Press — The Ship of Tolerance

Casting off intolerance

World-renowned artists Ilya and Emilia Kabakov live quietly in Mattituck. But they are forces to be reckoned with on the global cultural stage. The Russian-American couple, who once lived under Soviet oppression, focus their art on themes of tolerance and humanity, values that every day elude much of the adult world. That’s why they give kids — the ultimate victims of adult folly — a say. Their latest installation, “The Ship of Tolerance,” is a child-oriented art project that’s traveled the globe since 2005.

Media FeatureMeg BartonDecember 15, 2011Life & Times, 2011, Joyce Beckenstein

Kabakovs’ Miami Ship of Tolerance project, 2011

The entire exhibition will be available for public viewing during Art Miami, 2011 from November 30-December 4, 2011.

The Miami Children’s Museum has come aboard the Ship of Tolerance Project, by Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, providing coordination of all participating children, a forum for discussion about the universal theme of Tolerance and production assistance for all of the children’s artwork to be used on the project.
Currently in its fifth edition since 2005, the Ship of Tolerance was previously produced in Siwa, Egypt; Venice, Italy; St. Moritz, Switzerland and Sharjah, UAE. The Miami edition will be the first time that the project is realized in North America.

Media FeatureMeg BartonDecember 1, 20112011, Premier Guide Miama

Kabakov’s Ship of Tolerance Sails into Miami for Art Basel Miami Beach

The mission of the Ship of Tolerance is to educate and connect the youth of different continents, cultures, and identities together through the language of art.

“Rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame, let’s use this occasion to expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy, and remind ourselves of all the ways that our hopes and dreams are bound together.” (President Barack Obama, January 12, 2011, University of Arizona memorial service)

Media FeatureMeg BartonNovember 30, 20112011, Wolfgang Roth & Partners Fine Art

Ship of Tolerance Project Miami Children’s Museum

The brainchild of Russian-born Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, the Ship of Tolerance Project will enlist the Miami Children’s Museum to coordinate all participating children and their artwork that will be used on the project and to provide a forum for discussion of the theme of tolerance. Local children between the ages of 6 and 13 will learn about the project and will design and create their artwork contributions. At MCM, after discussing this Ship of Tolerance theme as a group, children have been painting their own interpretation of Tolerance onto a large piece of canvas of uniform size. Approximately 150 of these canvas paintings will be later hoisted onto the mast of the ship, which will be constructed on site at Art Miami 2011 where it will be available for public viewing.

Media FeatureMeg BartonNovember 30, 2011ARTLOG, 2011

10 Can’t-Miss Events at the 10th Annual Art Basel Miami Beach

The swank extravaganza that has turned South Beach into an international art destination celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. As the expo (which runs December 1–4 at the Miami Beach Convention Center) has grown, a host of additional art happenings has risen up around it. Here, the best of the bunch.

Media FeatureMeg BartonNovember 29, 2011DETAILS, Rachel Wolff, 2011

“The Ship of Tolerance” Rises in Miami

Waving a flag to draw attention is a time-tested tradition. Hoisting a sail to encourage tolerance and embrace differences may be on the way to becoming one. The fifth incarnation of “The Ship of Tolerance” takes to the waterways of Miami this week in conjunction with the Miami art fairs. Captaining the project are artists Ilya and Emilia Kabakov.

Media FeatureMeg BartonNovember 29, 2011Hamptons Art Hub, 2011, Pat Rogers

Miami Art Fairs: Ilya and Emilia Kabakov

On Saturday in Miami, Ilya and Emilia Kabakov announced the first North American version of their Ship of Tolerance project, taking place in March of 2011 in Florida. The collaborative couple, who currently live and work in Long Island, New York, invite local schoolchildren to contribute drawings that are then sewn together in the formation of a ship’s sail. The seaworthy vessels are at once powerful and poignant.

Media FeatureMeg BartonDecember 11, 2010The Daily Serving, 2010, Rebekah Drysdale

Saharan Adventure

When a group of carpentry students from Manchester were offered the trip of a lifetime, they jumped at the chance.

They were asked by one of the world’s top contemporary artists to travel to the Saharan desert to build a replica of an ancient Egyptian ship.

Inside Out joins them on their amazing African adventure.

Media FeatureMeg BartonJanuary 16, 2006Inside Out, North West, 2006

The amazing Technicolor Dreamboat

By any measure, it was a strange affair. Last month, a large group of people gathered on the shore of a small salt lake in Siwa, a remote oasis in the Sahara desert, to witness the maiden voyage of a 20ft sailboat made from reeds and palm leaves.

More than 300km from the nearest river, this modest stretch of water in Egypt has never before been graced by a vessel of any kind. Not that this boat could float. Buoyed by inflatable pontoons hidden beneath the surface, the ship was a work by Russia’s most famous and influential living artists, Ilya and Emilia Kabakov.

Media FeatureMeg BartonNovember 19, 20052005, The Telegraph, Nick Hackworth