Paulina Siniatkina
Artist and activist
Born in Moscow in 1989
Based in Amsterdam
I truly believe art is the key to social transformations. Through my art practice, I address social issues involving stigma, mainly in Russia and Eastern European countries where stigmatization of marginalized groups is still a very real and life-threatening problem.
In 2015 I survived tuberculosis and decided to devote my artistic practice to fighting stigma and the concept of 'normality'. Being physically alienated, locked inside a hospital for many months, and facing judgment when I was discharged, I recreate these peculiar experiences through my artworks. Not by leading the viewer through trauma, but by showing its normality: you may find as much bad, as good in it. I intend to make my viewer my equal; I want to open the discussion around social taboos.
Along with the concept of de-stigmatization I work with the theme of “corporality”. In fact, these subjects are strongly connected, as it's essential for me to work through my personal experience.
I work with painting, sculpture, installation, video, and performance.
CV
EDUCATION
2022 - 2023 – ArtEZ University of the arts, Netherlands
2017 - 2018 – School of Contemporary Art at MMOMA (Moscow Museum of Modern Art)
2007 - 2013 – Moscow State Academic Art Institute Named after V.I. Surikov, specialisation – artist painter (monumental painting)
GRANTS, EVENTS
2022 – Nederlands Letterenfonds
2022 – Holland scholarship
2019 – Exchange program IVLP “Promoting social change through the arts”, nominated by the US Embassy in Russia, USA
2019 – Grant of the MOCT Foundation (UK), winner of the Cube Art Residency program, Moscow
2018 – UN General Assembly on Tuberculosis (IFRC delegation), New York
2016 – Member and co-founder of TBpeople - the first international network of people with experience of tuberculosis, Bratislava
2015 – Member of the international association of art UNESCO, Russian Union of Artists
2013 - Laureate of the grant of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation
SELECTED SOLO SHOWS
2019 – Chamber No.12 (curator D. Demekhina, supported by MOCT contemporary art foundation), Cube contemporary art space, Moscow
– Hold your breath (curator E. Polozhentceva):
2019 – Robert Koch Museum, Berlin
2018 – Yetsin Centre, Ekaterininburg (RU)
2018 – Medicine History Museum of the First Sechenov Moscow State Medical University with the support of IFRC, Moscow
2018 – Kyrgyz Union of Artists, MSF TB Symposium, Bishkek
2017 – WHO headquarters, Geneva
2017 – Museum of Medicine, Snt. Petersburg
2017 – First WHO Ministerial Conference on ending TB, World Trade Centre, Moscow
2016 – Loft Project Etagi gallery, Snt. Petersburg
2016 – TB hospital, Voronezh (RU)
2016 – 7th Union Conference on Lung health, Bratislava
2016 – Omelchenko Gallery, Moscow
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2022 – “Monsters under the bed” (curator P. Mogilina), Third place, Snt. Petersburg
2022 – “*** *****” (curators M. Domracheva, L. Matyunina) Tilde gallery, Amsterdam
2022 – “Un escargot sous un chiffon”(curators M. Antciperova, N. Kudryavtseva), Tonka gallery, Paris
2021 – "Human isolation experiences”, VII International Conference "ART and POWER" (curators – A. Kazakova, E. Sheveleva), House of Art Workers , Saratov (RU)
2021 – “Hidden places” (curator P. Mogilina), Bunker-703, Moscow
2020 – “Smash the narrative” NDSM Fuse gallery, Amsterdam
2019 – “Dismorphophobia or war inside of you” (curator D. Kamyshnikova) Moscow Museum Of Modern Art
2018 – “Community of the performance” (curators: A. Demina, S. Dorogina, O. Evseeva, S. Krasnov), design-factory FLACON, Moscow
2018 – “Secret sign systems” (curator D. Kamyshnikova) Moscow Museum Of Modern Art
2018 – “5 life hacks for dummies” (curator G. Tavakalova) Moscow International 6th young biennale of young art
2014 – “Agnietefestival”, Agnietenkapel, Gouda (NL)
2014 – “Russia XII”, Central House of Artists, Moscow
2013 – "Paintings of three: The Resistance of Searching for a Form of Art", Open Club Gallery, Moscow
2013 – "Moscow - 2013. Space for living. Space for creativity", Moscow Union of Artists
2013 – “Сreative environments”, Central House of Artists, Moscow
2012 – ROSIZO Exhibition Hall, Moscow
2010 – “Young artists of Russia”, Central House of Artists, Moscow
RESIDENCY
2021 – "Peredelkino" residency, group laboratory, "First line" performance, Moscow
2019 – Cube.Moscow contemporary art space, “Chamber No.12” performative installation, Moscow
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES PARTICIPATION
2019 – World TB day event, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin
2019 – First global strategy development meeting of TBpeople, Istambul
2019 – Oxford Immunotec TB Summit Training, Mallorca
2018 – The Union conference on lung health, The Hague
2017 – Seminar “Global problem: MDR-TB”, Embassy of the Netherlands, Moscow.
2017 – First WHO Global Ministerial Conference on Ending TB in the Sustainable Development Era: A Multisectoral Response, Moscow
2016 – Europe Regional UNION Conference on Lung Health, Bratislava
2016 – Regional Workshop on TB Community Mobilization, Bratislava
2016 – Cultural event hosted by Stop TB Partnership in collaboration with WIPO and Permanent Mission of India, "Hold your breath" presentation, Geneva
COLLECTIONS
Stop TB Partnership (Geneva), Bill&Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute (Boston), FIND (Geneva), Oxford Immunotec (London), Maxart Foundation (Moscow), and in private collections.
BIO
I was born in 1989 in Moscow. I graduated from the Moscow State Academic Art Institute named after Surikov (specialization monumental painting) in 2013 and the School of Contemporary Art “Free workshops” at the Moscow Museum Of Modern Art in 2018. In September 2022 I started International Master Artist Educator at ArtEZ University of the Arts (NL).
Since I survived tuberculosis in 2015 I am combining art with activism to break down society’s barriers around stigmatized people. During 7 months of isolation in a TB hospital in Moscow, I created a series of paintings, which tells the stories of people who shared my fate. The exhibition "Hold your breath" was exposed in different countries bringing awareness and fighting stigma around TB. This project was a starting point for my further development as an artist and as an activist.
In 2016 I was one of the 20 representatives of EECA countries who founded TBpeople - a global network of people affected by tuberculosis. In 2017 I initiated a project “Tuberculosis and You” - a book about TB made by and for people affected by the disease with the support of some of the world's most renowned experts. At this moment the book is available in 13 languages. In 2018 the English version of the book was officially launched at the UN General Assembly in New York, High-Level Meeting on Tuberculosis.
Occasionally I speak at conferences and events on Tuberculosis, give lectures to medical students, visit hospitals around Russia and consult patients online, I showcase my artistic work to the global medical community, spreading awareness. I collaborate with organizations such as WHO, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Stop TB Partnership, TB Alliance, etc.
*** *****
In March 2022 I fled Russia because of its invasion of Ukraine. From April to September, I was volunteering at Amsterdam Central Station, where I was registering and coordinating refugees from Ukraine with the Gemeente Amsterdam and De Groene Lobby.
Currently, the main focus of my art practice is anti-war.