Post-Soviet visions from a new generation of image-makers

What does Eastern Europe look like 25 years after the fall of Communism? And how do young image-makers there see it? Calvert 22 is investigating, with an exhibition titled Post-Soviet Visions: image and identity in the new Eastern Europe.

Curated by Ekow Eshun, creative director of Calvert 22 Foundation, and freelance writer and curator Anastasiia Fedorova, the exhibition includes work by 14 emerging photographers born in Eastern Europe and Russia – Armen Parsadanov, David Meskhi, Dima Komarov, Genia Volkov, Grigor Devejiev, Hassan Kurbanbaev, Ieva Raudsepa, Jędrzej Franek, Masha Demianova, Michal Korta, Patrick Bienert & Max von Gumppenberg, Paulina Korobkiewicz, and Pavel Milyakov. Featuring tower blocks and skaters, night clubs and bathers, their work confirms and confounds conceptions of a part of the world that, according to Calvert 22, has become “a byword for bold, innovative creativity in cultural fields from high fashion to film”.

The exhibition is accompanied by a series of talks looking at post-Soviet fashion, photography and architecture, with the discussion on photography taking place on 05 April. Chaired by Ekow Eshun, the debate will feature Ashleigh Kane, arts and culture editor at Dazed; Turkina Faso, Russian-born photographer and Vogue Italia contributor; and Maria Kapajeva, the artist from Estonia. Post-Soviet Visions: image and identity in the new Eastern Europe opens a year of events looking at societal and cultural change in Eastern Europe at Calvert 22.

Post-Soviet Visions: image and identity in the new Eastern Europe is on show from 23 February-15 April at Calvert 22 Space, London https://calvert22.org/post-soviet-visions-image-identity-new-eastern-europe/

Image © Genia Volkov
Image © Jedrzej Frenek
Image © David Meskhi
Image © Patrick Beinart and Max von Gumppenburg
Image © Hassan Kurbanbaev
Image © Ieva Raudsepa
Image © Paulina Korobkiewicz

 

Diane Smyth

Diane Smyth is the editor of BJP, returning for a second stint on staff in 2023 - after 15 years on the team until 2019. As a freelancer, she has written for The Guardian, FT Weekend Magazine, Creative Review, Aperture, FOAM, Aesthetica and Apollo. She has also curated exhibitions for institutions such as The Photographers Gallery and Lianzhou Foto Festival. You can follow her on instagram @dismy