Katya Muromtseva is a visual artist with a background in philosophy and stage design, whose lyrical-conceptual work investigates personal and collective memory through imaginative forms of documentation. She has had solo exhibitions at the M HKA Museum, Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow Museum of Contemporary Art, XL Gallery, Art Front Gallery, Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial among others.  She was listed in Forbes Russia "30 under 30" in 2020. She was a resident at WHW Academy in Zagreb and at Cornerstone residency in New York City. She has received the “Innovation” contemporary art prize in 2020 and Fulbright fellowship in 2020-2022. 

“Women in Black” is a series of watercolors dedicated to a wave of quiet protests that engaged women dressed in black, holding white flowers as if in mourning. These protests against the war in Ukraine  took place in different cities of Russia and around the world. In photographs of the recent Russian protests I used for these works, the heads are often cropped out, so the authorities cannot identify the activists. I created these works to share my belief that it is possible to raise your voice against injustice under any kind of pressure, even if your protest looks like a wake. I stand in solidarity with everyone who has the courage to protest the war in any possible manner.