guidelines for the artists

The 2026 Erarta Prize nominees’ exhibition was on show at Erarta’s Grand Hall from 6 February through 7 June 2026, featuring 40 creations by contemporary artists. The two rounds of viewer voting determined the exact distribution of 3.5 million rubles in prize money among the participants.

2026 Erarta Prize winners

The second voting round determined the winner of the 500,000-ruble 2026 Erarta Prize Grand Prix and the exact distribution of the remaining prize money.

Over the span of four months, exhibition visitors voted for their favourite works by the 40 nominated artists in two voting rounds. The voting procedure was completely transparent: the viewers could look at the screens installed in the exhibition space and see their own votes being counted in real time. Every vote was extremely important for the artists: by supporting the artwork of their choice, the viewers offered its creator a chance to compete in the next round and ultimately win a bigger prize. At the start of the second voting round, the number of votes received was reset to zero.

Following the first round, 30 artists with fewer votes dropped out of the competition for the Grand Prix, receiving 50,000 or 75,000 rubles each. After the second round, the 10 shortlisted artists received the following prizes according to their ultimate ranking:

Grand Prix, 500,000 rubles – Uspekh Provalov. Midsummer Night

2nd place, 200,000 rubles – Maxim Korolkov. Time Is on My Side

3rd place, 175,000 rubles – Lev Kozhin. Ozymandias

4th place, 150,000 rubles – Andrey Shatilov. Enough for All!

5th place, 125,000 rubles – Alyona Zhamozdik. Memory No. . . .

6th place, 100,000 rubles – Eduard Mishkin. A Time to Gather

7th place, 100,000 rubles – Irina Pyankova. Dad’s Coat

8th place, 100,000 rubles – DIMITRIEV & YANAK. Touching

9th place, 100,000 rubles – Aleksey Golovin. Wanderer

10th place, 100,000 rubles – Anastasia Golubeva. Illusion

Details of the next open call for entries will be announced in the autumn of 2026: stay tuned to our website erarta.com and Erarta’s social media for updates.

See you at the 2027 Erarta Prize!

2026 Erarta Prize shortlist

In the course of the first voting round that lasted through 20 April, the viewers shortlisted the 10 artists whose works secured the majority of viewer votes over the span of two months and now compete in the second round. They are:

Uspekh Provalov. Midsummer Night – 11.51%

Maxim Korolkov. Time Is on My Side – 9.95%

Andrey Shatilov. Enough for All! – 8.25%

Lev Kozhin. Ozymandias – 7.61%

DIMITRIEV & YANAK. Touching – 4.60%

Alyona Zhamozdik. Memory No. . . . – 4.44%

Anastasia Golubeva. Illusion – 3.68%

Irina Pyankova. Dad’s Coat – 3.32%

Eduard Mishkin. A Time to Gather – 3.28%

Aleksey Golovin. Wanderer – 3.28%

These artists continue to compete for the viewers’ support. The second voting round of the 2026 Erarta Prize will last from 21 April through 3 June to ultimately determine the exact distribution of the remaining prize money and the winner of the Grand Prix of 500,000 rubles. The number of votes received by the artists in the first round was reset to zero, and voting has started over.

The following artists ranking from 11th to 25th after the first voting round will receive 75,000 rubles each:

Kirill Svityashchuk. Blue Cow – 2.94%

Yulia Saltykova. Tale of the Old Forest – 2.76%

Anna Sosenskaya. Mum, I’m Scared – 2.70%

Anna Berzina. Bare Feet, Square Shoulders – 2.58%

Nikolai, Grigoriy & Anastasia-Ksenia Lysak. The Lovers. Triptych – 2.50%

Ilya Shanin. Before the Thunderstorm – 2.32%

Oksana Mylnikova. Apple Tree. From the Plastic World Series – 2.28%

Evgeniy Kravtsov. From the Corrosion Series – 1.82%

Viktor Mosielev. Three Brothers – 1.74%

Anelia Sharifullina (OUR RUG). ERROR 90 – 1.64%

Tatyana Mazok. No. 3. From the Memory Gaps Project – 1.42%

Anastasia Nesterova. Garden Ark – 1.34%

Anton Kuznetsov. Icebergs II – 1.28%

Marina Kudrina. Ponies – 1.24%

Irina Denisova (Irisa Didrisa). Divided Whole – 1.24%

The following artists ranking from 26th to 40th after the first voting round will receive 50,000 rubles each:

Masha Bogoraz. Pushmi-Pullyu – 1.18%

Ksyusha Kabachek. In Favourite Black – 1.04%

Fyodor Hiroshige & Nestor Engelke. Naruto Whirlpools – 0.90%

Dima ПЖ. Conjunction – 0.90%

Vladimir Semenskiy. Break. Diptych – 0.72%

Olga Melnikova. In Memory of Mikhail Vrubel – 0.72%

Alex Ko. Power – 0.70%

Elena Shulga. Mirror-World – 0.66%

Maria Safronova. District 22 – 0.54%

Liza DANDY. Blue Tuner – 0.54%

Alexander Kulikov (Peshe). The Belvedere Mystery – 0.52%

Oleg Vecher. As You Are Now, So Once We Were; As We Are Now, So You Shall Be – 0.48%

Aleksey Sergeyev. Trampling Death by Death – 0.48%

Elena Kulik. White Ribbon – 0.44%

Sasha Suvorova. Skull of a Quagga – 0.40%

Although these artists will no longer compete for the Grand Prix, their works will still be on display until the close of the Prize nominees’ exhibition.

Stay tuned for more news: the second voting round results will be announced on 5 June. Visit this page to find out more about the 3.5 million ruble prize money distribution and voting procedure.

Good luck to all the participants!

2026 Erarta Prize nominees

The longlist is the result of the museum’s review of the entire pool of entries submitted by artists representing all genres and forms of contemporary art, including painting, graphic arts, sculpture, photography, installation, video and multimedia art.

The works by the following 40 artists are currently displayed at the special exhibition staged by Erarta to determine the winners through a public vote:

The 3.5 million rubles worth of prize money will be distributed among the 40 nominees. At the close of the first voting round, scheduled to last from 6 February through 20 April, 15 artists ranked from 40th to 26th will receive a guaranteed reward of 50,000 rubles each. 15 more artists ranked from 25th to 11th will be awarded 75,000 rubles each. The top 10 artists securing the majority of votes in the first voting round will qualify for the second.

For the 2026 edition of the Prize, all nominated artists enjoy the opportunity to sell their works featured in the exhibition through the agency of the museum. This means that the viewers not only have their say in the prize money distribution but can also acquire their favourite artwork for their private collection. All nominated exhibits that are sold prior to the awarding of the Prize will remain on display for the duration of the show and will be transferred to their new owners only after the project’s results are announced. To find out more, please call the Erarta Prize Curatorial Team at +7 (921) 655 96 86.

Good luck to all the participants!

Early submission of entries ensures that any technical or organisational issues related to the staging of the nominees’ exhibition are handled by the artist together with Erarta Museum’s Curatorial Team in the most efficient way possible.

Only one artwork per artist will be featured in the exhibition. To improve the chances of being selected, every artist could submit up to three artworks. All artists that had been nominated for the previous editions of the Erarta Prize could also submit their entries for the 2026 Erarta Prize without including previously submitted artworks.

For the 2026 edition of the Prize, all nominated artists will enjoy the opportunity to sell their works featured in the exhibition through the agency of Erarta Museum. This means that from now on the viewers not only have their say in the prize money distribution but can also purchase their favourite artwork, lending additional support to its creator. All nominated exhibits that are sold prior to the awarding of the Prize will remain on display for the duration of the show and will be transferred to their new owners only after the project’s results are announced. Please inquire with the Erarta Prize Curatorial Team for more information.

The call for entries for the 2026 Erarta Prize has closed on 19 October 2025.