Prime Highlight
- Veronika Berezina transitioned from a successful legal career in St. Petersburg to becoming a cultural leader who uses art as a bridge between communities across continents.
- Through her NIKA Project Spaces in Dubai and Paris, she promotes underrepresented voices and fosters global dialogue in the art world.
Key Facts
- NIKA Project Space first opened in Dubai in March 2023, followed by a second location in Paris’s Komunuma art district in September 2024.
- The 2024 Open Studios in Dubai featured artists Yasmine Al-Awa, Ahed Al-Kathiri, and Zahra Jewanjee, leading to the exhibition “Rooted Echoes” focused on memory, heritage, and ecology.
Key Background
Veronika Berezina, who began her career as a lawyer, has transformed herself into a leading voice in the art world by creating spaces that bring people and cultures together. Born in St. Petersburg and trained in law, she spent more than ten years practicing as a lawyer while steadily nurturing her interest in contemporary art. She explained in an interview that contemporary art offered her what law could not, an opportunity to engage with the important issues of our time through creativity and reflection.
Victor’s appointment to the helm of a new cultural organization in March 2023 distinguished her as a collector who has become a cultural leader. With the opening of NIKA Project Space in Dubai in March 2023, the answers to questions are just closed in a few words.
NIKA showcases artists and curators from less-represented regions, with a focus on experimental and research-driven practices. Its initiatives combine residencies, publications, and exhibitions. During the summer in Dubai, there was a program called the Open Studios that showed the works of Yasmine Al-Awa, Ahed Al-Kathiri, and Zahra Jewanjee, who are, in fact, the artists of the roots and the echoes of this exposition.
Berezina’s global upbringing influences her curatorial vision. She gives priority to women artists and voices from the Global South, aiming to balance what she sees as “a long-standing gap in the international art narrative.” For her, real success goes beyond commercial sales. “If an exhibition changes perception, sparks dialogue, or helps an artist grow in their career, that is success,” she explained.
She encourages women entering the art world to remain confident in their vision, gain knowledge of every aspect of the business, and focus on building strong, supportive networks. Your authenticity is your strongest asset.”
From her early days in St. Petersburg law offices to running art spaces in Dubai and Paris, Berezina shows that art is not only for viewing, it is for living, sharing, and using as a bridge between worlds.
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