Wiktoria Lomasko
dal 21/2/2013 al 13/4/2013
Segnalato da
21/2/2013
Wiktoria Lomasko
Uqbar - projectspace, Berlin
Forbidden Art, in cooperation with Anton Nikolajew. In her solo show the artist juxtaposes drawings from her series about the Forbidden Art and Pussy Riot trials. In January 2013, Matthes & Seitz released a publication; the graphic novel will be part of the exhibition.
The court case against the musicians of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot has caused a worldwide protest. In August 2012 they were accused of "violation of the public order" and sentenced to two years in prison camp. Actually, this is not the first trial against artists who do not wish to conform to the directive of a regime-loyal Russian statecraft. Already in 2003, after a state-approved call by the Moscow Patriarch to "chase the evil" and to "save Russia." the exhibition Caution, Religion! was destroyed, because it followed an approach critical to religion. In 2006, there has been a lawsuit initiated by the ultra-conservative organization National Church, this time against the organizers of the exhibition Forbidden Art 2006, Andrei Erofeev and Yuri Samodurov.
In her court reports Moscow artist Wiktoria Lomasko deals with these processes – sometimes working collaboratively with Anton Nikolayev, who is primarily responsible for the texts. By means of drawing Lomasko documents the events at the trials, in the courtroom as much as outside. In her solo exhibition at uqbar the artist juxtaposes drawings from her series about the Forbidden Art and Pussy Riot trials.
In January 2013, the Berlin publishing house Matthes & Seitz released a publication with the court reports by Lomasko and Nikolayev. The graphic novel will be part of the exhibition and available for sale. Moreover, in December 2012, a drawing by Lomasko was chosen for the cover of the magazine ART.
On February 21, 2013, prior to the show at uqbar, the German-Russian Exchange Association (DRA), Amnesty International and iDecembrists invite to a panel discussion at the House of Democracy and Human Rights in Berlin. Moderated by Elfie Siegl (journalist, Russia correspondent, Board of the DRA), Wiktoria Lomasko (artist), Anton Nikolaev (author), Sandra Frimmel (art historian, Slavic Seminar, University of Zurich), Peter Frank (Amnesty International) and Mischa Gabowitsch (iDecembrists, Einstein Forum) will discuss about the current role of the arts in Russia, and their legal restrictions as shown in the trials mentioned.
The exhibition is supported by the German-Russian Exchange Association, the publishing house Matthes & Seitz and iDecembrists.
www.matthes-seitz-berlin.de
www.austausch.org
www.amnesty.de
www.hausderdemokratie.de
www.idecembrists.de
www.slav.uzh.ch
Discussion and book presentation February 21, 2013, 8 pm
House of Democracy and Human Rights, Greifswalderstr. 4, 10405 Berlin
Contact details: Antje Weitzel, aweitzel@uqbar-ev.de 0177 589905
Opening February 22, 2013, 7 pm
uqbar
Schwedenstr. 16, 13357 Berlin