Sekretiki: Mediators’ Dialogues

What role did mystical and esoteric practices play in the Soviet Union’s unofficial art scene and what did artists look for and discover in them? Using graphics and illustrations on show at the exhibition Sekretiki, the mediators will discuss the underground artists’ picture of the world, including their often-paradoxical perception of reality and work with altered states of consciousness without using psychoactive substances. Pieces by Armen Bugayan, Yuri Sobolev, Vladimir Kovenatsky, along with the history of application of punitive psychiatry to Soviet liberals and a very odd Soviet animation, will come into view.

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Was the body seen as an important tool in the practice of unofficial artists? And how is the theme of physicality represented in their works? Using selected actions by the art groups Gnezdo and Toadstool, works by Rimma and Valery Gerlovin, performances by Vadim Zakharov, and some other pieces by Soviet underground artists as a starting point, the mediators working at the show Sekretiki will discuss these and related issues associated with the body and physicality.

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Why did Soviet underground artists often collaborate with each other? Where is the line between co-authorship and collective effort? Why is it customary to unite these artists and what do they really have in common? The mediators will discuss actions by the Soviet unofficial art groups Collective Actions, Pertsy (Peppers), and SZ along with works by other artists. Touching upon the history of the squat in Furmanny Lane, the participants will analyze the phenomenon of collaborative creation and those forms of collectivity that existed at the time.

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How did the artists of the Soviet underground express their attitude to the everyday? How did they combine standardized Soviet daily life and contemporary art? Referring to works by Dmitri Prigov, Yuri Albert, Pertsy (Peppers), and other groups and individual artists, the mediators will discuss a variety of approaches to the everyday and Soviet domestic routine.

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How did nonconformist Soviet artists manage to emigrate without leaving the country? Why did they do so? Using as examples the actions, works on paper, and installations on view at the exhibition Sekretiki, the mediators will discuss the phenomenon of internal emigration and the forms it took in the Soviet Union. The discussion will cover works by TOTART group, Valentina Kropivnitskaya, and Nikita Alexeev, as well as unofficial artists’ personal histories and the practices of Soviet subcultures.

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Is it fair to say that Moscow was the center of unofficial art in the USSR? Were other regions and republics so distanced from the Soviet capital in reality? Drawing on documentation of actions, graphics, and photographs on display at the show Sekretiki, the mediators will discuss how Moscow conceptualism affected artists from other cities. The dialogue will be based around the works of Vyacheslav Akhunov, Andris Grīnbergs, Pertsy (Peppers) as well as personal stories of unofficial artists and subcultural collectives who lived and worked outside of the capital from the 1960s to the 1980s.

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The role of clothing in the Soviet context is important and ambiguous. For some, it is a space for creativity and self-expression, for others—a form of protest. Using as examples the actions of Rimma and Valery Gerlovin, works of Vyacheslav Akhunov, elements of the hippie wardrobe, and performances by Mukhomor (Toadstool), the mediators will discuss how artists and other figures representing the underground reconsidered the role of “ideological dress”. The mediators—Alisa Savina and Nastya Shestak—will explain who practiced “samostrok” (self-made designs), who buried clothes, and how it impacted unofficial art in the Soviet Union.

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As part of a public dialogue, Garage’s mediators will discuss why text started to play a significant role in paintings, actions, and installations executed by Soviet unofficial artists. Using the works of Dmitry Prigov, textual pieces by Yuri Albert, actions by Collective Actions and other artists to illustrate the discussion, the mediators will try to find interconnections between Soviet conceptualism and text.

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