Covering minimalism, postcolonialism and the search of identity by non-European artists working in the Western culture, the public program for Rasheed Araeen. A Retrospective offers an opportunity to get a better understanding of Rasheed Araeen’s art and the socio-cultural situation the artist has criticized in his work.
The program of lectures, workshops, reading groups, and performances explores the social and cultural contexts that have informed Rasheed Araeen’s work, and their evolution in time.
A series of lectures will be devoted to a detailed analysis of Araeen’s minimalism and his critique of the political foundations of Western modernism.
Speakers invited to take part in talks and discussions on the crisis of colonialism and the search for new identities by migrant artists and authors include one of the key figures in postcolonial studies, Gayatri Spivak.
In a workshop on the theory and practice of minimalism in music developed in collaboration with Playtronica, participants will look into the phenomenon of synesthesia, and in particular sensory experiences evoked by color perception—and compose their own musical pieces.
Co-curators of the exhibition Valentin Diaconov and Iaroslav Volovod will lead a reading group focused on the issues explored in Third Text, a journal published by Rasheed Araeen.
In May, Gorky Park visitors will have an opportunity to see Disco Sailing, a performance conceived in 1968, in which nine performers will balance on minimalist circles designed by Araeen and floating in Pionersky Pond.
Audio guides offering extra information on selected works in the exhibition in Russian and English will be available at the information stand.