Ochumelaya Vystavka—The Fine Hands Show

Organized by the Goethe-Institut Novosibirsk together with the Ploshchad Mira museum center, and curated by Thibaut de Ruyter, Ochumelaya Vystavka—The Fine Hands Show is the main project of the 14th Krasnoyarsk Museum Biennale. Due to its success, it will be prolonged till November 7.

The Fine Hands Show is an exhibition of works conceived by 34 Berlin-based artists and collectives and implemented by more than one hundred producers in Krasnoyarsk (Siberia) based on their instructions. Through its remote production process, the exhibition acknowledges the realities of art-making since the invention of the ready-made at the start of the twentieth century and the rise of conceptual practices in the 1970s. But although modern art revolutionised the way art is made by postulating that conceiver and producer need not be identical, many museumgoers still perceive the works on display as unique, handmade objects.

A playful and skilful exhibition that reflects on transmission, copyright and authorship, The Fine Hands Show is also a tongue-in-cheek commentary on the vagaries of international exhibitions in an age of global travel restrictions and reduced carbon emissions.

In a nod to the 1971 exhibition Pier 18 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York—in which photographer Harry Shunk “acted out” the works on the participants’ instructions—we asked artists from various disciplines, including painting, sound and video art, sculpture, fashion design, and photography, to formulate directions for the production of an artwork. Each provided one to ten standard pages of more or less detailed, more or less poetic, more or less feasible instructions. The makers in Krasnoyarsk, including artists, craftsmen and laypeople, in turn used the assignments as an opportunity to showcase their personal abilities and explore new techniques.

A 670-pages publication including all the artists’ instructions (in English and Russian) and many exhibition views has just been released as a companion to the project.

The exhibition is shown at Ploshchad Mira museum center as part of the Germany Year in Russia 2020/2021, which is organised by the German Embassy in Moscow, the Goethe-Institut and the Russian-German Chamber of Commerce (AHK).

Conceived and curated by Thibaut de Ruyter (Berlin), with the assistance of Anastasiya Bezvershuk (Krasnoyarsk).

Artists (Berlin): Alisa Berger, BIEST, Barbara Breitenfellner, Kaan Bulak, Lou Cantor, Martin Dammann, Tobias Dostal, Cécile Dupaquier, William Engelen, Simon Faithfull, Friederike Feldmann, Katia Fouquet, Zohar Fraiman, Claudio Gobbi, Olaf Holzapfel, Brendan Howell, Rolf Julius, Robert Lippok, Maru Mushtrieva, Agnes Meyer-Brandis, Ulrike Mohr, Olaf Nicolai, An Paenhuysen, Albrecht Pischel, Tim Plamper, Marie Rief, Maya Schweizer, Heidi Specker, Tim Tetzner, Albert Weis, Felix Leon Westner, Vadim Zakharov, Gloria Zein, Tobias Zielony

Producers (Krasnoyarsk): Vladislav Abdiladzanov, Ulyana Afanasyeva, Igor Akulov, Nina Anikina, Irina Bakhtina, Nikolai Balyshev, Roman Beletsky, ‘Belka’, Daria Berezovskaya, Anastasiya Bezvershuk, Roman Bobryshov, Anna Bobrysheva, Daria Bralkova, Irina Bralkova, Dmitry Brytkov, Vladimir Bush, Vera Chernezkaya, Alexandr Davydov, Oleg Deetz, Fate on The Riddim, Polya Grechka, Kristina Guskova, Evgeny Gusyatnikov, Anna Kardash, Dmitry Kartashov, Anna Kartushinskaya, Ekaterina Khinovker, Anastasiya Kirichenko, Valerie Kovalchuk, Yuliya Kovalyova, Yana Kovrigina, Alexandr Kozhevkin, Elena Krupneva, Diana Ivanova, Vladimir Lavrenov, Georgy Lazarev, Stepan Litvinov, Vadim Luke, Maria Makovskaya, Evgenia Markova, Kseniya Masanova, Dzhemma Mazhule, Tatiana Medvedeva, Egia Mgryan, Tigran Mgryan, Anastasiya Mikhailova, Alexandr D3mark0 Mikhailov, Vladislava Mitsukova, Polina Mordvinova, Vladimir Mordvinov, Stepan Naumov, Mary Wood Nemzuk, Olga Nikulina, Olga Osipova, ‘Oskar’, Galina Pozhidaeva, Ivan Romanenko, Denis Rozanov, Daria Ryabchenko, Katerina Semushkina, Stas Sharifullin, Vladimir Scherbovich, Dmitry Shtifonov, Natalia Skidanova, Pavel Slavikovsky, Artyom Strogan, Evgeniya Susakina, Eva Sushkevich, Natalya Tagunova, Danil Titov, Ivan a36e Wsyakin, Mikhail Wsyakin, Nadezhda Wsyakina, Yaroslava Wsyakina, Alexander Zakirov, Nikita Zazulya, Ivan Zuykov, Anastasiya Yarchak, and many others

Initiated by Per Brandt, Director of the Goethe-Institut Novosibirsk, and Sergey Kovalevsky, Art Director of Ploshchad Mira museum center.

Press contacts: Elena Nosova (PR Manager, Goethe-Institut Novosibirsk), elena.nosowa [​at​] goethe.de / Alexandr Volkov (Head of PR Department, Ploshchad Mira museum center), yetis [​at​] yandex.ru

*Images above: [1] Graphic design: Ivan Wsyakin [2] Cécile Dupaquier, 1 2 3 etc. Produced by: Alexandra Chaikova, Alexandr Kozhevin, Mikhail Wsyakin. Photo: Alexey Myslitsky. [3] Barbara Breitenfellner, In a chaotic darkness with several occurrences and parallel worlds. A world of visuals (war photos + brutal events from the press + recollections, e.g. of sailors on dark stormy nights with breaking / bursting masts). A path in the dark which is illuminated by cauliflowers. We wash our hands in cauliflower. Someone makes sculptures (from it?). Produced by: Vadim Luke, Yana Kovrigina. Photo: Alexey Myslitsky. [4] Robert Lippok, Symphony x. Photo: Alexey Myslitsky. [5] Photo: Alyona Rotenberg.