The project was created by the author during his stay at the «Room with a View» art residency, which took place from July to September this year in three Russian cities. The artists visited Nizhny Novgorod, Astrakhan, and Murmansk.

The «Room with a View» art residency was initiated by the AZIMUT Hotels hotel chain. As part of its work, the project team not only supports young artists, but also creates a new map of cultural attractions that will be created by contemporary artists.

This year, the program's residents included Grisha Sharov from Krasnoyarsk, who created a project in Nizhny Novgorod, Vladimir Abikh from St. Petersburg, who traveled to Astrakhan, and the art collective Momentum from St. Petersburg, who visited Murmansk.

Grisha Sharov is a renowned street artist from Siberia, the creator of the «One for All» festival and the independent contemporary art fair SCAM, who explores themes of place memory, childhood experiences, and the recent past of the country through humor and introspection.

His work «The Sun is Waiting for Dawn» is slightly ironic and kind, inviting the viewer to interact: everyone can sit down, take a photo, or even pet the sun.

Grisha Sharov, artist: «When I was just going to Nizhny Novgorod, someone told me: this is the city of sunsets! I chuckled and thought: well, well, in other cities the sun doesn't set. But my skeptical attitude was shamed on the very first day in the city. The AZIMUT Hotel is adjacent to a large new embankment, in the evening there is a day, a crowd of people gathered, and I included.

On the same day, I came up with an object that I want to do. I realized that since the sunset is visible from the front of the hotel, the sunrise is hidden behind the building. I thought it would be great to create a sculpture of the sun sitting on a bench, waiting for its own sunrise. Now, you can see the sun at any time of the day, sit next to it, and maybe even wait for your own sunrise».

About the project

«At the first stage, we chose three cities that represent the north, south, and central part of Russia. In the future, we plan to scale the project to all cities where the chain is present», said Maxim Brodovsky, General Director of AZIMUT Hotels. «The idea behind the new project is to take art beyond the hotel walls, making it accessible not only to our valued guests, but also to all tourists and locals, and highlighting the vastness of the country and its diverse cultures».

AZIMUT Art Residence «Room with a View» is Russia's first public art program for the development of the cultural landscape of Russian cities, created on the basis of the wide geography of the AZIMUT Hotels network.

According to the project's concept, the artist should spend a week in a new city. They should get inspired by its culture, capture the mood of the locals, and express their perception of the city through art by creating a sketch of an art object.

AZIMUT Art Residences were created as part of the AZIMUT ART program, which has been implemented by the hotel chain since 2021. The company actively supports contemporary Russian artists by providing them with creative spaces at its hotels.