabochy i Kolkhoznitsa exhibition hall, 2013), "The 90s" (Yeltsin Centre, Yekaterinburg, 2015), "Archive M." (posthumous exhibition of Vladislav Mamyshev-Monroe, MMSI, 2015), Verge (exhibition within the framework of Design Week, Milan, 2012), "Blue Soup. XXI" (Ekaterina Culture Foundation, 2017), "Countdown" (Igor Makarevich, Elena Elagina, MMSI, 2020). 

Katika, the artist of the exhibition "What are you afraid of?", is an alumna of the eighth season of Winzavod Open Studios. Her solo exhibitions have been held in Moscow, Suzdal, Yekaterinburg, Tokyo and other cities. 

Moderator

Lera Agafonova, art historian, Programme Director of the Zotov Centre.


30 June, 14:00, "Fear of the White Sheet". The public talk is hosted by MEDIA and curated by Anastasia Kamenskaya, editor-in-chief of RBC Style.

About the lecture

This very fear, well known in the history of culture, music and literature, is perfectly familiar to playwrights and writers, composers and artists, creative directors and everyone who plans to conceive and realise something. Reflecting on it will be a starting point to talk about creativity and its signs, as well as about fear itself (in particular, the fact that this emotion is often not only destructive, but also an impetus to action).


Registration and details


PAST EVENTS



Opening the programme is PHILOSOPHY with two events on 1 June. 

14:00, lecture "Fear: why we don't like to be afraid of anything?" Valeria Putintseva-Ardanskaya, PhD in Philosophy, curator, researcher at the Moscow Museum of Modern Art. 

About the lecture

The longing for strong emotions sometimes seizes a prosperous and contented city dweller in the steel jungle, bringing him to online or offline cinemas for the genre that enjoys the greatest consumer demand. And that genre is horror. Such a modern academic trend of media philosophy as horror studies dissects the structure of this industry, giving it the role of a fear factory. The only condition for the existence of this factory is the illusory nature of frightening images or their unreality. The distance between the impression created by the image and the real danger can be understood as the essence of cathartic experience, characterised back in antiquity as one of the basic functions of art.
Let us understand what fears people of previous epochs had before epidemics, diseases, crises, unexpected events and what is the nature of phobias today. We will see how the language of visual art exposes the hidden corners of mental inclinations and the roots of fears as a key to the genius of the timeless works they create. We will discuss who is afraid of contemporary art today and why they perversely enjoy it. 

About the lecturer

Valeria Putintseva-Ardanskaya - PhD in Philosophy, curator, researcher at the Moscow Museum of Modern Art. A specialist in the philosophy of media and visual art. Nominee (top-3) of the Zverev Art Prize - "The Best Book on Contemporary Art".



16:00, discussion "The Importance of Fears for Mastering and Appropriating Reality. Strategies of interaction in philosophy and art". Vadim Veterkov, "Bakhchisarai Carnations", philosopher Dmitry Shcherbachev, artist Kirill Doeshvili and others take part in the discussion. The moderator and curator of the "Philosophy" direction is Alina Kryukova. During the discussion we will discuss the role of fears in mapping reality, expanding the boundaries of the territory in which one can act, and strategies for working with fears in art and philosophy. 

About the moderator 

Alina Kryukova, entrepreneur, founder of the contemporary art gallery a-s-t-r-a, collector, graduate of the Faculty of Philosophy at Moscow State University, founder and moderator of the literary discussion club. During the meetings of the block, the curator proposes to reflect on fear from the point of view of contemporary philosophy.


On 2 June, the programme continued with PSYCHOLOGY, curated by the online psychotherapy service "Yasno". 

14:00, public talk by Ekaterina Artemenko, community director of the service "Yasno" with one of the artists of the exhibition "What are you afraid of?" Lidia Zhudro. In the public talk, the speakers will discuss the fear of inner emptiness that the artist talks about in her work in the exhibition, the opposition (or not) between mystical experience and psychological experience.

About the speakers

Ekaterina Artemenko, practising psychologist, head of the community of psychologists of the service "Yasno".
Lidia Zhudro, artist, author of objects, installations and exhibition projects dedicated to the phenomena of developing understanding and gaining experiential knowledge.


On June 9, the second meeting of the direction of PSYCHOLOGY, curators of the programme online psychotherapy service "Yasno" took place 

14:00, public talk of Ekaterina Artemenko, community director of the service "Yasno" with the artist of the exhibition "What are you afraid of?" Anna Kondratieva. A public talk about the artist's works, about the opposition (or not) of mystical experience and psychological experience, about the fear of death in folklore and culture. 

About the speakers

Ekaterina Artemenko, practising psychologist, head of the community of psychologists of the service "Yasno".
Anna Kondratyeva, artist, resident of the fifth season of Winzavod Open Studios. For the exhibition she created the installation "Numbness", about the fear of numbness, freezing, loss of speech as a reaction to shocking events. Anna's biography includes studies at the Bakstein Institute of Contemporary Art and participation in numerous group projects. her main themes are the exploration of the past, generational memory and national identity.