The public program accompanying the exhibition Sekretiki: Digging Up Soviet Underground Culture, 1966–1985 encourages visitors to experience physically and sensually the phenomena and visual material from different fields of knowledge.
Preceded by a comprehensive research which took several months, the show Sekretiki could not reflect all of its directions (themes, characters, facts, and objects) in the eventual display however: some things ended up being represented only partially, or not at all. Visitors are invited to work with this hidden, unexposed material which is nevertheless an important component of the project.
Rather than limiting itself to “digging up” documents and archives, the process of research unfolds in time and space promising some exciting discoveries and encounters. The events comprising the public program imply that the participants will eagerly engage in scenarios suggested by the researchers: for example, feel themselves like protagonists of the given circumstances, take on the roles of the show’s co-creators, and reflect on the phenomena linking the stagnation era with the contemporary period.
The public program features talks and discussions in the format of practicums with artists, archivists, anthropologists, and film historians, as well as walks around some legendary Moscow courtyards of the 1960–1980s “in the footsteps” of Yuri Mamleev, Dmitry Prigov, and modern-day underground artists, and the development of a live action-role playing game (LARP) together with a professional game architect.
The program has been devised by the independent researcher Olga Shirokostup.
