Current Residents Mariia Tseloeva
A Ukrainian curator and emerging artist based in Paris. During the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, she earned an MA in Art History at the Sorbonne and worked at the Louvre and Musée Rodin. In the same period, she contributed to the exhibition program at the Odesa Fine Arts Museum and engaged with a contemporary art collection in Ukraine. Her practice explores memory, exile, and transmission, with a focus on women’s heritage, folk traditions, and protective objects. She has curated exhibitions in unconventional spaces and collaborates closely with artists, extending her research into contemporary art contexts.
During my HIAP residency, I plan to develop a project that continues my research into memory, exile, and women’s heritage, focusing on my Crimean Tatar family history. I will work with archives, storytelling, and textile-based practices to trace the silenced legacy of my relative, the artist Zuleikha Bekirova, and to imagine ways of reclaiming her lost artworks. My approach combines writing and the use of ephemeral materials as tools to restore presence where history has left absence. I hope this process will deepen my practice while opening dialogues on displacement, resilience, and cultural continuity.
Mariia Tseloeva’s residency at Värtsilä Art House is realised in the context of the Ukraine Solidarity Residencies programme.
The current partners of the programme are AARK, Art Centre Salmela, Fairres, Goethe-Institut Finnland, HIAP – Helsinki International Artist Programme, Nelimarkka Museum, Pro Artibus, The Finnish Artists’ Studio Foundation, The Finnish Darkroom Association, The Finnish Illustration Association – Kuvittajat, and Värtsilä Art House. The continuation of the programme is possible due to the support of the Finnish Ministry of Arts and Culture and Nordic Culture Point.