Social Contract 2017: Winner announced

IZOLYATSIA announced the winner of the Social Contract 2017international competition for projects of a temporary art intervention at the former site of the Lenin monument in Kyiv. According to the results of the popular vote, it is the project Ritual of Self-Nature by Mexican artist Isa Carrillo that will be on display on May 3-17, 2017.

The idea of the Ritual of Self-Nature is using the healing powers of nature: the empty pedestal will be covered by rosemary plants. Isa Carrillo proposes to neutralise the ideological tension around the vacant pedestal and invites the citizens to join a shared quest for internal balance and calm. At the end of the project, the rosemary plants will be given away to passers-by who wish to adopt them.

“I find it symbolic that the popular vote chose a project stressing out the idea of purification of a very complex place, where in times of WWII stood a gallows and later the Lenin monument – with the help of nature. This choice also indicates a lack of green spaces in Kyiv. Temporary as it is, the installation will create a green zone instead of a bare granite pedestal,” says Kateryna Filyuk, the curator of the Social Contract project.  

The popular vote for four finalists, shortlisted by an international jury, took place between April 3 and 9, 2017. Ritual of Self-Nature by Isa Carrillo got 38.5% of the votes, Ukrainian artist Mykyta Shalennyi’s Heroes Do Not Exist ranked second (31.1%), I Need a Hero by Milena Vučković (Serbia) – third (16%), and De Pedestal by art duo Afterall from Italy got 14.3% of the votes.

The international open call for projects of a temporary art intervention at the former site of the Lenin monument in Kyiv Social Contract 2017 took place between February 23 and March 25, 2017. 37 applications were received from 18 countries.

The temporary installation Ritual of Self-Nature by Isa Carrillo will be carried out by IZOLYATSIA at the former site of the Lenin monument in Kyiv on May 3-17, 2017.

Isa Carrillo was born in 1982 in Mexico. Her practice is influenced by mysticism and based on a research in graphology, astrology, and numerology. In 2015-16, she won a grant Incentives Programme of Creation and Artistic Development (PECDA), Jalisco, Mexico.

Started in 2016, Social Contract is a project by IZOLYATSIA aimed at creating a discussion platform for art community, society and authorities on the status and functions of commemorative objects in urban space, using the case of the Lenin statue in Kyiv as an example.

Supported by the Department for Culture of the Kyiv City State Administration.