Ilya and Emilia Kabakov join the International Council of the 4th Golden Trezzini Awards

News of the Awards

300+ projects from 66 countries have already been submitted to take part in the Awards named after St. Petersburg’s first architect.

The International Council of the 4^th Golden Trezzini Awards for Architecture and Design has been joined by Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, world-famous conceptual artists. The creator of Theory of Total Installation and his wife, who for many years had been his co-author, joined the expert group that already includes directors of some global museums, heads of professional associations, public officers, and diplomatic officials.

“I believe there is no need to introduce Ilya and Emilia Kabakov either in Russia or abroad,” said Pavel Chernyakov, Chairman of the Arrangements Committee for the Golden Trezzini Awards. “The artists use their art to tell people across the globe about Russia’s past and future, bringing their home and Occidental cultures together and connecting them. We can say that in their own way they are working on the case once initiated by Domenico Trezzini, a Swiss on Russia’s service. We appreciate Ilya and Emilia’s eagerness to join the Council and hope that their appearance among the experts of the Awards will inspirit our nominees, first of all, applying under the Best Architectural Design for Museum, Best Implemented Project of Temporary or Permanent Museum Exposition, and Best Implemented Theatre Set Design categories, which are directly associated with fine arts.”

Ilya Kabakov was born in 1933 in the USSR. He graduated from the Surikov Art Institute Moscow. Considered the main figure of Moscow Conceptual art movement of 1960 to 1980s, he is the creator of Theory of Total Installation. In 1987, Ilya moved to the West.

Emilia Kabakov was born in 1945 in the USSR. She graduated from the Dnepropetrovsk Music Conservatory and studied Spanish Language and Literature at the Moscow State University. She left the USSR in 1973 and since 1975 has been living and working in USA. In New York, Emilia worked as an art advisor and curator. Since 1989, she has become a co-author to Ilya Kabakov.

Ilya and Emilia Kabakov are winners of Oskar Kokoschka Prize, French Chevalier de L’Odre des Arts et des Lettres, Praemium Imperiale (Japan) and many other prizes. Their works are in the collections of the MOMA, the Guggenheim Museum, the Tate Modern, the MAXXI Museum, the State Hermitage Museum, the Tretyakov Gallery, the Centre Pompidou, as well as many other museums and private collections.

The International Golden Trezzini Awards for Architecture and Design was founded in 2018 and named after Domenico Trezzini, a Russian architect of Swiss origin. The main objective of the Awards is to add to museum collections the most artistically valuable architectural, renovation, designer, scenography and museology projects. The motto of the Awards is “Architecture as Art.”

“Architecture as Art” — this is the golden thread running through the Awards. The mission of the Awards is architectural diplomacy. The organizers believe that unlike political relations, connections between architects from different countries don’t depend on international dealings. To make this notion real, in the early 2020 the International Council for the Golden Trezzini Awards was established. The Honorary Chairman of the International Council of the Awards is Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director of the State Hermitage and the President of the Worldwide St. Petersburg Club. The Council comprises directors of the State Russian Museum, the State Tretyakov Gallery, the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, the Solomon Guggenheim Museum and Foundation, the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Gagosian Gallery network, the Foundation Louis Vuitton, as well as heads of the top Italian, German, Austrian, Dutch, Swedish, Finnish museums, Chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism (Abu Dhabi), Mayor of Lugano (Switzerland), and diplomatic officials of Switzerland, France, South Korea, and Russia.

Entries for the 4^th Golden Trezzini Awards are accepted by October 1, 2021 at www.goldtrezzini.ru. Participation is free of charge.

This year, 300+ projects from 66 countries have already been accepted, their authors going to compete for Golden Trezzini figurines. The geography of the Awards has been extended, so far covering Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia and South Africa, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Korea, Latvia, Lebanon, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, UAE, Ukraine, USA, and Uzbekistan.

Winners of the 4^th Golden Trezzini Awards will be honored at the stage of the Mikhailovsky Theatre in November 2021. The best projects by competitors will be added to the collection of the Architectural Graphics Fund at the Museum of St. Petersburg History and take part in the annual exhibition at the Peter and Paul Fortress.

The General Partner of the Awarding Ceremony is the Mikhailovsky Theatre. The General Museum Partner is the State Museum of St. Petersburg History. The Strategic museum partner is the State Russian Museum. The Official car partner is AVANGARD. The System partner is RBI. The Special partner is Nency company. Partner of a special category is IMISP. The independent auditor is Borenius Attorneys Russia Ltd. To see a full list of the Awards partners please check https://www.goldtrezzini.ru/en/partners2021/.

Photo: from Ilya and Emilia Kabakov’s personal files.

More news of the Golden Trezzini Awards:
https://goldtrezzini.ru/en/news/