Me and the city Automatic translate

On November 27, the Museum of Moscow will open the exhibition project "Me and the City", organized jointly with the non-profit organization "Ferris Wheel". The exhibition will feature works by 96 winners of the all-Russian inclusive creative competition “I am an artist – this is how I see it” and young authors with mental disabilities — participants in the creative laboratory “I and the City”, as well as works by visitors to the studios and residences of the Museum of Moscow of different ages. The space will be complemented by a cinema hall and pavilions for master classes, which anyone can watch.

The exhibition will show the city from an unexpected angle. A variety of techniques, themes and plots will involve the audience in a kind of game of guessing familiar places and routes. The mission of the project is related to the representation of different types of perception of urban space and the feeling of being in the city.

The exhibition expands the idea of ​​the artist and breaks the stereotype about who an artist is and who can become one. For many, due to age, lack of social connections or various types of disabilities, it is difficult to integrate into the artistic process. Specific types of visual language are often underestimated or left out of display spaces, leaving the art system devoid of interesting authors.

“Through creativity, we are able to share our experience and get acquainted with the experience of other people. We can change our view, look at the city in a completely new way. The exhibition contains many descriptions of artistic techniques and master classes. Most of them can be easily repeated and create your own works about the city. This is not only an exhibition, but also an invitation to creativity,” says exhibition co-curator Polina Zhurakovskaya.

Children and young people with disabilities, as well as their brothers and sisters aged 6 to 20, participate annually in the competition “I am an artist – this is how I see it”. In 2022, over 700 entries from all over Russia were accepted for the competition. The best works were selected by a jury from 32 leading museums in Russia, including experts from the Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin, the State Hermitage, the State Russian Museum and the Museum of Moscow. The competition is supported by the Presidential Grants Fund.

The laboratory of the Museum of Moscow and the non-profit organization "Ferris Wheel" "Me and the City" allowed the participants to master new artistic methods: photography, collage, assemblage and installation. The classes were conducted by Russian artists Alexei Abanin, Irina Korina, Oleg Eliseev and Evgeny Kukoverov from the EliKuka art group. The laboratory was conducted in partnership with the Ferris Wheel, NGO "Contact" and with the use of a grant from the Charitable Foundation for Social Assistance and Support "Svet".

In the studios and residences of the Children’s Center of the Museum of Moscow, participants attended classes in graphics, ceramics, theater practices, and also created collages and architectural models. From the art studios of the Museum of Moscow, the projects Artistic Circle, Free Drawing, Tale of Wanderings, Efir, Expressive Readings, the Classics art studio and the Plafond ceramic workshop are participating.

During the exhibition, the Museum of Moscow will host free educational events for families with children: creative workshops, public talks, excursions and lectures, including those with translation into Russian sign language.