2021, Ekaterinburg
Artistic Director: Alisa Prudnikova
Curatorial Team: Adnan Yıldız, Çağla Ilk, Assaf Kimmel
Сoordinator of the Main Project: Dmitriy Ryabkov
Architect: Sasha Kim
Production Director: Anastasia Lomonosova
Technical Director: Pavel Luzhin
Executive Director: Anna Pyankova
Every two years Ekaterinburg and other nearby cities host The Ural Industrial Biennial of Contemporary Art. In its sixth edition, the event was held under the theme “A Time to Embrace and a Time to Avoid Embracing”, with the main project entitled "Thinking Hands Touching Each Other". The latter developes the ideas of the Russian Cosmists, Kazimir Malevich, Yevgeny Zamyatin, and Finnish architect Juhani Pallasmaa.
The artworks of the main project were exhibited at seven venues, intervening in the industrial and cultural landscape of the city. Some pieces occupied the building of the former Salute cinema and the hall of the Ural Optical and Mechanical Plant, while others were displayed at the Ekaterinburg state circus, the main post office, and several museums.
The architectural solution aimed to blend the spaces not meant for showcasing art into the overall framework of the Biennial by reflecting and utilizing their spatial, acoustic, and lighting characteristics. All venues are unified by laconic exposition design and simple materials which mark their relation to the same artistic event.