Sorry No Rooms Available is an international residence of contemporary art that creates conditions for artistic practice and the stay of participants in the artistic and cultural environment of Uzhgorod and Transcarpathia, Ukraine. In turn, in a 1-3 month period, the resident creates a contextual project / exhibition in the city of Uzhgorod – or the region, as well as a choice of: artist talk, lecture / workshop, etc.

Sorry No Rooms Available is one of the few year-round residences of contemporary art in Ukraine and is one of a small number of private non-profit organizations of contemporary art in the Transcarpathian region. It has been operating since April 1, 2016 at the Intourist-Zakarpattia hotel in Uzhhorod. About 10 – 40 participants take part in the residence during one year.

The residency was started as an artistic initiative that encourages the participant to dialogue with the place, with the cultural heritage of the region, with its rich and complex history. In particular, the integration of an artist into the local art scene can be a new experience. It should be noted that Transcarpathia is the westernmost region of Ukraine where many different nationalities and communities live. The experience of being on a kind of periphery stimulates artists in particular to search for new forms of modern artistic initiatives and practices.

You can find out more about the art that was created at the residence on the website of the residence and on the pages of the residence on Facebook and Instagram.

https://sorrynoroomsavailable.tumblr.com/

Beginnings:
2016 – Founding of the artistic initiative of the residence “Sorry, no rooms available” – Petro Ryaska
2019 – Founding of the NGO residence of contemporary art “Sorry, no rooms available” – Petro Ryaska, Anton Varga

About the place

Hotel Intourist-Zakarpattia is a place that combines an architectural phenomenon, a social context, a cultural section and a historical narrative. The building of the Intourist-Zakarpattia hotel is a monumental architectural form of brutalism, built in the Soviet period in 1979. Since then, the hotel has become an ambiguous symbol of Soviet Uzhhorod and Transcarpathia, which at one time framed the western gate of the Iron Curtain, year after year weaving itself into the cultural landscape of both Soviet and post-Soviet generations of Uzhhorod residents. The environment of the hotel still hides the atmosphere of the time of socialist utopian architecture, with all its special details, distortions and strange arrangements. The founders of the residence propose to consider the phenomenon of the Intourist-Zakarpattia hotel as a certain historical route, as a book that needs to be read while simultaneously living in it day after day.

The context of Transcarpathia or Uzhgorod is suggested as a direction for the residence projects, where in particular an additional research project regarding the hotel as a place of architectural, cultural and historical crossroads is possible.

Resources provided

Accommodation: residential room: room about 20 square meters, leased by the SNRA residence in the Intourist-Zakarpattia hotel. If necessary, a studio of about 18 square meters. Access to a shared Double Room studio, about 30 square meters.;
or living in a rented apartment in the city of Uzhgorod (with the possibility of attracting additional grant or other institutional funding)

The residence provides: per diem, funds for materials, travel expenses, organizational and media support, etc.

Promotion

A coordinator, curator, assistant, translator, designer help the participant in the implementation of the project at the residence.

The SNRA residence promotes the implementation of projects at the location of the Intourist-Zakarpattia hotel, namely in the spaces: Red Bar Yama, Glass space “Pyvzavod”, as well as in the Korydor gallery and other exhibition spaces of the city or region. Cooperation with the Transcarpathian Academy of Arts is also possible. The residence provides media support on the residence page and its social media pages.

Applique

The Residence of Contemporary Art Sorry No Rooms Available accepts applications from Ukrainian artists to participate in the 2024-2025 residency program

The residence program Sorry No Rooms Available for 2024-2025 aims to implement institutionally critical projects related to cultural heritage, the development of artistic and cultural institutions and, in particular, project – educational programs. The proposal for projects at the residence is to create a contextual project with the above-mentioned topic in the city of Uzhhorod or the region. As a result, an exhibition (project, performance, work, etc.), an artistic talk and a lecture (lecture or workshops) are possible…

For the application, it is suggested to send the following information: bio/cv, artist statement, portfolio (can additionally link to a web resource, if available), description of the project for the residence (if available), recommendation (if available).

Email address for application: snralobby@gmail.com

The team of the SNRA residence:
Coordinator: Petro Ryaska +380673947364
sorrynoroomsavailable@gmail.com
Admin-assistant: Anastasia Kostiv
Tech-manager / photographer: Mykhailo Melnychenko
Graphic designer: Oleg Perkovsky

The site of the residence Sorry No Rooms Available was created thanks to the support of the European Cultural Foundation / Culture of Solidarity Ukraine edition 2022 – 2023