SHORT ~ 700 characters:
Ksenia Yurkova is an artist, curator, and researcher. Her leading artistic media are text, photography, video, and installation. The main focus of interest is communication and language: the varieties of its substance, the possibility of conversion, mythological aspects, stereotyping (personal and political identification), problems of memory, attitudes, and reliance. Lately, the artist has researched the phenomenon of affect in its autonomous bodily emanation; in personal and political registers. Yurkova has participated in numerous shows and festivals worldwide and has been awarded several stipends. Her works are in public and private collections, mainly in Russia, Germany, France, Finland, and Austria. At present, Yurkova operates AIR InSILo (Austria).
MEDIUM ~ 1000 characters:
Ksenia Yurkova is an artist, curator, and researcher. Her leading artistic media are text, photography, video, and installation. The main focus of her interest is communication and language: the varieties of its substance, the possibility of conversion, mythological aspects, stereotyping (personal and political identification), problems of memory, attitudes, and reliance. Lately, the artist has researched the phenomenon of affect in its autonomous bodily emanation; in personal and political registers.
Ksenia Yurkova has taken part in numerous shows and festivals worldwide, including Donau Festival '25; Photoireland Festival '21; Backlight Festival'20; Athens Photo Festival '19, '17, '15; Krakow Photo Month '19; Grandprix Fotofestival '15; a screening at Documenta@15; three times has been nominated to Kuryohin Prize, was awarded stipends from the Austrian Ministry of Culture and Sport, and by the Federal State of Lower Austria; has released several artist books. Her works are in public and private collections worldwide, mainly in Russia, Germany, France, Finland, and Austria. Currently, Ksenia Yurkova is operating AIR InSILo (Austria) and is pursuing a doctoral degree at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna.
LONG ~ 2250 characters:
Ksenia Yurkova is an artist, curator, and researcher living in Austria. She considers her leading artistic media to be text, photography, video, and installation. Yurkova started her practice as a researcher in the field of political theory and communication theory. The main focus of her interest for a long time was communication and language: the varieties of its substance, the possibility of conversion, its mythological aspect, stereotyping (the question of personal and political self-identification and identification by others), problems of memory, attitudes, and reliance. Lately, the artist has been researching the phenomenon of affect in its autonomous bodily emanation; in its personal and political registers. She focuses on how a stage of individual perception, to which one can relate memory, traumatic recollection, and problems of identity construction, transforms itself into affects of the political body. Coming a long way from political and cultural journalism, Ksenia settled into individual artistic and research practice through organising and curating cultural and art events, which allows the vital critical distance for observation and work with contemporary issues. Her approach is based on methods of language appropriation, over-affirmation, self-reflection, and self-criticism through ironic components inevitably added to the most pressing matters. As an artistic director, Yurkova worked at the St. Petersburg-based exhibition centre Tkachi until it was closed due to political censorship and subsequent emigration. Afterwards, Ksenia launched a festival-laboratory, Suoja/Shelter, in Finland and an artist-in-residence research program, InSILo, in Austria, with Emergency slots for artists under political pressure.
Ksenia Yurkova has taken part in numerous shows and festivals worldwide, including Donau Festival '25; Photoireland Festival '21; Backlight Festival'20; Athens Photo Festival '19, '17, '15; Krakow Photo Month '19; Grandprix Fotofestival '15; a screening at Documenta@15; three times has been nominated to Kuryohin Prize, was awarded stipends and awards from the Austrian Ministry of Culture and Sport, and by the Federal State of Lower Austria; has released several artist books. Her works are in public and private collections worldwide, mainly in Russia, Germany, France, Finland, and Austria.
Currently, she is pursuing a doctoral degree at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna.