03 Mar 2015

Winner of kim? Residency Award 2015 is Darja Meļņikova

kim? Contemporary Art Centre is pleased to announce that the winner of kim? Residency Award 2015 in cooperation with KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin is Darja Meļņikova. Winner's announcement ceremony and press conference took place on February 27th, 6pm at the new academic building of the Art Academy of Latvia. The winner of the first kim? Residency Award will spend two months in spring 2015 (May 15 – July 15) in KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin.

'Darja Meļņikova's work was high on all the jury members' list, and convinced us of her merit for the kim? Residency Award during her studio visit in Riga. Her work is faithful to local materials and is versed traditional crafts, but applies this range of knowledge in a truly contemporary practice. Her work is intuitive but not lacking in reflexivity, and we are curious to see how she responds to the visual and cultural environment of Berlin and becomes part of KW during the residency period' - Adela Yawitz, a jury member of kim? Residency Award 2015 and Residency program manager at KW Institute for Contemporary Art.

The annual kim? Residency Award will provide the opportunity for an exceptionally promising Latvian artist or an artist duo under the age of 40 to qualify for a subsequent residency programme at one of kim?'s partner organizations. In 2016 the winner will be able to participate in the ISCP International Studio & Curatorial Program in New York and in 2017 the residency host will be Gasworks, Gallery, Studios and International Residency Programme in London.

The aim of the Residency Award is to strengthen the professional skills, competitiveness and international cooperation of the up-and-coming and already internationally experienced Latvian contemporary artists, thus advancing the international recognisability of Latvian art. The three years residency cycle shall conclude in the 100th year anniversary of Latvia with a group exhibition in Riga in the framework of kim? program 21st century. The artist in motion supported by State Culture Capital Foundation.

In autumn 2014, kim? nominated 9 artists that met the kim? Residency Award criteria: they demonstrated active participation in exhibitions and other art events in Latvia and abroad, fulfilled the age requirement (under 40 years old) and have all accomplished notable projects affiliated with kim? in the last 5 years.


After the initial nomination, the kim? Residency Award's International Jury that includes Alessio Antoniolli & Robert Leckey (Director, Gasworks & Curator, Gasworks, Gallery, Studios and International Residency Programme, London), Anne Barlow (Director, Art in General, New York), Kari Conte (Director of Programs and Exhibitions, ISCP International Studio & Curatorial Program, New York), Kasia Redzisz (Senior Curator, Tate Liverpool, Liverpool) and Adela Yawitz (Residency program manager, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin) studied the portfolios of the pre-selected artists. The Jury members reviewed the artists' portfolios electronically and selected 5 finalists according to their own professional judgment, marking priorities form 1 to 4.


By January 2015, 5 final artists were shortlisted for the kim? Residency Award and they are Ieva Epnere, Kaspars Groševs, Darja Meļņikova, artist duo Miks Mitrēvics & Kristīne Kursiša and Krišs Salmanis.


Adela Yawitz, Residency program manager of this year's residency host, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, met the 5 nominees on site during her visit to Riga on February 25–27. She conducted studio visits and consulted with kim? representatives in making the final decision and announced the winner of the Award during the public Award Ceremony on February 27th, 6pm at the new academic building of the Art Academy of Latvia.


KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin is a place for the production and presentation of contemporary art, where the pressing questions of our time can be openly formulated and discussed.
It is a centre for the introduction of recent developments in national and international contemporary culture, and for further development, working together with artists and institutions, and commissioning new work. As an institution for contemporary art without a collection of its own, but also without the specific mandate of a member-based art association, KW has a high degree of flexibility in creating its programs and addressing its audience. It is a resource both for the people who make active use of it, and for those who participate in it as visitors. The building complex in Berlin's centre includes exhibition halls, function rooms, offices, and a café, alongside apartments and studios, and provides a space for encounters and exchanges.


kim? Residency Award 2015 winner will be hosted by the program of KW RESIDENCIES. The program invites artists to stay in one of the apartments and adjacent studios within KW's complex for a period of between two and six months and build an exchange with its curatorial team. KW RESIDENCIES aims to encourage new artistic production and activity in connection to its various programs. KW RESIDENCIES provides access to the institution's infrastructure and resources on all levels. Each resident produces a public outcome of his or her stay – be it during the time they spend here, or also at a later moment in the development of the project they pursued.


Acknowledgements: Alessio Antoniolli & Robert Leckey, Anne Barlow, Kari Conte, Kasia Redzisz, Adela Yawitz

Supporters: State Culture Capital Foundation, Art Academy of Latvia, Absolut, VKN, Valmiermuižas alus, Satori, Diena, Rīga TV24, Pieci.lv, kultura.lv, Delfi



For additional press information at kim? please contact:
Harita Maniņa
Email: harita.manina@kim.lv
Phone: +371 28360142

kim? Contemporary Art Centre
Maskavas Street 12/1, Rīga, LV-1050
kim@kim.lv / www.kim.lv
+ 371 67223321


For additional press information at KW please contact:
Henriette Sölter
Email: press@kw-berlin.de
Phone +49 [30] 2434 5942

KW Institute for Contemporary Art
Auguststr. 69
D-10117 Berlin
www.kw-berlin.de
+49 30 2434590