MOSCOW.- The 5th-anniversary edition of Cosmoscow, Russia’s only international contemporary art fair, will take place in the historic market building, Gostiny Dvor, on 8-10 September 2017 supported by strategic partner Credit Suisse, jewelery partner Messika, automotive partner Bentley and official partner Beluga Transatlantic.

Cosmoscow welcomes a record number of galleries and artists introducing 54 galleries from European countries including Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany, Georgia, Italy, Norway, Poland, Russia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America that will exhibit works by more than 150 artists.

The 2017 edition will launch a number of new initiatives to tie into the fair’s long-term development goals. Innovations to the Fair include new sections such as Collaborations, Focus and Past Present and a special Cosmoscow Stand Prize will be awarded offering free participation in Cosmoscow 2018. The winner will be selected by the jury, consisting of representatives of both Russian and international art institutions, including Irina Gorlova (State Tretyakov Gallery), Alisa Prudnikova (National Center for contemporary Art), Ekaterina Kibovskaya (Moscow International Biennale for Young Art), Alexey Novoselov (Moscow Museum of Modern Art). The jury will base their choice primarily on the strength of their curatorial approach.

Collaborations Section
This year inaugural Collaborations section will highlight Cosmoscow’s key programming strand that invites international and Russian galleries to share booths and create a joint display.

Raster Gallery (Warsaw, Poland) is among the pioneers and leaders of the Central European contemporary art market, and one of the most recognizable galleries from Poland will display works by Slavs and Tatars, Rafał Bujnowski, Karolina Jabłońska, and Janek Simon. Temnikova & Kasela Gallery emerged out of necessity to provide professional representation for established and emerging artists from the region and to intensify their international visibility will show works by Kaido Ole и Merike Estna. Sandy Brown Gallery from Berlin will showcase works by Alex Vivian and Dena Yago. Boccanera Gallery from Trento will represent works by Linda Carrara and Nebojsa Despotovic at Cosmoscow. Gallery from France 55Bellechasse will show Pascal Vochelet, Vladimir Sulyagin, and David Ramirez Gomez works.

Established in 2008 in Moscow, Galerie Iragui is committed to bringing attention to contemporary Russian art and will feature works by Denis Stroev and Petr Kirusha. Triangle Gallery has opened its doors in February 2015 at the Winzavod Center for Contemporary Art, in the heart of the Moscow's contemporary art scene and they will display works by Kirill Kto and Alexey Bogolepov. Tatjana Pieters Gallery (Gent, Belguim) will showcase works by Veronika Pausova, Philippe Van Snick, Henning Hamilton, Michael Pybus, and Derek Sullivan; Odile Ouizeman Gallery (Paris, France) will present works by Stephan Crasneanscki; and Samuel Maenhoudt Gallery (Knokke, Belgium) will show works by Romina Ressia, Antoine Rose.

Norway Focus
The Norway Focus of Cosmoscow 2017 will showcase five Norwegian galleries from across the country, including Rake (Trondheim), Khartoum Contemporary Art (Oslo), LOCUS (Oslo), Prosjektrom Normanns (Stavanger), and Terminal B (Kirkenes). From the political-capital of Oslo to the oil-capital of Stavanger and from old-capital of Trondheim to the Barents capital of Kirkenes, these gallery-hybrids use the model of non-profit artist-run spaces. Together they represent a cross-section of Norwegian contemporary art and highlight the Scandinavian model of supporting and developing the arts. Participation of the Norwegian galleries and artists at Cosmoscow 2017 is supported by OCA (Office of Contemporary Art Norway), Pikene på Broen, the Foundation of Vladimir Smirnov and Konstantine Sorokin.

Malin Bülow’s work will be created during a residency in Moscow, August 14-28th, in cooperation with the Foundation of Vladimir Smirnov and Konstantine Sorokin and exhibited within Cosmoscow 2017.

Main Section
This year’s Main Section is highlighted by galleries that have exhibited at the fair since its first edition. Among them are XL Gallery (Moscow), Marina Gisich Gallery (St. Petersburg), and pop/off/art gallery (Moscow). Established in 1993 with more than 200 exhibitions in its portfolio, XL Gallery will display works by Viktor Pivovarov, as well as a new project by Alexander Povzner, that was presented earlier this year during the Garage Triennial of Russian Contemporary Art. Marina Gisich Gallery is one of St. Petersburg’s first contemporary art galleries and their booth will feature works by Vitaly Pushnitsky and Nadezhda Zubareva. Pop/off/art gallery will showcase works by Vlad Yurashko and Vladimir Potapov.

Regina Gallery (Moscow) will feature works by Sergey Zarva and Aleksandr Kutovoy. Russia’s first contemporary art auction VLADEY (Moscow) will showcase works by Pavel Pepperstein, Alexander Vinogradov, Semyon Faibisovich, and Dmitri Gutov. Lumiere Brothers Gallery (Moscow) will present 100 Years of Photography, a specially curated project spanning the history of Soviet photography in 1920–1990. ART4 (Moscow) will exhibit new works by Anna Zholud; Artwin Gallery (Moscow) will present new works by Artem Filatov; Anna Nova Art Gallery (St. Petersburg) will bring to Moscow works by Aljosha and Rostan Tavasiev, whose new animated series project about art in the distant future was presented for the first time in St Petersburg in spring 2017. Vostochnaya Gallery (Moscow) will present a solo show by Vladimir Tryamkin. Works by Marina Zvyagintseva and Vladimir Dubossarsky will be exhibited at the 21 Gallery (Moscow) and Ru Arts (Moscow) will show works by Marat 'Morik' Danilyan and Alexey Luchko (Luka).

Each year the list of Cosmoscow exhibitors expands with new names. Among the newcomers this year are Askeri Gallery (Moscow) that will showcase works by Conor Mccreedy and Jae Yong Kim; and Nadja Brykina Gallery (Zurich, Moscow) will present works by Yuri Zlotnikov, Vladimir Andreenkov, Igor Shelkovsky, and Marlene Spindler, and Art Select, (Bahrain) an art consultancy, will display works by Balqees Fakhro at Cosmoscow 2017.

Discovery Section
The Discovery Section includes galleries under five years old, and those representing emerging artists.

For the first time Cosmoscow’s Discovery Section will welcome Fragment Gallery (Moscow), displaying works by Ilya Fedotov-Fedorov and Alex Martins; Omelchenko gallery (Moscow), showcasing the art of Julia Malinina; Vera Pogodina Gallery VP Studio (Moscow) with the works by Alexander Brodsky Sr. and Alexander Brodsky Jr.

In addition to new works by Taus Makhacheva, who was exhibited at the 2017 Venice Biennale, Shaltai Editions (Moscow) will also display Alexandra Paperno’s new lithographic series. The Roza Azora Gallery (Moscow) will introduce collectors to new work by Ariadne Arendt and Ivan Yazykov. New work by Eugenia Nozhkina will also be presented by 25Kadr gallery (Moscow) along with works by Evgeny Medvedev-MA, who tragically passed away last autumn at the age of 40.

Past Present Section
New to Cosmoscow 5-th anniversary edition will be Past Present – a special section of the fair devoted to the previous stages of Russian contemporary art development. The exhibition includes works of recognized classics of Russian contemporary art that were relevant in the past and have not lost their artistic value at the present time. The main purpose of the Past Present Section is to expand the range of the fair, to try to place the art of the moment in a meaningful cultural and historical context on the one hand, and to introduce the works of the recognized authors to the audience, carrying out an educational task. Participating galleries include XL Gallery, VP Studio, Pop/off/art Gallery, ART4, Marina Gisich Gallery, and 11.12 Gallery from Russia.