Erarta Museum presented the 2023 Erarta Prize exhibition featuring the nominees for its annual contemporary art prize
- Artworks by 61 contemporary artists – paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures, installations, photographs, and video art – presented in a large-scale show at Erarta’s Grand Hall
- The total prize value of 3.2 million rubles was divided between artists (2.5 million rubles) and viewers (700,000 rubles)
- For the first time in history, the Prize was awarded through a public vote rather than by a closed board of experts
The Erarta Prize was founded as the first ever contemporary art prize to be awarded through a public vote rather than by a closed board of experts. This premise is consistent with Erarta’s core philosophy: art is being created by the artist, but it is the viewers’ perception that makes it truly powerful. That is why Erarta encouraged the viewers to not only vote for the artworks of their choice, but to actively campaign for them and promote them using any creative methods imaginable.
Following an open call for entries, the museum’s team selected a total of 61 Prize nominees. Their artworks were showcased at the special exhibition organised to determine the winners through a public viewer vote. The 2023 Erarta Prize exhibition featured paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures, installations, photographs, video art, as well as other contemporary art media. Over the span of four months, exhibition visitors voted for their favourite artists, attended artist talks, and participated in prize challenges. The viewers supporting the artwork of their choice not only took part in awarding the Prize but could also win prize money.
The 2023 Erarta Prize was awarded on 8 June. The 2.5 million rubles of prize money have been distributed among the ten winning artists in proportion to the number of viewer votes received. The final prize amount depended not on the ranking among the 10 winners, but on the exact number of viewer votes.
By actively supporting the artists, the viewers also became prize winners. After the close of the first and second voting rounds, out of the entire pool of viewers who voted, created video campaigns, came up with alternative titles for the works by Prize nominees, and shared their impressions of the shortlisted artworks, 45 winners were awarded a share of the 700,000 ruble prize money. The museum received so many entries that, in addition to the challenge winners who received prize money, five more participants were granted a special mention and had their Erarta Tickets/Memberships gratuitously renewed.
Erarta Museum would like to thank everyone who took an active part in determining the winners of the 2023 Erarta Prize. Together we could carry through this one-of-a-kind project that perfectly embodies the museum’s core values. The enthusiastic feedback received from everyone involved – artists and viewers alike – proved that Erarta Prize should continue as an annual event. We are looking forward to new exciting discoveries!
Details of the next open call will be announced in September 2023: stay tuned to our website erarta.com and Erarta’s social media for updates.
See you at the 2024 Erarta Prize!
