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![Bush Legs]( "Bush Legs")
infodetail of installation
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!["Rosme"]( "\"Rosme\"")
infoROSME is a scenographic installation, influenced by the history of the building, which hosted the exhibition— namely the former Cēsis Educational Factory for people with impaired vision (Cēsu neredzīgo biedrības mācību un ražošanas uzņēmums 1952-1999). After exploring the archives of the factory, Vasiljeva was moved by the axis, that the factory had been forming in the lives of these people: being not only work environment, but first of all a vibrant social space with an active theatre troupe. Vasiljeva introduces the mental space of a Theatre— as the entry point to the installation. Scattered throughout the floor— props, found and created objects aggregate the residues of the building’s ancestry and together stage an environment that reveals a sad obsolescence.
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!["Rosme"]( "\"Rosme\"")
infofragment of installation
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![Glass Grief]( "Glass Grief")
infofragment of installation "Rosme"
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![Rosme]( "Rosme")
infoROSME is a scenographic installation, influenced by the history of the building, which hosted the exhibition— namely the former Cēsis Educational Factory for people with impaired vision (Cēsu neredzīgo biedrības mācību un ražošanas uzņēmums 1952-1999). After exploring the archives of the factory, Vasiljeva was moved by the axis, that the factory had been forming in the lives of these people: being not only work environment, but first of all a vibrant social space with an active theatre troupe. Vasiljeva introduces the mental space of a Theatre— as the entry point to the installation. Scattered throughout the floor— props, found and created objects aggregate the residues of the building’s ancestry and together stage an environment that reveals a sad obsolescence.
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![Method of Loci]( "Method of Loci")
infofragment of installation "Rosme"
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![Kiosk]( "Kiosk")
infofragment of installation "Rosme"
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![Centrifuge]( "Centrifuge")
infoCENTRIFUGE is scenography and a radio theatre play based on Gunārs Priede's "Centrifūga"
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![Centrifuge]( "Centrifuge")
infoCENTRIFUGE is scenography and a radio theatre play based on Gunārs Priede's "Centrifūga"
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![The Old Judge]( "The Old Judge")
infoinstallation view at Gianni Manhattan Gallery
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!["The Prompt"]( "\"The Prompt\"")
infoinstallation view at Gianni Manhattan Gallery
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!["Ah Ernesto!"]( "\"Ah Ernesto!\"")
infoinstallation view at Gianni Manhattan,"The Prompt" exhibition
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![Necessary Illusions]( "Necessary Illusions")
infoinstallation view
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![Necessary Illusions]( "Necessary Illusions")
infoinstallation view
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![Necessary Illusiions]( "Necessary Illusiions")
infoinstallation view
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![Necessary Illusions]( "Necessary Illusions")
infoThe installation at 427 Gallery, entitled “Laika Tips” (“Necessary Illusions”) reinterprets the physicality of the gallery space, formerly a small business storefront. The installation combines architectural interventions, sculpture, cultural residues and industrial remnants. “Laika Tips” articulates a sense of vacancy permeating the city, and gives it a tangible, forlorn presence. While the entire front space is staged as barely a décor, the incentive backstage hides more in its sleeve.
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![Long Farewells]( "Long Farewells")
infosolo exhibition at Pori Art Museum
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!["Pea Man"]( "\"Pea Man\"")
info -
!["Vollbauch"]( "\"Vollbauch\"")
info -
!["N'attendons pas M.Lapatine"]( "\"N'attendons pas M.Lapatine\"")
infoinstallation view - solo show at Galerie Antoine Levi
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![Haus der F.]( "Haus der F.")
infoInstallation view of the solo exhibition at Kaiser Wilhelm Museum
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!["N'attendons pas M.Lapatine"]( "\"N'attendons pas M.Lapatine\"")
infoinstallation view- solo exhibition at Galerie Antoine Levi
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!['Haus der F."]( "'Haus der F.\"")
infoInstallation view of the solo exhibition at Kaiser Wilhelm Museum
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!["N'attendons pas M.Lapatine"]( "\"N'attendons pas M.Lapatine\"")
infoinstallation view- solo exhibition at Galerie Antoine Levi
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!['Haus der F."]( "'Haus der F.\"")
infoInstallation view of the solo exhibition at Kaiser Wilhelm Museum
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!["N'attendons pas M.Lapatine"]( "\"N'attendons pas M.Lapatine\"")
infoinstallation view- solo exhibition at Galerie Antoine Levi
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!["Haus der F."]( "\"Haus der F.\"")
infoInstallation view of the solo exhibition at Kaiser Wilhelm Museum
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!["Haus der F."]( "\"Haus der F.\"")
infoInstallation view of the solo exhibition at Kaiser Wilhelm Museum
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!["Haus der F."]( "\"Haus der F.\"")
infoInstallation view of the solo exhibition at Kaiser Wilhelm Museum
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!["Haus der F."]( "\"Haus der F.\"")
infoInstallation view of the solo exhibition at Kaiser Wilhelm Museum
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!["Haus der F."]( "\"Haus der F.\"")
infoInstallation view of the solo exhibition at Kaiser Wilhelm Museum
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!["Song and Love"]( "\"Song and Love\"")
infoinstallation view at Indipendenza Roma
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!["Song and Love"]( "\"Song and Love\"")
infoinstallation view at Indipendenza Roma
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![Je ne dors plus]( "Je ne dors plus")
infofilm
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!["Song And Love"]( "\"Song And Love\"")
infoinstallation view at Independenza Roma
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![Qualcuno si è seduto sulla mia sedia]( "Qualcuno si è seduto sulla mia sedia")
infoInstallation view of the solo exhibition at Quartz Torino
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![Qualcuno si è seduto sulla mia sedia]( "Qualcuno si è seduto sulla mia sedia")
infoInstallation view of the solo exhibition at Quartz Torino
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!["Song and Love"]( "\"Song and Love\"")
infoinstallation view at Indipendenza Roma
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!["Song and Love"]( "\"Song and Love\"")
infoinstallation view at Indipendenza Roma
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![Feral Thief]( "Feral Thief")
info -
![Song And Love]( "Song And Love")
infoChez Gigi
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!["Gold Is The Metal with The Broadest Shoulders]( "\"Gold Is The Metal with The Broadest Shoulders")
infoinstallation view at Supportico Lopez
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![Gold is The Metal With The Broadest Shoulders]( "Gold is The Metal With The Broadest Shoulders")
infoinstallation detail
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!["Zefiro Torna"]( "\"Zefiro Torna\"")
infoinstallation view at Passerelle
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!["Decline of the Showpieces"]( "\"Decline of the Showpieces\"")
infoinstallation view
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!["Zefiro Torna"]( "\"Zefiro Torna\"")
infoinstallation view at Passerelle
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!["Decline of the Showpieces"]( "\"Decline of the Showpieces\"")
infoinstallation view
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![Université]( "Université")
infoOAOA paraphernalia
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!["You've got beautiful stairs you know"]( "\"You've got beautiful stairs you know\"")
infoinstallation view at Kunstverein München
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!["You've got beautiful stairs you know"]( "\"You've got beautiful stairs you know\"")
infoinstallation view at Kunstverein München
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!["You've got beautiful stairs you know"]( "\"You've got beautiful stairs you know\"")
infoinstallation view at Kunstverein München
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!["You've got beautiful stairs you know"]( "\"You've got beautiful stairs you know\"")
infoinstallation view at Kunstverein München
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!["The Limp Of A Letter"]( "\"The Limp Of A Letter\"")
infoinstallation view at Vleeshal Markt
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!["En rachâchant"]( "\"En rachâchant\"")
infoinstallation view at Vleeshal Markt
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![Piano Man]( "Piano Man")
infodetail of "Jargot" installation
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![Jargot]( "Jargot")
infoinstallation view- solo exhibition at Art In General
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![What Did You Expect, Mr.Milquetoast?]( "What Did You Expect, Mr.Milquetoast?")
infoinstallation view at Badischer Kunstverein
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![What Did You Expect, Mr.Milquetoast?]( "What Did You Expect, Mr.Milquetoast?")
infoinstallation view at Badischer Kunstverein
Collaboration
Websites
Artist's website
www.olavasiljeva.netOAOA
oaoasite.netSocial media
Member of Artists’ Initiative/Collective/Incubator
The Oceans Academy Of Arts (OAOA)
Platform
Knigov
Member of a professional association/artists’ association
Platform BK
ADAGP
Curriculum vitae
Education
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2008 - 2009Fine Arts Amsterdam, Rijksacademie van Beeldende Kunsten diploma
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2001 - 2005Fine Arts Utrecht, HKU faculteit Kunst en Vormgeving diploma
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1999 - 2000Fine Arts Croydon College
exhibitions
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2025House of See-More Latvian Contemporary Art Centre Riga, Latvia Survival Kit 16, curated by Slavs&Tatars Michał Grzegorzek www.e-flux.com/announcements/675464/survival-kit-16-house-of-see-more Group
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2024Curtain Call Kunstverein Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands Curated by Yana Foqué kunstverein.nl Group
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2024Trade Mission of The Lost Goods MA Project Perugia, Italy Group
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2023
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2023My Eyes Like Shovels HUA International Berlin, Germany curated by Supportico Lopez hua-international.com/exhibitions/35-my-eyes-like-shovels-curated-by-gigiotto-del-vecchio-featuring-the-works/ Group
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2022Shoeglazing Dürst Britt & Mayhew Den Haag, Netherlands Curated by Zoe Hollander www.durstbrittmayhew.com/exhibitions/18-group-exhibition-frontspace-shoeglazing/ Group
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2022The Prompt Gianni Manhattan Vienna, Austria Curated by Adomas Narkevicius. giannimanhattan.com/exhibitions/the-prompt/ Duo
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2021
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2021Laika Tips Necessary Illusions) 427 Gallery Riga, Latvia SOLO artviewer.org/ola-vasiljeva-at-427/ Solo
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2020
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2019‘Haus der F.’ Kaiser Wilhelm Museum Krefeld, Germany SOLO kunstmuseenkrefeld.de/en/Exhibitions/2019/Ola-Vasiljeva-Der-Werkbund-Haus-Der-F Solo
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2019‘N’attendons pas M. Lapatine’ Galerie Antoine Levi Paris, France SOLO antoinelevi.fr/patina-ola-vasiljeva/ Solo
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2018kristāls sekunde mode 427 Gallery Riga, Latvia Curated by Kaspars Grosevs echogonewrong.com/photo-rportage-exhibition-kristals-sekunde-mode-427-gallery/ Group
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2018M. Quelque Chose / Jean Follain Les Bains-Douche Alençon, France Commissariat It's Our Playground bainsdouches.net/expositions/m-quelque-chose-jean-follain-beatriz-olabarrieta-ola-vasiljeva-yonatan-vinitsky/ Group
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2018Song And Love Indidpendeza Roma Rome, Italy SOLO indipendenzaroma.com/gallery/matthew-lutz-kinoy-and-ola-vasiljeva-songs-love-march-15/ Duo
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2018Qualcuno si è seduto sulla mia sedia Quartz Project Space Torino, Italy SOLO www.quartzstudio.net/index.php/exhibitions/12-past-exhibitions/36-olavasiljeva Solo
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2017The Decline of the Showpieces Grazer Kunsteverein Graz, Austria SOLO www.grazerkunstverein.org/en/seasons/winter-2017.html Solo
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2017Zefiro Torna Passerelle Centre d'art contemporain, Brest, FR Brest, France SOLO www.contemporaryartdaily.com/2017/08/ola-vasiljeva-at-centre-dart-contemporain-passerelle/ Solo
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2017Gold Is The Metal with The Broadest Shoulders Supportico Lopez Berlin, Germany SOLO www.supporticolopez.com/ola-vasiljeva-3/ Solo
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2017Dong with A Luminous Nose Galerie Fons Welters Amsterdam, Netherlands SOLO www.fonswelters.nl/exhibitions/the_dong_with_a_luminous_nose/about Solo
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2016You've got beautiful stairs you know Kunstverein München München, Germany SOLO www.kunstverein-muenchen.de/en/program/publications/2016/ola-vasiljeva Solo
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2015The Limp Of A Letter II Bozar Paleis voor Schone Kunsten, Brussels Brussels, Belgium SOLO www.bozar.be/nl/activities/80577-ola-vasiljeva Solo
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2015En Rachâchant Vleeshal Markt, Middelburg Middelburg, Netherlands SOLO vleeshal.nl/nl/tentoonstellingen/ola-vasiljeva Solo
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2014JARGOT Art In General, New York New York, United States SOLO www.artingeneral.org/exhibitions/561 Solo
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2013Limp of A Letter/ Prix De Rome 2013 De Appel Amsterdam, Netherlands Prix De Rome 2013 www.deappel.nl/en/archive/events/713-prix-de-rome-2013 Solo
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2013Cinq à sept kim? Contemporary Art Centre Riga, Latvia www.contemporaryartlibrary.org/project/ola-vasiljeva-at-kim-contemporary-art-centre-riga-14646 Solo
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2012OAOA Vestibule Galerie van Gelder Amsterdam, Netherlands www.galerievangelder.com/showarchive/showarchive.html Solo
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2011
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2010Petit Maître Galerie van Gelder Amsterdam, Netherlands Solo
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2010Salon Heden Hier Den Haag, Netherlands Solo
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2009Alchimie du Verbe Ellen de Bruijne Projects, Amsterdam, Netherlands Solo
Sales/Works in collections
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2021Latvian National Art Museum Riga, Letland
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2017Centre national des arts plastiques Paris, France installation
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2016Frac des Pays de la Loire France installation
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2015Vleeshal/MuhKA Middelburg, nL, Nederland installation
Publications
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2026Lead Load Book OAOA Ola Vasiljeva LEAD LOAD is a fragmentary prose work shaped by ports, ships, kitchens and other sites of transit where weight is handled, covered and transformed. Moving between childhood memory and adult return, the collection traces an apprenticeship in bodily and imaginal knowledge, where care is enacted through use and labour as a shared structure.
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2025Der Werkbund. Haus der F. Monograph Kunstmuseen Krefeld Ola Vasiljeva, Katia Baudin, Constanze Zawadsky grass-publishers.com/collections/frontpage/products/ola-vasiljeva-der-werkbund-haus-der-f DER WERKBUND. HAUS DER F. is the companion publication to Ola Vasiljeva’s 2019 exhibition Haus der F. at the Kaiser Wilhelm Museum. Published in 2025 by Grass Publishers and Kunstmuseen Krefeld and designed by Tino Graß. Haus der F. began with an invitation from the museum to engage directly with its applied arts collection. Upon closer inspection, the collection revealed a troubling pattern: the systematic suppression of women designers within design movements often celebrated as progressive and their persistent underrepresentation in major historical collections. This imbalance reflects a broader history of marginalization in which women’s contributions were dismissed, erased or ignored. Vasiljeva’s project traced this erasure back to Das Haus der Frau, the 1914 Werkbund pavilion designed by and for women that was ridiculed, destroyed and subsequently forgotten for decades. The exhibition took shape as an unsettled interior: part workshop, part domestic space and part display room, where selected works from across the collection came together to quietly challenge fixed notions of gender and authorship. The book gathers Vasiljeva’s reflections and notes on selected works alongside a conversation with the exhibition’s curator Constanze Zawadsky.
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2024Ghost Town Monograph Vleeshal / Roma Publications Ola Vasiljeva Netherlands www.ideabooks.nl/9789464460513-ola-vasiljeva-ghost-town ‘Ghost Town’ is the first comprehensive overview of Ola Vasiljeva's practice between 2008 and 2023, and (re)collects the fragments, shapes, and thoughts that have been (re)configured and (re)presented throughout the artist’s multifaceted constellations. It consists of three intertwined sections: exhibitions, projects by the Oceans Academy of Arts (OAOA, an art collective Vasiljeva founded in 2008), and “storage”. The latter is a cross between an index, an archive, and a collection, and reproduces some of the separate elements which have featured in the Amsterdam-based artist’s projects over the years, from installations to sculptural works and drawings. Co-published with de Vleeshal, Middelburg.
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2016You've Got Beautiful Stairs, You Know Monograph Roma Publications, Kunstverein München Ola Vasiljeva, Chris Fitzpatrick Netherlands www.kunstverein-muenchen.de/en/programm/publikationen/2016/ola-vasiljeva monograph
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2014Algia Naturalis Vinyl/Lp OAOA Ola Vasiljeva www.vijfde-seizoen.nl/nl/artists/ola_vasiljeva to environmental stress by developing greater resilience, passing these adaptive traits to their offspring. Others display a more immediate sensitivity. The plant Mimosa pudica, for instance, closes its leaves when touched yet gradually learns to ignore stimuli that prove harmless, suggesting a capacity to register experience and adjust its response over time. Processes such as selective sensitivity, the coiling of tendrils or the adaptive responses observed in plants like Arabidopsis involve mechanisms of recognition retention and recall. These processes echo, in distant ways, aspects of human memory where electrochemical signals also guide responses to past events. Algia Naturalis approaches these observations speculatively. The project imagines a plant world susceptible to emotional states such as melancholy nostalgia or mourning. It proposes the possibility of an inner life in plants granting them a form of autonoetic awareness, the ability to situate themselves in relation to past and future and thus to register loss or anticipation. Developed within the grounds of Altrecht GGZ at the forested site of Willen Arntsz Hoeve where vegetation forms a dominant presence the installation places plants at the centre of its narrative. Addressed in a tone of longing and quiet displacement they appear as carriers of psychological resonance within the landscape. Clients from the institution were invited to contribute associative elements to the project offering a name a sound a scent an image or another fragment of perception to this evolving botanical constellation.
reviews
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2023
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2022Impressions of Curated By Magazine PW Magazine Germany www.archive.pw-magazine.com/2022/impressions-of-curated-by-2022 review
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2022
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2022The Prompt at Gianni Manhattan Magazine Spike Art Magazine Germany spikeartmagazine.com/search?k=do-what-necessary-not-because-it-written review
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2019
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2018Liminal Obiedience Magazine CURA Magazine curamagazine.com/ola-vasiljeva-liminal-obedience/ essay by Anna Gritz
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2018Ola Vasiljeva and Matthew Lutz Kinoy At at Indipendenza Magazine ARTFORUM www.artforum.com/picks/matthew-lutz-kinoy-and-ola-vasiljeva-75033 review by Leslie Cozzi
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2018Ola Vasiljeva at Quartz Studio Magazine Flash Art Italy flash---art.it/2018/03/ola-vasiljeva-quartz-studio-torino/ review
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2018Indipendenza Roma Magazine Flash Art flash---art.it/2018/05/matthew-lutz-kinoy-e-ola-vasiljeva-indipendenza-roma/ review
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2017Gold is The Metal With The Broadest Shoulders Magazine Spike Magazine review
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2016University Magazine Mousse Magazine Italy interview
Awards and grants
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2023nomination Purvitis Art Prize Latvia
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2020Queen Sonja Print Award Queen Sonja Award Norway Nomination
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2018Bewezen Talent mondriaan fonds Netherlands
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2014Bewezen Talent mondriaan fonds
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2013Finalist Prix de Rome, Amsterdam Netherlands Finalist, Prix de Rome 2013, alongside Christian Friedrich, Falke Pisano and Remco Torenbosch.
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2013Finalist Lo Schermo dell’Arte Florence, Italy
Representation
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--
Secondary art-related activities
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2024 - --Jury Member, De Zeeuwse Kunstenaarsregeling, CBK/Vleeshal,
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2024 - --Guest Lecturer, Gerrit Rietveld Academie On-going
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2024 - --Art Teacher, de Vrolijkheid, asylum seeker centres On-going
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2022 - --Guest Lecturer, Akademie der Bildenden Künste Nürnberg
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2019 - 2021Selection Committee Member and Tutor, Approaching Language Department, Sandberg Instituut
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2018 - --Artistic Director of Page Not Found On-going
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2018 - --Guest Evaluation Jury Member, HEAD – Genève
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2017 - --Guest Jury Member (Graduation), Werkplaats Typografie
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2012 - --Guest Teacher, HKU University of the Arts Utrecht
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2009 - --Curator Impakt Festival
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2009 - --Curator Version Festival, Chicago