Paulina SIniatkina
Artist and activist
Born in Moscow in 1989
Lives and works in Moscow and Amsterdam
As an artist and activist I truly believe art has the power to change the world. 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 judgement 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 theme of “corporality”. In fact these subjects are strongly connected, as its essential for me to work through my personal experience.
I work with painting, sculpture, installation, video art and performance.
CV
EDUCATION
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
2019 – Exchange program IVLP “Promoting social change through the arts”, nominated by the US Embassy in Russia, USA
2018 – UN General Assembly on Tuberculosis (IFRC delegation), New York
2016 – Member and co-founder of TBpeople - first international network of people with experience of tuberculosis, Bratislava
2015 – Member of international association of art UNESCO, Russian Union of Artists
2013 - Laureate of 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
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", group laboratory, "First line" performance, Moscow
2019 – Cube.Moscow contemporary art space. Grant of the MOCT Foundation (UK), project “Chamber No.12” winner of the Cube Art Residency program, 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.