JEDDAH: Veronika Berezina, who was born in St. Petersburg and trained as a lawyer, spent more than a decade balancing her legal career with a growing passion for contemporary art.
“I realised contemporary art offered something my legal career could not — a space for engaging with the pressing questions of our time in creative and philosophical ways,” she told Arab News. What began as private collecting soon became a public mission.
In March 2023, she opened NIKA Project Space in Dubai, “a space where audiences, artists, and curators could meet, exchange, and challenge each other openly.”
A second location followed in Paris’s Komunuma art district in September 2024, creating what Berezina calls “a bridge between European and Global South perspectives.”
NIKA champions artists and curators from underrepresented geographies, with a focus on experimental and research-driven practice. Its residencies, publishing projects, and exhibitions are intertwined.
“Residencies allow artists to immerse themselves in a place, research deepens the conceptual framework, and publishing ensures the ideas travel further,” Berezina said. This summer’s Open Studios in Dubai, featuring Yasmine Al-Awa, Ahed Al-Kathiri, and Zahra Jewanjee, led to “Rooted Echoes,” an exhibition exploring memory, cultural inheritance, and ecology.
Her curatorial ethos is shaped by her cross-cultural life. “Growing up in St. Petersburg gave me an early appreciation for the arts, while working internationally taught me adaptability and empathy.”
She prioritises artists from the Global South and female voices, aiming to “address a long-standing imbalance in the global art narrative.”
For Berezina, success is not simply about sales. “If an exhibition shifts perceptions, sparks conversation, or helps an artist reach a new stage in their career, that is success.”
She balances commercial viability with conceptual integrity by cultivating a collector base “who value intellectual depth as much as aesthetics.”
Running two spaces across different cultural contexts brings challenges, especially as a woman leader.
“Gender should never determine vision or talent, yet opportunities have not always been equally accessible,” she said. “These challenges have reinforced my conviction to create spaces that amplify underrepresented voices.”
Her advice to women entering the art world is straightforward: “Be clear in your vision, learn every facet of the business, and build a network of allies. Authenticity is your greatest asset.”
Berezina’s journey, from the law offices of St. Petersburg to the art hubs of Dubai and Paris, is anchored by one belief: art is not just to be seen, but to be lived, discussed, and used to connect worlds.
