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About





Taus Makhacheva (b.1983) creates works that explore the restless connections between historical narratives and fictions of cultural authenticity. Often humorous, her art considers the resilience of images, objects and bodies emerging out of stories and personal experiences that complicate notion of empires. Her methodology involves reworking of materials, landscapes and monuments, pushing against walls, opening up ceilings and proliferating institutional spaces with a cacophony of voices. 

Makhacheva holds a BA in Fine Art from Goldsmiths (2007) and has an MFA from the Royal College of Art (2013). 

Selected exhibitions include the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale (2024), Gwangju Biennale (2023), Biennial of Difficult Heritage (2021), the Yokohama Triennale (2020), Lahore Biennale (2020), Kaunas Biennial (2019), Lyon Biennale (2019), Riga International Biennial of Contemporary Art (2018), Liverpool Biennial (2018), Manifesta (2018), Yinchuan Biennale (2018), Venice Biennale (2017), Garage Triennial of Russian Contemporary Art (2017), Shanghai Biennale (2016), Moscow Biennale (2015), Kyiv Biennial (2015), Sharjah Biennial (2013). 

Selected сollections include the Centre Pompidou (Paris); The P. S. Gamzatova Dagestan Museum of Fine Arts (Makhachkala); Kadist Art Foundation (Paris, San Francisco); Moscow Museum of Modern Art (Moscow); Museum of Modern Art (Antwerp); Sharjah Art Foundation (Sharjah); Tate Modern (London); Van Abbemuseum (Eindhoven).



Full CV (PDF)



Selected solo shows

2022
  • Space of Celebration, curated by Lucas Morin, Nora Razian, Jameel Arts Center, Dubai

2021
  • It’s Possible to Raise the Ceiling a Bit, curated by Hanne Hagenaars, Fries Museum, Friesland

2020
  • 4`224,92 cm’2 of Degas, сurated by Nicole Schweizer, Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne 
  • Hold Your Horses, curated by Helen Watson and Melissa Burntown, The Tetley, Leeds
  • Sturdy Black Shoes, curated by Edit Molnar and Marcel Schwierin, Edith-Russ-Haus für Medienkunst, Oldenburg

2019
  • Superhero Sighting Society, conceived by Sabih Ahmed and Taus Makhacheva, KADIST Foundation, Paris
  • Charivari, curated by Suad Garayeva-Maleki, Yarat Contemporary Art Space, Baku
  • D’une pierre, une montagne, curated by Nicolas Audureau, LE CAP, Saint-Fons
  • The Strong Ones, curated by Lýdia Pribišová, Hit Gallery, Bratislava2018

2018
  • Storeroom, curated by Christiane Berndes, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven
  • BaidÀ, narrative projects, London

2017
  • Cloud Caught on a Mountain, curated by Alexey Maslyaev, Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Moscow
  • Second World, Third Attempt, Leo Xu Projects, Shanghai

2015
  • Vababai Vadadai!, narrative projects, London
  • (In)sidenotes, curated by Rebecka Wigh Abrahamsson, Uppsala Konstmuseum, Uppsala

2014
  • Dagestan. Not for Sale, curated by Alexey Maslyaev, artSumer Gallery, Istanbul
  • A Walk, a Dance, a Ritual, curated by Ilina Koralova, (GfZK) Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Leipzig

2013
  • What? Whose? Why?, curated by Daria Kirsanova, Raf projects, Tehran
  • Story Demands to Be Continued, curated by Alexey Maslyaev, Exhibition Hall of the Artists’ Union of the Republic of Dagestan, Makhachkala
  • On Historical Ideals of Labour in the Country That Conquered Space, The Mews Artist Run Space, London
  • The Process of Instance of Breaking Open, curated by Maria Kotlyachkova and Emmeli Person, Kalmar Konstmuseum, Kalmar
2012
  • Let Me Be Part of a Narrative, curated by Alexey Maslyaev, Paperworks Gallery, Moscow
  • City States, Topography of Masculinity, curated by Irina Stark and Kelly Klifa, 7th Liverpool Biennial, LJMU Copperas Hill Building, Liverpool


2011
  • Affirmative Actions (mimesis), curated by Marco Scotini, Laura Bulian Gallery, Milan


2010
  • Affirmative Actions, curated by Alexey Maslyaev, Panopticon Inutero, Moscow


2009
  • A Space of Celebration, Pervaya Gallery, Makhachkala





Selected group shows

2025
  • Bukhara Biennial, curated by Diana Campbell, Uzbekistan

2024

  • Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale, curated by Ute Meta Bauer, Riyadh
  • Future Wunderkammer, curated by Yoko Nose, Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Japan
  • Perhaps Here, curated by Tarek Abu El Fetouh, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah

2023
  • 14th Gwangju Biennale, curated by Sook-Kyung Lee, Gwangju
  • The only constant, curated by Maya Allison, NYUAD ART Gallery, Abu Dhabi
  • After Laughter Comes Tears, curated by Joel Valabrega, MUDAM, Luxembourg
  • Not My Circus, Not My Monkeys, curated by Helen Hirsch and Katrin Sperry, Kunstmuseum Thun, Thun

2022
  • In the Heart of Another Country, curated by Dr Omar Kholeif, Contemporary Art of Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Hamburg
  • I`m Stepping High, I`m Drifting, and There I Go Leaping, curated by Weng Xiaoyu, Xiao Museum of Contemporary Art, Shandong
  • Hurting and Healing. Let's Imagine a Different Heritage, curated by Charles Esche, Tensta Konsthall, Stockholm
  • Migration in Art - the Art of Migrations, curated by Danilo Vuksanović, Jelena Ognjanović, Luka Kulić, Novi Sad, Serbia
  • Moving Woman, curated by Maria Lind, Smena, Kazan

2021
  • Biennial of Difficult Heritage, curated by Anton Valkovsky, Volgograd
  • One Point Five, curated by Stefanie Böttcher, Kunsthalle Mainz, Mainz
  • Hands, curated by Madhursee Dutta and Ala Younis, Akademie der Künste der Welt, Köln
  • Time of Mourning, curated by Daniela, Linda Dostálková, PLATO Ostrava, Ostrava

2020
  • Yokohama Triennale 2020 ‘Afterglow’, curated by Raqs Media Collective, Yokohama
  • Eat the Museum, curated by Fanny Hauser and Viktor Neumann, Gebert Stiftung für Kultur, Rapperswil
  • Between the sun and the moon, curated by Hoor Al Qasimi, Lahore biennial, Lahore
  • Bangkok Art Biennale 2020 ‘Escape routes’, Bangkok

2019
  • Cosmopolis #2: Rethinking the Human, curated by Kathryn Weir with associate Cosmopolis curator Ilaria Conti and in collaboration with associate curators Charléne Dinhut and Zhang Hanlu, Centre Pompidou, Paris
  • Where Water Comes Together with Other Water, curated by Adélaïde Blanc, Daria de Beauvais, Yoann Gourmel, Matthieu Lelièvre,
  • Vittoria Matarrese, Claire Moulène and Hugo Vitrani, 15th Lyon Contemporary Art Biennale, Lyon
  • After Leaving / Before Arriving, curated by Elisabeth Del Prete, Daniel Milnes, Lýdia Pribišová, Neringa Stoškutė and Alessandra Troncone, 12th Kaunas Biennial, Kaunas
  • Future Generation Art Prize, curated by Björn Geldhof and Tatiana Kochubinska, 58th Venice Biennale, collateral event, Palazzo Ca’ Tron, Venice
  • The Keeper; To Have and to Hold, curated by Emer McGarry, The Model, Sligo
  • Future Generation Art Prize, curated by Björn Geldhof and Tatiana Kochubinska, Pinchuk Art Centre, Kyiv

2018
  • Punk Orientalism, curated by Sara Raza, Mackenzie Art gallery, Regina Saskatchewan
  • Rituals of Signs and Metamorphosis, curated by Terek Abou El Fetouh, Red Brick Art Museum, Beijing
  • Supernature in Two Parts, curated by Haroon Mirza and Daria Khan (Mimosa House), Lisson Gallery, London
  • One Place after Another, curated by Victor Misiano, Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center, Moscow
  • The Planetary Garden, curated by Bregtje van der Haak, Andrés Jaque, Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli and Mirjam Varadinis, 
  • Manifesta 12, Palermo
  • Starting from the Desert, curated by Marco Scotini, 2nd Yinchuan Biennale, Yinchuan
  • Beautiful World, Where Are You?, curated by Kitty Scott and Sally Tallant, 10th Liverpool Biennial, Liverpool
  • Everything Was Forever, Until It Was no More, curated by Katerina Gregos, 1st Riga International Biennial of Contemporary Art, Riga

2017
  • New Literacy, curated by Joao Ribas, 4th Ural Industrial Biennial, Ekaterinburg
  • Viva Arte Viva, curated by Christine Macel, 57th International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia, Space Force Construction, 
  • Palazzo delle Zattere, Venice
  • How to Live Together, curated by Nicolaus Schafhausen, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna
  • 1st Garage Triennial of Russian Contemporary Art, curated by Katya Inosemtseva, Snejana Krasteva, Andrey Misiano, 
  • Ilmira Bolotyan, Tatiana Volkova and Sasha Obukhova, Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow

2016
  • Why not Ask Again? Arguments, Counter-arguments and Stories, curated by Raqs Media Collective, 11th Shanghai Biennale,
  • Power Station of Art, Shanghai 
  • VII Permanent collection display interaction: Contemporary Artists Respond to MMOMA Collection, curated by Elena Yaichnikova, MMOMA, Moscow
  • Travellers, curated by Magdalena Moskalewicz, Zacheta National Gallery, Warsaw
  • Museum ON/OFF, curated by Alicia Knock, Centre Pompidou, Paris
  • Lost in the Archive, curated by Inga Lace and Andra Silapetere, Riga City Exhibition Hall Riga Art Space, Riga


2015
  • ‘Otwock’ Season 5: Silvohortiaromatherapy, curated by Kasia Redzis and Magda Materna, Otwock
  • How to Gather? Acting in a Center in a City in the Heart of the Island of Eurasia, curated by Bart De Baere, Defne Ayas and Nicolaus Schafhausen, 6th Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, VDNKh, Moscow
  • The School of Kyiv, Kyiv Biennial, curated by Hedwig Saxenhuber and Georg Schollhammer, Kyiv
  • Too Early, Too Late. Middle East and Modernity, curated by Marco Scotini, Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna, Bologna


2014
  • Close and Far: Russian Photography Now, curated by Kate Bush, Calvert 22, London
  • So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, Lawrie Shabibi, Dubai
  • Russian Performance: A Cartography of Its History, curated by Julia Aksenova and Sasha Obukhova, 
  • Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow
  • Untitled... (Native Foreigners), curated by Andrey Misiano, Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow

2013 
  • Nostalgia Nervosa, curated by Iliana Fokianaki, State of Concept, Athens
  • Sensible Action, curated by Beral Madra, Alanika 2013, National Museum of the Republic of Northern Ossetia-Alania, Vladikavkaz
  • Love Me, Love Me not, curated by Dina Nasser-Khadivi, 55th Venice Biennale, collateral event, Venice
  • No Water Tomorrow, curated by Alexey Maslyaev, Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Moscow
  • Re:emerge: Towards a New Cultural Cartography, curated by Yuko Hasegawa, 11th Sharjah Biennial, Sharjah
  • The Enchanted Wanderer, curated by Andrey Misiano, Chukotka’s Heritage Museum Center, Anadyr

2012
  • I Am Who I Am, curated by Olga Sviblova, Kunst im Tunnel, Dusseldorf
  • Animal Style, curated by Ilya Shipilovskikh, National Centre for Contemporary Art, Ekaterinburg
  • Quarantania, curated by David Thorp, John Hansard Gallery, Southampton 
  • Joyful Archipelago, curated by Olga Grotova, Guest Projects, London
  • Migrasophia, curated by Sara Raza, Maraya Contemporary Art Centre, Sharjah


2011
  • Rewriting Worlds, curated by Peter Weibel, 4th Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art,
  • main project, ARTPLAY Design Centre, Moscow
  • Expanded Cinema, curated by Olga Shishko, XII Media Forum of 33rd Moscow International Film Festival, 
  • Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Moscow
  • Get Up and Run Away with It – About Love and the Impossible, curated by Nadine Wietlisbach, Palais Bleu Le-Lie, Trogen
  • Greater Caucasus, curated by Irina Yashkova, PERMM Museum of Contemporary Art, Perm
  • North Caucasian Biennale, curated by Djamilia Dagirova, Pervaya Gallery, Makhachkala
  • Practice for Everyday Life, curated by David Thorp, Calvert 22, London


2010
  • Intimate Capital, curated by Andrey Parshikov, II Moscow International Biennale for Young Art ‘Qui Vive?’, Proekt_Fabrika, Moscow
  • History of Russian Video Art, Volume 3, curated by Antonio Geusa, Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Moscow                      


2009
  • Aluminium, curated by Leyla Akhundzadeh, 4th International Baku Biennale of Contemporary Art, Baku
  • Let Me Think!, curated by Stanislav Shuripa, 3rd Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, parallel programme,
  • Red October Factory, Moscow
  • Really?, curated by Aleksandr Sokolov, 3rd Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, parallel programme, ARTPLAY Design Centre, Moscow
  • Topography of Happiness: Russian Wedding from the 19th to the 21st Century, curated by Olga Sosnina, 
  • Tsaritsyno State Museum, Moscow
  • We Will Take the Lead from Now On, curated by Arseniy Zhilyaev and Maria Chekhonadskih, Voronezh Centre for Contemporary Art, Voronezh


2008
  • Me, Nature, curated by Stanislav Shuripa, I Moscow International Biennale for Young Art ‘Qui Vive?’, 
  • Foundation ‘Contemporary City’, Moscow
  • Migration, curated by Daria Kamyshnikova, I Moscow International Biennale for Young Art ‘Qui Vive?’, 
  • Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Moscow 
  • Documenting Possibilities, curated by Stanislav Shuripa, Valand School of Fine Art, Gothenburg


2006
  • Caucasica, curated by Giancarlo Vianello, Scuola Grande di S. Giovanni Evangelista, Venice
  • XII INTERBIFER International Biennale of Portrait, Drawings and Graphics 06, Tuzla
  • ‘Otwock’ Season 5: Silvohortiaromatherapy, curated by Kasia Redzis and Magda Materna, Otwock










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