Olga VAD
curator, producer
curator, producer
Independent curator, producer and lecturer specializing in projects at the intersection of art, science and technology. Co-founder of NADO Curatorial Agency. Have been engaged in cultural management and curation for more than 10 years.
Main focus of my work is bringing international artists, institutions and brands together to develop thoughtful and exciting cultural projects: multisensory exhibitions, unconventional educational formats and new media art festivals. And to speak about complicated things in a simple and engaging way.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
HYDRA
Datasets vs. Mindsets
Food & Science
HYDRA. New Media Art in the Context of Eco-Anxiety is a large-scale educational and exhibition project that offers a new perspective on environmental questions through the optics of international artists working in the fields of digital art and art&science.
The project’s title is a representation of the exhibition’s central metaphor: Hydra is water, the element of nature where life originated. At the same time, it is the name of a mythical beast whose heads, once cut off, grow right back.
The project’s title is a representation of the exhibition’s central metaphor: Hydra is water, the element of nature where life originated. At the same time, it is the name of a mythical beast whose heads, once cut off, grow right back.
Through artistic expressions, the exhibition examines environmental issues related to water and how humankind is causing changes to our planet. What we, globally, have called “nature” is unconquerable and ruthless. What is removed is replaced by new phenomena. But the big question is whether these “new heads” will be good news for humans and other lifeforms.
Co-curator: Lidia Gumenyuk
Science consultant: Yulia Kuznetsova
Producer: Yulia Loginova (NADO Curatorial Agency)
Architects: Irina Shmeleva, Alexander Zinoviev
Artists: Bluesoup, Gjino Sutic, Jana Winderen, Lights Society, Maotik, Marco Barotti, Martin Bricelj Baraga, Memo Akten, Recycle Group, Rimini Protokoll, Tundra, Universal Everything, Where Dogs Run, Victor Polyakov
Science consultant: Yulia Kuznetsova
Producer: Yulia Loginova (NADO Curatorial Agency)
Architects: Irina Shmeleva, Alexander Zinoviev
Artists: Bluesoup, Gjino Sutic, Jana Winderen, Lights Society, Maotik, Marco Barotti, Martin Bricelj Baraga, Memo Akten, Recycle Group, Rimini Protokoll, Tundra, Universal Everything, Where Dogs Run, Victor Polyakov
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Datasets vs Mindsets documents the artistic exploration of boundaries between digital and physical spaces, and the spectrum of phenomena and consequences of the implementations of algorithmic regulation and control tools.
A huge part of the processes around us are digitized, thus becoming datasets that can be analyzed by a variety of dynamic algorithms which not only recognize and process incoming information, but also identify and predict patterns of change at speeds and scales inaccessible to human perception.
For many countries, digitalisation is proclaimed as one of the main national priorities. However, the local context transforms the understanding and implementation of digital tools in its own way.
A huge part of the processes around us are digitized, thus becoming datasets that can be analyzed by a variety of dynamic algorithms which not only recognize and process incoming information, but also identify and predict patterns of change at speeds and scales inaccessible to human perception.
For many countries, digitalisation is proclaimed as one of the main national priorities. However, the local context transforms the understanding and implementation of digital tools in its own way.
These algorithms, often based on machine learning, have a number of limitations and the so-called biases, which they have learned from the data on which they were trained. Despite the limitations, these algorithms are already forming feedback loops, influencing what is happening in the physical world, and also creating opportunities for various forms of so-called algorithmic control.
Online exhibition allows visitors to experience two modalities of surveillance: they can surveil or be surveilled. Using facial recognition technology in the interactive interface of the website presents a critical approach to understanding this technology within the procedural rhetoric.
Online exhibition allows visitors to experience two modalities of surveillance: they can surveil or be surveilled. Using facial recognition technology in the interactive interface of the website presents a critical approach to understanding this technology within the procedural rhetoric.
The navigation responds to a dynamic system: it recognizes user emotions while they are examining the works and responds to a statistical analysis that compares their individual experiences to previous visitors.
Co-curator: Helena Nikonole
Artists: Anastasia Alekhina, Andrey Smirnov, Anton Lapov, Anvar Musrepov, Aristarkh Chernyshev, Daria Goffman, Egor Kraft, Ekaterina Trubina, Ellina Gennadievna, Evgeny Kruglov, Grey Cake, Medina Bazargali, Uli Golub, Valentin Fetisov, Victor Krasnov, Vita Shakhnovich, ::vtol::
Co-curator: Helena Nikonole
Artists: Anastasia Alekhina, Andrey Smirnov, Anton Lapov, Anvar Musrepov, Aristarkh Chernyshev, Daria Goffman, Egor Kraft, Ekaterina Trubina, Ellina Gennadievna, Evgeny Kruglov, Grey Cake, Medina Bazargali, Uli Golub, Valentin Fetisov, Victor Krasnov, Vita Shakhnovich, ::vtol::
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The Food & Science exhibition focuses questions of how technology can affect food as a social experience and can influence how we perceive tastes, smells and textures.
How is the new digital aesthetic shaping the image of food and drinks? When will there be a future in which 3D printed meals and transgenic food design can be cooked in the kitchen? And does this knowledge give us tools to move towards building a more conscious society?
Visitors could get inspired by visionary ideas that offered a new take on these issues, but also could get a unique experience and participate in the experiment: all projects were interactive..
How is the new digital aesthetic shaping the image of food and drinks? When will there be a future in which 3D printed meals and transgenic food design can be cooked in the kitchen? And does this knowledge give us tools to move towards building a more conscious society?
Visitors could get inspired by visionary ideas that offered a new take on these issues, but also could get a unique experience and participate in the experiment: all projects were interactive..
The experiment began with the installation Teardrop by Marije Vogelzang. It invited visitors to unleash their creativity and associative thinking: unravel the web of tastes and meanings.
Designers Bompas&Parr made it possible to move from mental exercises to sensual ones and consciously cloud the mind: their Alcoholic Architecture is the maximum immersion in a non-standard form.
As part of the Ghost Food research project and performance by Miriam Simun and Miriam Songster, one could construct a memory of food by putting together signals from different receptors.
Designers Bompas&Parr made it possible to move from mental exercises to sensual ones and consciously cloud the mind: their Alcoholic Architecture is the maximum immersion in a non-standard form.
As part of the Ghost Food research project and performance by Miriam Simun and Miriam Songster, one could construct a memory of food by putting together signals from different receptors.
And when interacting with Bruno robotic bartender, one could not only delegate human functions to the machine, but also enjoy its ballet moves.
Visitors could feel the taste of food without food, the effect of alcohol without alcohol, taste dishes from the future, watch the dance of the machines and get answers to unexpected questions.
Artists: Bompas & Parr, Makr Shakr, Marije Vogelzang, Miriam Simun, Miriam Songster
Visitors could feel the taste of food without food, the effect of alcohol without alcohol, taste dishes from the future, watch the dance of the machines and get answers to unexpected questions.
Artists: Bompas & Parr, Makr Shakr, Marije Vogelzang, Miriam Simun, Miriam Songster
SELECTED FESTIVALS
POLYTECH Festival
Transcultural Express
360 Degrees Film Festival
The Polytech Festival
of Science, Art
and Technology
of Science, Art
and Technology
Large-scale popular science weekend organized by the Polytechnic Museum in 2014–2018. Annually, the outdoor festival brought together more that 100 000 visitors. The festival features a variety of projects by international artists, family programs, film screenings, performances, experiments, and many more. I joined the festival in 2015, and in 2018 became its program director.
Artists: Anarchy Dance Theatre, Bill Vorn, Cosmic Art Research Committee, Gilles Jobin, Julia Borovaya, Louis-Philippe Demers, Martin Messier, NSDOS, Playtronica, The Smell Lab, Zimoun, ::vtol::, and more.
Artists: Anarchy Dance Theatre, Bill Vorn, Cosmic Art Research Committee, Gilles Jobin, Julia Borovaya, Louis-Philippe Demers, Martin Messier, NSDOS, Playtronica, The Smell Lab, Zimoun, ::vtol::, and more.
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TransCultural Express: American and Russian Arts Today
A collaborative artistic venture between Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) and the Mikhail Prokhorov Fund TransCultural Express: American and Russian Arts Today featured a rich assortment of performing arts, literary, and film events. I was leading the project from the Prokhorov Fund side.
In New York the partnership included a series of contemporary Russian cinema for BAMcinématek; Masha Gessen and Keith Gessen readings as part of BAM’s Eat, Drink & Be Literary series; the creation of a public art project in Brooklyn by a Russian visual artist Irina Korina. In a US-to-Russia exchange, it included performances by Philadelphia-based dance company Illstyle and Peace Productions in Moscow and Krasnoyarsk, a visit by an award-winning American writer and frequent contributor to the New Yorker Ian Frazier, author of Travels in Siberia, and a public art project by Brooklyn-based artist Rachel Owens at Krasnoyarsk Museum Biennial and at BAM.
In New York the partnership included a series of contemporary Russian cinema for BAMcinématek; Masha Gessen and Keith Gessen readings as part of BAM’s Eat, Drink & Be Literary series; the creation of a public art project in Brooklyn by a Russian visual artist Irina Korina. In a US-to-Russia exchange, it included performances by Philadelphia-based dance company Illstyle and Peace Productions in Moscow and Krasnoyarsk, a visit by an award-winning American writer and frequent contributor to the New Yorker Ian Frazier, author of Travels in Siberia, and a public art project by Brooklyn-based artist Rachel Owens at Krasnoyarsk Museum Biennial and at BAM.
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360 Degrees Film Festival
The 360° Science and Technology Film Festival was one of the key educational projects of the Polytechnic Museum in 2015-2018. The purpose of the festival was to make science exciting and accessible to everyone, to help viewers get acquainted with new ideas and achievements of the world of science and technology.
I was responsible for the edutainment program with lectures, panel discussions and Q&A sessions involving more than 100 local and international speakers, as well as speeches by keynote speakers, well-known popularizers of science and experimental music&tech performances. The program included NASA visual strategist Dan Goodes, mathematician and writer Alex Bellos, the Museum of Moving Images curator Sonia Epstein, multidisciplinary artists and musicians Sonic Robots, Maria Teriayeva, Alex Augier, and many more.
I was responsible for the edutainment program with lectures, panel discussions and Q&A sessions involving more than 100 local and international speakers, as well as speeches by keynote speakers, well-known popularizers of science and experimental music&tech performances. The program included NASA visual strategist Dan Goodes, mathematician and writer Alex Bellos, the Museum of Moving Images curator Sonia Epstein, multidisciplinary artists and musicians Sonic Robots, Maria Teriayeva, Alex Augier, and many more.
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EDUCATION
Educational programs for art&science community and broader audience
– HYDRA Lab. An intensive program brought young artists, researches and scientists to study and reflect on the ecological context of St. Petersburg and the North-West region. With the lead of acknowledged artists and eco-experts they developed transdisciplinary projects on the topic.
– Collaboration with Joe Davis. Constructing an Amaranthine Library is a workshop of the legendary artist, bioart pioneer and MIT scientist Joe Davis, specially developed for the 5th Ural Biennale of Contemporary Art. Participants of the workshop with the lead of the artist recorded 3D images of a Koshchei's death (traditional folklore character) in the DNA of halophiles. Salt crystals with encoded information became an almost immortal archive able to exist for hundreds of millions of years.
– Collaboration with Joe Davis. Constructing an Amaranthine Library is a workshop of the legendary artist, bioart pioneer and MIT scientist Joe Davis, specially developed for the 5th Ural Biennale of Contemporary Art. Participants of the workshop with the lead of the artist recorded 3D images of a Koshchei's death (traditional folklore character) in the DNA of halophiles. Salt crystals with encoded information became an almost immortal archive able to exist for hundreds of millions of years.
And more...
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For any project or press inquires:
olgavad@nadoagency.com
