Calvert 22 Foundation

Calvert 22 Foundation's mission was to build opportunities for emerging creative talent in the New East by supporting and showcasing the contemporary culture and creative economy of the region and deepening knowledge through in-depth research and analysis.

The foundation's first initiative was Calvert 22 Gallery in London (since 2016 called Calvert 22 Space). The not-for-profit hosted events, talks, screenings and exhibitions on history, photography, film, music, architecture, literature and contemporary art of the region.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Events — Calvert 22|url=http://calvert22.org/exhibitions-events/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170624052201/http://calvert22.org:80/exhibitions-events/ |archive-date=2017-06-24 |access-date=20 October 2020|website=Calvert 22}} It was also the foundation's headquarters. Set across two floors on a converted warehouse, the gallery's name was derived from its address on Calvert Avenue in Shoreditch, East London, which is historically connected to immigrants from Eastern Europe.

The foundation partnered and collaborated with other cultural institutions—Tate Modern, State Hermitage Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, The Photographers' Gallery, the Science Museum, the British Council, the Barbican Centre, London Fashion Week, London Book Festival, the London Festival of Architecture and the London Design Festival among others.

From its early years, Calvert 22 Foundation worked closely with universities in the UK and internationally, including the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, University College London, and the Royal College of Art. In 2012, the foundation established a partnership with Smolny College (the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences of St Petersburg State University) to enable student and lecturer exchange programmes, visits, and conferences.

2013 saw the creation of Calvert Forum,{{cite web|author=|first=|date=|title=Research - Calvert 22|url=http://calvert22.org/research/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022013320/http://calvert22.org/research/ |archive-date=2020-10-22 |accessdate=20 October 2020|website=|publisher=}} a creative industries think tank generating forums, talks and reports researching the role of creative enterprise on economic and social development in the New East region. In 2016, the Calvert 22 Foundation launched its long-term collaboration with PricewaterhouseCoopers (now PwC) to develop and publish the Creative Capital Index.

In May 2016, the foundation established the New East Photo Prize, for "representations of the social, cultural and physical landscape of the New East and other perspectives on that region," and presented the prize's inaugural exhibition from November to December 2016.{{cite web |first1=Seymour |last1=Smyth |first2=Diane |last2=Tom |url=http://www.bjp-online.com/2016/08/calvert-22-launch-the-new-east-photo-prize/ |title=Calvert 22 launch The New East Photo Prize |date=1 August 2016 |website=British Journal of Photography |access-date=15 March 2017}}

In 2017, Calvert 22 Foundation dedicated a year-long season of events, art and digital content to marking the centenary of the Russian Revolution entitled The Future Remains: Revisiting Revolution in partnership with St Petersburg's Hermitage Museum.{{cite web |last=Shaw |first=Anny |url=http://theartnewspaper.com/news/london-foundation-calvert-22-partners-with-hermitage-to-mark-100th-anniversary-of-russian-revolution/ |title=London foundation Calvert 22 partners with Hermitage to mark 100th anniversary of Russian Revolution |date=21 December 2016 |website=The Art Newspaper |access-date=15 March 2017}}

The New East Travel Guide is the foundation's mobile app, "that connects city travellers to the creative and cultural side of the New East". Locations currently included are Moscow, St Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Voronezh and Tbilisi.{{cite web|url=http://calvertjournal.com/travel-guide-apps|title=New East Travel Guide |work=The Calvert Journal |accessdate=15 March 2017}}

In 2022, the Calvert 22 Foundation announced the closure of operations, and the ceasing of its publication The Calvert Journal, citing the safety of their staff and colleagues amid threats to media freedom in Russia.{{cite web |last1=Materkova |first1=Nonna |title=Closing |url=https://www.calvertjournal.com/ |website=Calvert Journal |access-date=29 March 2022}} Later that year, Russia designated Calvert 22 Foundation as an "undesirable organisation".{{cite web|title=Генпрокуратура России объявила британскую Calvert 22 Foundation "нежелательной организацией"|url=https://meduza.io/news/2022/08/01/genprokuratura-rossii-ob-yavila-britanskuyu-calvert-22-foundation-nezhelatelnoy-organizatsiey|website=Meduza|date=August 1, 2022|accessdate=August 10, 2022|language=ru}} Until 2017, the foundation had been backed by Russian state-owned VTB Bank. Until 2022, Chairman of the Accounts Chamber Alexei Kudrin had been a member of the board of trustees.{{Cite web |date=2022-08-01 |title=В России признали нежелательным фонд, основанный уроженкой Ленинграда |url=https://www.rbc.ru/politics/01/08/2022/62e7e0ca9a7947dd7cc14529 |access-date=2024-03-19 |website=РБК |language=ru}}

File:Calvert22exterior.jpg

Since its opening in 2009, Calvert 22 Space staged exhibitions of over 1,500 artists and photographers from the New East. They included Sanja Iveković, Alexander Brodsky, Neue Slowenische Kunst, and Olga Chernysheva. Curators of exhibitions included Lina Dzuverović, David Stork, David Elliot, Kate Bush, Isaac Julian, Mark Nash, Joseph Backstein and Yara Bubnova.   Calvert 22 Space was home to the Calvert 22 Bookshop and the Calvert 22 Café, which hosted pop-ups, supper clubs and book launches.

The photography exhibition, Close and Far, held at Calvert 22 Space was named by The Guardian as one of the 10 best photography exhibitions in the world in 2014.{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=16 December 2014|title=Top 10 photography exhibitions of 2014|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/dec/16/sean-o-hagan-top-photography-exhibitions-of-2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141216161035/http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/dec/16/sean-o-hagan-top-photography-exhibitions-of-2014 |archive-date=2014-12-16 |access-date=|website=The Guardian|last1=O'Hagan|first1=Sean}}

Calvert 22 Space closed in December 2018 moving most of its activities online. The foundation continued to hold events and exhibitions with partner institutions in the UK and internationally.

In 2013, the foundation launched The Calvert Journal, a digital magazine of contemporary New East culture, including art, film, architecture, design, fashion and avant-garde culture.{{cite web |url=http://calvertjournal.com/about |title=About |work=The Calvert Journal |access-date=15 March 2017}} It was updated daily with reportage, comment and photography, by an editorial team in London and a network of contributors in the New East. Initially launched with a Russian focus, The Calvert Journal since broadened its scope to include all 29 countries in the New East region.

{{Reflist}}

• {{Official website|www.calvert22.org}}
• [http://www.calvertjournal.com The Calvert Journal]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20170202015300/http://calvertforum.org/en Calvert Forum]

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{{Coord missing|London}}

Category:Cultural charities based in the United Kingdom

Category:Art museums and galleries in London

Category:Foreign charities operating in Russia

Category:Non-profit organisations based in the United Kingdom

Category:Tourist attractions in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets

Category:Art galleries in London

Category:2009 establishments in England

Category:2022 disestablishments in England

Category:Organizations listed in Russia as undesirable