Vladimir Potanin, a longstanding trustee of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, has endowed a new fellowship for the conservation of contemporary art at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York.

Richard Armstrong, Director of the Guggenheim Museum and Foundation, said in a statement: «Ambitious cross-cultural initiatives such as the Vladimir Potanin Consеrvation Fellowship can ensure that new generations are engaged stakeholders in preserving cultural heritage. Thanks to the generous support and foresight of Vladmir Potanin, this fellowship will contribute significantly to the international field of conservation, encourage new areas of scholarship, and bring together conservators, artists, scientists and historians to explore complex issues around the preservation of materials and methods of modern and contemporary art. We are grateful to our friend and trustee Vladimir Potanin for his generosity, but even more so for his prescience in recognizing the critical need for this work.»

The Vladimir Potanin Conservation Fellowship is open to Russian-speaking conservation professionals, although they are not required to be resident in Russia. From January 2020, the fellow will spend 12 to 18 months embedded in the Guggenheim’s conservation department in New York, supporting treatments and research, including an ongoing study of more than 200 paintings by Vassily Kandinsky in the museum’s collection.

Vladimir Potanin said in a statement: «In today’s world, it is more urgent than ever to develop and support platforms that combine creativity with knowledge, innovation with heritage, and establish dialogue between cultures and communities. Having preservation and conservation as their primary goals, modern museums must address local and global societal issues and share solutions across geographic and political boundaries. The Guggenheim is a leader among museums for its global outlook, intellectual daring, and record of achievement in scholarship and conservation. No institution is better prepared to undertake this fellowship program in modern and contemporary art. I am proud that the Vladimir Potanin Conservation Fellows will contribute to these vital efforts to advance understanding in the field, cultivate new talent, and promote cross-cultural exchange.»

According to the Art Newspaper, «the Initiative aims to boost Russian expertise in rapidly developing field of preserving contemporary art».

«The programme is designed as a cultural exchange between institutions and countries that will strengthen the fledgling field of preserving Modern and contemporary art in Russia. This is not a one-time fellowship, it will continue for the foreseeable future», said Oksana Oracheva, the general director of the Vladimir Potanin Foundation.

The Conservation Department at the Guggenheim Museum is currently accepting applications for the Vladimir Potanin Conservation Fellowship through its website (www.guggenheim.org/careers); the deadline is June 15, 2019 for a projected January 2020 start date.