Exhibition: Marin Shamov and Olga Shapovalova
Exhibition at Aula of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna by scholarship holders of the ASoP*
scholarship program of the BMEIA in cooperation with the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna.
Marin Shamov
House
House is a film about a queer*trans feminist community house, consisting of ten people and more who have chosen to live together and share non-hierarchical, queer*feminist, antiracist, and anticapitalist values. The House brings together people with migrant and activist backgrounds, many of whom moved to Vienna due to hostile political regimes, war, or economic dispossession in their countries.
Olga Shapovalova
Hidden Wounds
Olga Shapovalova presents Hidden Wounds, an exploration of art's transformation and resilience during times of war. Inspired by efforts to protect cultural heritage during military conflicts, Shapovalova creates protective "armor" for sculptures using materials like tarpaulin, foam, and sandbags. These layers act as a new skin for the sculptures, reshaping their form and meaning, and symbolizing a deeper metamorphosis during traumatic experiences. As part of this project, Shapovalova will intervene with the bronze statue Old Centaur with Riding Eros at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. By covering this allegory of old age, the act becomes a reflection on how war affects not just people but also culture and art, reminding us of its persistent scars.
* A European Artists Solidarity Program (ASoP) is a program that emerged from the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. It is intended to protect those artists whose creativity, existence, and often even whose lives are severely threatened by the political upheavals of our time. ASoP is financially supported by the Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs (BMEIA) of the Republic of Austria.