Competition Program by MMOMA and SOUZ Cultural Project
Opened on December 15, 1999, the Moscow Museum of Modern Art (MMOMA) is Russia’s first public museum of modern art. Founded by Zurab Tsereteli, it specializes in Russian art of the 20th and 21st centuries while also introducing audiences to the international art process of this period. The museum operates across six venues, five of which are located in central Moscow. As of today, the MMOMA collection comprises more than 10,000 works.
About the SOUZ Cultural Project — In 2024, gallerist Yulia Akimova founded a new institution, the SOUZ Cultural Project. Its work is focused on promoting contemporary art and regularly presenting artists’ creative output across various venues, including museums and major foundations, in collaboration with independent curators.
About the SOUZ Cultural Project — In 2024, gallerist Yulia Akimova founded a new institution, the SOUZ Cultural Project. Its work is focused on promoting contemporary art and regularly presenting artists’ creative output across various venues, including museums and major foundations, in collaboration with independent curators.
On March 18, the Moscow Museum of Modern Art and the SOUZ Cultural Project launch their annual competition program. The initiative continues MMOMA’s work in supporting emerging artists and establishes a long-term strategic partnership with the SOUZ Cultural Project, aimed at supporting artists across the country and creating opportunities for their professional development and public expression.
Following the open call, three artists will be selected to participate in a group exhibition set to open at MMOMA on Gogolevsky Boulevard in August. Applications will be reviewed by the curators of the SOUZ project, the curator of the program’s inaugural exhibition, Alexey Korsi, and MMOMA’s expert council. The exhibition at Gogolevsky Boulevard will bring together works by the competition winners and artists from Russia’s different regions collaborating with the SOUZ Cultural Project, founded by Yulia Akimova in 2024. The show will also feature pieces from the MMOMA collection. As a special prize, one participant in the open call will be given the opportunity to present a solo exhibition at the museum in 2027.
The theme of the competition stems from the concept of the inaugural exhibition and focuses on rethinking the role of the individual in the present-day world, where extraordinary technological progress, environmental challenges, and social transformations have given rise to a new sensibility highlighting the importance of exploring memories and personal experience.
Curator Alexey Korsi explains: “Contemporary philosophies that emerged at the turn of the century share a similar view of the role assigned to the human being, who is no longer the center of reality or the organizing principle of the universe. A possible response to this shift in perspective is the formation of a new artistic phenomenon — a post-romantic sensibility and a language of new fragility, supplanting the ideas and heroes of modernism.”
The competition will run from March 18 to May 10; applications can be submitted here. The results will be announced on June 11.
Further details on submission guidelines and portfolio requirements are available via the link.
Following the open call, three artists will be selected to participate in a group exhibition set to open at MMOMA on Gogolevsky Boulevard in August. Applications will be reviewed by the curators of the SOUZ project, the curator of the program’s inaugural exhibition, Alexey Korsi, and MMOMA’s expert council. The exhibition at Gogolevsky Boulevard will bring together works by the competition winners and artists from Russia’s different regions collaborating with the SOUZ Cultural Project, founded by Yulia Akimova in 2024. The show will also feature pieces from the MMOMA collection. As a special prize, one participant in the open call will be given the opportunity to present a solo exhibition at the museum in 2027.
The theme of the competition stems from the concept of the inaugural exhibition and focuses on rethinking the role of the individual in the present-day world, where extraordinary technological progress, environmental challenges, and social transformations have given rise to a new sensibility highlighting the importance of exploring memories and personal experience.
Curator Alexey Korsi explains: “Contemporary philosophies that emerged at the turn of the century share a similar view of the role assigned to the human being, who is no longer the center of reality or the organizing principle of the universe. A possible response to this shift in perspective is the formation of a new artistic phenomenon — a post-romantic sensibility and a language of new fragility, supplanting the ideas and heroes of modernism.”
The competition will run from March 18 to May 10; applications can be submitted here. The results will be announced on June 11.
Further details on submission guidelines and portfolio requirements are available via the link.
THE CULTURAL PROJECT “SOUZ".
MOSCOW, PETROVKA ST., 17 BUILDING 1.
PHONE: 8 977 600 78 10
MOSCOW, PETROVKA ST., 17 BUILDING 1.
PHONE: 8 977 600 78 10