The project “TIRS”
01.10.2020 2023-11-07 18:53The project “TIRS”
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“TIRS” is the name of the first museum of contemporary art in our country, which was founded in Odesa, in 1990, back in the period of the USSR. During the first six years of its active activity the museum gathered its own collection and held more than thirty projects of Ukrainian and foreign artists.
The creation of the museum was a private initiative of two entrepreneurs – Semyon Kalika and Georgiy Kotov. In the early 90s, Ukraine still lacked an established art environment:
“Our task was to preserve the works of contemporary authors in Odesa, but not to hide them in the closets, but to show them. In fact, TIRS opened new art to a wide audience for the first time,” recalls Felix Kohrit, the museum’s first director.
The museum’s collection included works by Igor Gusev, Dmitry and Lucien Dulfanov, Andrei Kazanjia, Svetlana Martynchik, Stas Podlipsky, Igor Stepin, Lyudmila Yastreb, and many other authors who had been established by that time, or were just starting out and becoming famous today.
Unfortunately, in the difficult 90’s the initiative of S. Kalika and G. Kotov was not appreciated. In 1996 “TIRS” was forced to vacate the rented premises and continue its activity for some time in qualitatively worse conditions in the form of a small art center.
After 30 years, we decided to revive the memory of undeservedly forgotten, significant events in the history of contemporary art of the city and the country. Works from the TIRS collection received by the Museum of Odesa Modern Art for restoration, preservation and inclusion in the exhibition became the basis of the project. The photo and video archive of TIRS give an opportunity to recreate a voluminous image of the museum’s activity. The photo and video archive of TIRS give an opportunity to recreate a volumetric image of the museum’s activity.
INFORMATION ABOUT THE EXHIBITION AND CONTACTS:
Curators: Kristina Vinogradova and Tatyana-Margarita Sui.
The exhibition will open on October 9 at the Museum of Odesa Modern Art.
The exhibition will run until November 9.
