The Firtash Foundation and Saatchi Gallery are delighted to announce the shortlist for UK/RAINE, the first open competition worth GB£75,000 for emerging artists from the UK and Ukraine as part of the Days of Ukraine in the UK festival.
The competition received over 10,000 entries by 2,100 artists and the 30 shortlisted artists chosen from each of the five categories (installation, new media, painting, sculpture and street art) will exhibit their work in a month-long exhibition over one entire floor of the Saatchi Gallery from 24th November 2015 - 3rd January 2016.
UK/RAINE Shortlisted Artists:
Installation: Rebecca Hammond, Anton Logov, Roman Mikhaylov, Rebecca Molloy, Amba Sayal-Bennett and Anna Sorokovaya.
New Media: Jonny Briggs, Emma Critchley, DIS/ORDER, Christopher Nunn, Sergiy Petlyuk and Andriy Sydorenko.
Painting: Dominic Beattie, Kyung Hwa Shon, Roman Minin, Yuriy Pikul, Sophia Starling and Artem Volokitin.
Sculpture: Masha Batsea, Olivia Bax, Jamie Fitzpatrick, Mariia Kuliikovska, Adeline de Monseignat and Finbar Ward.
Street Art: Khir Andriy, Dilk & Feros, Lynsey Jean Henderson, Sasha Kurmaz, Dima Mykytenko and Matthew Spencer.
The works of all 30 shortlisted artists can be viewed here:
www.saatchigallery.com/uk/raine
As well as the above shortlist, a winner from each of the categories and an overall winner of the competition will be selected by a panel of renowned international judges.
Each of the category winners will receive GB£10,000 with the overall winner of the prize receiving a further GB£20,000. There will also be a winner of a separate public vote who will receive GB£5,000 for production costs towards their work, project or exhibition in order to support their future artistic endeavours.
The public vote is now live and votes can be cast until 6pm BST on 22nd November 2015 via:
www.saatchigallery.com/uk/raine
All winners will be announced at the exhibition's launch and VIP private view in London on 23rd November 2015.
The aim of the competition is to find and support the most imaginative and talented young artists, including students on BA and MA courses who are living and working in the UK or Ukraine or born in either country.
Lada Firtash, Chairman of the Firtash Foundation, said: "I am very happy and proud that the Firtash Foundation and the Saatchi Gallery have joined forces to support emerging artists at such an early stage in their careers. The sheer number and quality of entries that flooded in to UK/RAINE from all across Ukraine and the UK, and from artists with very diverse backgrounds, highlights the need for initiatives such as this one to provide new, alternative platforms for a new generation of artists."
Nigel Hurst, Chief Executive of the Saatchi Gallery, said: "What we have been looking for through UK/RAINE are the strongest, most imaginative and visually arresting works in each of the categories. Given the multiculturalism of today's world and how globally connected this new generation of artists is, we think UK/RAINE creates a more focused dialogue and cultural bridge between our two countries. While some shortlisted artists may still be on BA or MA courses, all of them have dynamic, original voices and a strong sense of their own individual artistic language."
UK/RAINE continues the collaboration between the Firtash Foundation and Saatchi Gallery as part of the Days of Ukraine in the UK festival and follows on from the huge success of
Premonition: Ukrainian Art Now, which ran at the Saatchi Gallery from 9th October - 3rd November 2014.
Premonition was the largest survey to date of contemporary Ukrainian art in the UK and showcased over 80 works by 38 artists. The show attracted 137,438 visitors (5,494 per day), making it the only UK exhibition in the world's top 20 most attended shows in 2014, and the seventh most popular contemporary art exhibition worldwide according to The Art Newspaper's annual survey of international museum attendance. Premonition also formed part of the annual Days of Ukraine in the UK festival and the Firtash Foundation's ongoing support and promotion of Ukrainian arts and culture.
About the Firtash Foundation
The Firtash Foundation is a private, international charitable fund focussed on supporting and promoting Ukrainian art, literature and culture abroad. Established in 2008 by Lada and Dmitry Firtash, the Foundation supports a number of initiatives dedicated to supporting Ukraine's youth by providing long-term and systematic support to education and cultural initiatives in Ukraine and around the world.
http://firtashfoundation.com/en/
About the Saatchi Gallery
The Saatchi Gallery was founded in 1985 to provide an innovative platform to bring contemporary art to as wide an audience as possible and make it accessible. Over the last five years the Saatchi Gallery has hosted 17 out of the top 20 most visited exhibitions in London, according to The Art Newspaper's annual survey of international museum attendance, and is also ranked amongst the world's top five most liked museums on Facebook and Twitter by Museum Analytics. Entry to all the Saatchi Gallery's exhibitions is free.
http://www.saatchigallery.com
About Days of Ukraine in the UK
Days of Ukraine in the UK is the biggest festival dedicated to Ukrainian culture and was first organised in 2013. It has since become a major platform to showcase Ukraine's rich heritage, traditions, culture and tremendous potential. This annual initiative aims to bring Ukraine closer to Britain and is organised and funded by Firtash Foundation.
http://ukraine-days.co.uk/en/
