Dora García in collaboration with Maria Lind: Kollontai

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Dora García and Maria Lind’s research project is inspired by the figure of Alexandra Kollontai, a writer, feminist, political émigré, and revolutionary who advocated a radical transformation of the relationship between men and women.

With concepts of free love and camaraderie at the center of her beliefs, Kollontai was influential within the Bolshevik party (she was appointed People’s Commissar of Public Charity in the first Soviet government) and headed the struggle for woman’s rights, including for divorce, abortion, and legal status for children born outside marriage. Many of the reforms she initiated to liberate women from «domestic slavery» were reversed under Stalin in the 1930s. 

Kollontai’s radical ideas on women’s sexual liberation became known in western Europe and America through her diplomatic work as ambassador to Norway, Mexico, and Sweden, as well as due to the many reprints of her writings, including the manifesto Make Way for Winged Eros! and the stories Three Generations, Sisters, and Vasilisa Malygina. The latter was first published in English in 1927 with the title Red Love. The image of its protagonist served as a starting point for García’s exhibition Red Love at Tensta Konsthall in Stockholm, which opened in May 2018. 

As part of their research, García and Lind are planning to visit archives in Moscow and St. Petersburg and study photographs, films, and recordings related to the life of Alexandra Kollontai, as well as her writings and objects that once belonged to her, in order to explore the cultural and historical contexts of her work. 

Status: 2018–2019

Researchers: Dora García and Maria Lind

ABOUT THE RESEARCHERS

Dora García (b. 1965, Valladolid, Spain; lives and works in Barcelona and Oslo) is an artist. She currently teaches at Oslo National Academy of the Arts and HEAD Genève. She represented Spain at the Venice Biennale in 2011 and has taken part in the 56th Venice Biennale (2015), documenta 13, Kassel (2012), and other international events such as Sao Paulo Biennale (2010), Sydney Biennale (2008), and Münster Sculpture Projects (2007). Her work is largely performative and deals with issues related to community and individuality in contemporary society, exploring the political potential of marginal positions, paying homage to eccentric characters and antiheroes. In 2018, she presented her film and research project Segunda Vez, on politics, performance, and psychoanalysis which was joint winner of the Grand Prix at FID Marseille in 2018.

Maria Lind (b. 1966, Stockholm; lives and works in Stockholm) is a curator, writer, and educator based in Stockholm. She was the director of Tensta konsthall (2011–2018), Stockholm, and the artistic director of the 11th Gwangju Biennale (2016). She was director of the graduate program, Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College (2008–2010) and director of Iaspis in Stockholm (2005–2007). From 2002–2004 she was the director of Kunstverein München. Currently she is professor of artistic research at the Art Academy in Oslo. She has contributed widely to newspapers, magazines, catalogues, and other publications. 

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