THE PRIZE
The Russian Art Focus Prize is an annual award in the field of English-speaking art journalism established by the digital magazine Russian Art Focus.

The Russian Art Focus Prize is designed to:
• encourage authors, journalists, publicists, bloggers and researchers who write in English to look closer at the Russian art scene
• draw attention to Russian contemporary art and identify trends and directions in its development
• promote the work of Russian artists, state and private art institutions, museums, foundations and self-organized cultural communities
• establish criteria for evaluating the phenomena of contemporary Russian art
• strengthen the reputation and increase recognition of Russian artists in the world
• increasing interest in Russian contemporary art among professionals and the general public around the world

The Prize fund is 6,000 Euros distributed equally between two nominations:
"The publication on contemporary Russian art"
"The research paper on contemporary Russian art"
Learn more about the Prize Rules & Conditions
RUSSIAN ART FOCUS
Russian Art Focus is a digital magazine exploring contemporary visual art in Russia, with occasional reporting from post-soviet countries.

Founded in November 2018, it means to bridge the gap in timely, politically uncharged reporting from the region and bring deep analyses of the Russian art market, profiles of young and established artists, coverage of the major events and interviews with movers and shakers to the English-speaking audience. In 2020, Russian Art Focus launched a YouTube channel to feature video interviews with selected artists.

The Editor-in-chief of Russian Art Focus is Jo Vickery, a leading authority on the Russian art market well known around the world as a specialist who has researched Russian art in depth during her more than 20 years of working at Sotheby's.

The magazine was founded by Inna Bazhenova, the owner and publisher of The Art Newspaper, and Dmitry Aksenov, the founder of The Aksenov Family Foundation.

Russian Art Focus Advisory Board members are Nicolas V. Iljine, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Anna Somers Cocks, Samuel Keller, Jean-Hubert Martin, Mikhail Piotrovsky, Zelfira Tregulova and Richard Wallis.

Russian Art Focus is a free digital magazine distributed monthly via newsletter.
To sign up and receive an issue to your inbox click here.
FOUNDERS
Art collector, participant and supporter of cultural projects in Russia and worldwide.
She is a co-founder of Russian Art Focus and the Art Exchange platform for art investments, publisher of the international network The Art Newspaper in the UK, France, Italy, China, Russia, the USA, and Greece.
Inna Bazhenova graduated from the Faculty of Computational Mathematics of Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod. She started collecting art in 2005.In 2012 she launched The Art Newspaper in Russia, in 2013 she became an owner of the whole international licensed network, in 2014 opened an exhibition space for the non-profit foundation IN ARTIBUS in Moscow.
Inna Bazhenova
Еntrepreneur, venture capital investor and patron of the arts. Aksenov is Chairman of the board of directors at RDI group, and owner of RDI Creative.
Born in Novosibirsk, Dmitry graduated from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) in avionics and space research.
A passionate supporter of the arts, Dmitry founded the Aksenov Family Foundation, an international platform fostering cultural and social innovations, and co-founded Russian Art Focus. In 2013 Aksenov set up Russian Friends of the Salzburg Festival society. Since 2013 Dmitry Aksenov has been Chair of the board and a generous supporter of the viennacontemporary art fair.
Dmitry Aksenov
JURY
The laureates of the Prize will be determined by the Jury, composed of members of Russian Art Focus Advisory Board and invited experts.

The Jury of the Russian Art Focus Prize in 2021:
MIKHAIL PIOTROVSKY
Director of the State Hermitage Museum
ZELFIRA TREGULOVA
Director of the State Tretyakov Gallery
NICHOLAS V. ILYINE
Advisor to the Director of the State Hermitage Museum
MIKHAIL PIOTROVSKY
Director of the State Hermitage Museum
ZELFIRA TREGULOVA
Director of the State Tretyakov Gallery
NICHOLAS V. ILYIN
Advisor to the Director of the State Hermitage Museum
MIKHAIL PIOTROVSKY
Director of the State Hermitage Museum
ZELFIRA TREGULOVA
Director of the State Tretyakov Gallery
NICHOLAS V. ILYIN
Advisor to the Director of the State Hermitage Museum
RUSSIAN ART FOCUS
Russian Art Focus is a digital magazine exploring contemporary visual art in Russia, with occasional reporting from post-soviet countries.

Founded in November 2018, it means to bridge the gap in timely, politically uncharged reporting from the region and bring deep analyses of the Russian art market, profiles of young and established artists, coverage of major events and interviews with movers and shakers to the English-speaking audience. In 2020, Russian Art Focus launched a YouTube channel to feature video interviews with selected artists.

The Editor-in-chief of Russian Art Focus is Jo Vickery, a leading authority on the Russian art market well known around the world as a specialist who has researched Russian art in depth during her more than 20 years of working at Sotheby's.

The magazine was founded by Inna Bazhenova, the owner and publisher of The Art Newspaper, and Dmitry Aksenov, the founder of The Aksenov Family Foundation.

Russian Art Focus Advisory Board members are Anna Somers Cocks, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Samuel Keller, Jean-Hubert Martin, Mikhail Piotrovsky, Nicolas V. Iljine, Zelfira Tregulova and Richard Wallis.

Russian Art Focus is a free digital magazine distributed monthly via newsletter.
To sign up and receive an issue to your inbox click here.
FOUNDERS
Inna Bazhenova
Entrepreneur, venture capital investor and patron of the arts. Aksenov is Chairman of the board of directors at RDI group, and owner of RDI Creative.
Born in Novosibirsk, Dmitry graduated from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) in avionics and space research.
A passionate supporter of the arts, Dmitry founded he Aksenov Family Foundation, an international platform fostering cultural and intellectual innovations, and co-founded Russian Art Focus. In 2013 Aksenov set up Russian Friends of the Salzburg Festival society. Since 2013 Dmitry Aksenov has been Chair of the board and a generous supporter of the viennacontemporary art fair.
Dmitry Aksenov
Art collector, participant and supporter of cultural projects in Russia and worldwide.
She is a co-founder of the Russian Art Focus and the Art Exchange platform for art investments, publisher of the international network The Art Newspaper in the UK, France, Italy, China, Russia, the USA, and Greece.
Inna Bazhenova graduated from the Faculty of Computational Mathematics of Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod. She started collecting art in 2005.In 2012 she launched The Art Newspaper in Russia, in 2013 she became an owner of the whole international licensed network, in 2014 opened an exhibition space for the non-profit foundation IN ARTIBUS in Moscow.
JURY
The laureates of the Prize will be determined by the Jury, composed of members of Russian Art Focus Advisory Board and invited experts.

The Jury of the Russian Art Focus Prize in 2021:
Mikhail Piotrovsky
Director of the State Hermitage Museum
Anna Somers Cocks
Founder editor of The Art Newspaper, journalist
Jean-Hubert Martin
Art historian and curator
Hans Ulrich Obrist
Director of Serpentine Galleries
Nicholas V. Iljine
Advisor to the Director of the State Hermitage Museum
Nicholas Cullinan
Director of the National Portrait Gallery
Artistic director of KANAL - Centre Pompidou
Kasia Radisz
Program Director of V-A-C Foundation
Ekaterina Chuchalina
Chief curator of Garage Museum of Contemporary Art
Katya Inozemtseva
Richard Wallis
Russian Art Focus Editor-in-Chief 2018-2021