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Author: Dovile Tumpytė
Keywords: censorship, non-art venue, non-conformist art, painting
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Linas Katinas’s painting exhibition in the sports hall of the Urban Planning Institute, Vilnius, 1974. Photo: Linas Katinas (courtesy of Linas Katinas).
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Kazimiera (Kazė) Zimblytė’s painting exhibition at the Vaga Publishing House, Vilnius, 1968. Photo: Dainora Juchnevičiūtė (courtesy of Dainora Juchnevičiūtė).
Date: Since 1962
In the period the art historian Elona Lubytė termed ‘silent modernism’ (1962–1982), unofficial exhibitions were held not only in artists’ studios or residences, but also in various non-art institutions that were home to patrons of modern art and exhibition-initiators. Among the most significant institutions were the club of the LSSR (Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic) Writers’ Union, the LSSR State Conservatory, the Urban Planning Institute, the Vaga publishing house (all based in Vilnius), and the Panevėžys Drama Theater, led by the acclaimed director Juozas Miltinis, who cultivated avant-garde ideas in his stage productions. According to contemporaries, the control of the art events that took place inside these institutions was less strict, yet these exhibitions were not advertised by official posters or covered by the press; in other words, they did not receive public attention or official evaluation. Artists’ works were exhibited in lobbies, hallways, offices, and sports and concert halls. Sometimes the unusual exhibition spaces spawned alternative approaches to displaying works of art.
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Author: Dovile Tumpytė
Keywords: censorship, international network
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Ex libris by Kastytis Juodikaitis. Digital scan copy from the catalogue “3rd International Biennial Exhibition of Modern Ex libris”, Muzeum Zamkowe, Malbork, Poland, 1967.
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Ex libris by Vincas Kisarauskas. Digital scan copy from the catalogue “3rd International Biennial Exhibition of Modern Ex libris”, Muzeum Zamkowe, Malbork, Poland, 1967.
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Ex libris by Antanas Kmieliauskas. Digital scan copy from the catalogue “3rd International Biennial Exhibition of Modern Ex libris”, Muzeum Zamkowe, Malbork, Poland, 1967.
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Ex libris by Vladas Žilius. Digital scan copy from the catalogue “3rd International Biennial Exhibition of Modern Ex libris”, Muzeum Zamkowe, Malbork, Poland, 1967.
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Ex libris by Vladas Žilius. Digital scan copy from the catalogue “3rd International Biennial Exhibition of Modern Ex libris”, Muzeum Zamkowe, Malbork, Poland, 1967.
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Laurynas Liberis, Ex libris by Lithuanian Artists in International Exhibitions via Mail, 1967–1985, 2011.
Date: 1967 – 1985
The phenomenon of artistic communication via mail emerged in Lithuania as a form of resistance to the ideologisation and isolation of art. In the late 1960s, Lithuanian artists became interested in a small form of graphic art – exlibris (bookplate). Such small forms were seen as marginal at the time, yet it was precisely this status that helped them to circumvent strict Soviet censorship and secure a special place among other art forms in the context of Soviet art. Exlibris was a mobile genre that could represent Lithuanian modern art abroad, as small-format bookplates could be sent to international exhibitions without the knowledge of the state institutions.
In addition to the graphic artists, the sculptors and the painters began to work in the genre of exlibris too: about 200 Lithuanian artists engaged in communication via mail in the Soviet times. Thanks to the connections of the artist Vincas Kisarauskas, four Lithuanian artists took part in an international exhibition abroad – the International Biennial Exhibition of Modern Exlibris in Malbork – for the first time in 1967. As the circle of foreign contacts expanded, artists sent their bookplates to exhibitions in Poland, Italy, Denmark, the USA, Australia, and elsewhere. The genre of exlibris and communication via mail provided Lithuanian artists with a possibility to present their work on the international level and receive due acclaim for it.
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Author: Dóra Hegyi - Zsuzsa László
Keywords: abstract art, avant-garde, censorship, non-art venue, painting, performative practices, poetry, pop art, semi-public event
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Miklós Erdély: Dirac in front of the box office, November 29, 1968 (Courtesy of the Heirs of Miklós Erdély and Erdély Miklós Foundation)
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Miklós Erdély: Dirac in front of the box office, November 29, 1968 (Courtesy of the Heirs of Miklós Erdély and Erdély Miklós Foundation)
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Miklós Erdély: Presentiments, November 29, 1968 (Courtesy of the Heirs of Miklós Erdély and Erdély Miklós Foundation)
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Invitation leaflet (from the “Iparterv 68-80” catalog)
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Photo of the ’68 exhibition (from the “Dokumentum 69-70” catalog)
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Photo of the ’68 exhibition (from the
“Dokumentum 69-70” catalog)
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Cover of the exhibition catalog, 1968. Design: György Kemény.
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Invitation card of the “Iparterv II” exhibition,
1969. Design: György Kemény (from the “Iparterv 68-80” catalog)
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Photo of the exhibition “Iparterv II.” showing the works of Gyula Konkoly, Tamás Szentjóby, and Imre Bak, 1969 (From the publication “A magyar neoavantgard első generációja 1965-72”)
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Photo of the exhibition “Iparterv II” showing the works of István Nádler, Tamás Hencze, Gyula Konkoly, and Krisztián Frey, 1969 (From the publication “A magyar neoavantgard első generációja 1965-72”)
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Page from the “Iparterv 68-80” catalog showing the interior of “Iparterv II” exhibition.
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The cover of the catalog “Dokumentum 69-70”.
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The cover of the catalog “Iparterv 68-80”.
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Detail from the first page of the exhibition catalog
Iparterv 68-80
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Lajos Németh’s (1929 -1991, art historian and critic) review on the “Iparterv I” exhibition (from the “Iparterv 68-80” catalog)
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The speech opening “Iparterv I” by János Tölgyesi, art historian (from the “Iparterv 68-80” catalog)
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Péter Sinkovits’ leaflet for the catalog “Iparterv I” (from the catalog “Iparterv 68-80”)
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László Beke and Péter Sinkovits preparingthe “Iparterv 68-80” exhibition. Photo: György Makky (courtesy of György Makky)
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Tamás Hencze, István Hajdu, András Baranyay preparing
the “Hommage á Iparterv
68/69” exhibition in Fészek Gallery in 1988.
Photo: György Makky
(courtesy of György Makky)
Dates: 29 November 1968 (Do You See What I See), 22 December 1968 (Iparterv I), 24 October 1969 (Iparterv II)
Participants: Imre Bak, András Baranyay, Miklós Erdély, Krisztián Frey, Tamás Hencze, György Jovánovics, Ilona Keserü, Gyula Konkoly, László Lakner, János Major, László Méhes, Sándor Molnár, István Nádler, Ludmil Siskov, Tamás Szentjóby, Endre Tót
Organizer: Péter Sinkovits (Iparterv I and II)
Opening by: János Tölgyesi (Iparterv I)
Location: Iparterv State Architectural Office, meeting hall, Budapest
Tamás Szentjóby planned an exhibition entitled “Donor” in July 1968, in the Iparterv State Architectural Office, but it was cancelled after the invitation leaflet was printed and distributed. Three months later and three weeks before the famous first Iparterv exhibition he organized actions to be presented in the same location with Miklós Erdély and László Méhes entitled “Do You See What I See.” In the “Iparterv 68-80” catalog issued in 1980 Erdély described these actions as his connection to the Iparterv group.
The hall of the Iparterv Office was not used regularly for exhibitions and the shows were open only for a few days. The first famous group show presenting the “first generation of the neo-avantgarde” in 1968 was accompanied by a small catalog containing a short introduction by the curator, Péter Sinkovits and the reproduction of the works and the CVs of the participants.
In 1969 four more artists, András Baranyay, László Méhes, János Major, and Tamás Szentjóby accepted Sinkovits’ invitation. A year later a catalog was printed illegally in the printing house of the Iparterv Office with a slightly different list of artists (Tamás Szentjóby had a separate flyer placed in the catalog, Sándor Molnár was left out, Miklós Erdély and Attila Pálfalusi included).
In 1980 a commemorating exhibition was initiated by art historian László Beke (1944) and Lóránd Hegyi (1954). On this occasion a comprehensive English-Hungarian publication was issued containing several studies and also documents of the previous exhibitions in addition to the works of the participants. Finally, shortly before the Regime Change, in December 1988 a three-part “Hommage à Iparterv” series was organized in the Fészek Gallery by Lóránd Hegyi.
Documents:
Péter Sinkovits: Introduction of the publication Document 69–70 (1970)
Miklós Erdély describing his connection to the Iparterv Group (1980)
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Author: Dóra Hegyi - Zsuzsa László
Keywords: artist run space, censorship, collaboration, conceptual art, didactic exhibition, irony, metaphors of repression, performative practices, semi-public event, site-specificity, unofficial event
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“TODAY YOU OPEN THE EXHIBITION” notice at the entrance of the Chapel. Photo: György Galántai (courtesy of Artpool Art Research Center)
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The entrance of the Chapel.
Photo: György Galántai (courtesy of Artpool Art Research Center)
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Visitors entering the Chapel.
Photo: György Galántai (courtesy of Artpool Art Research Center)
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Visitors entering the Chapel.
Photo: György Galántai (courtesy of Artpool Art Research Center)
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Visitors entering the Chapel.
Photo: György Galántai (courtesy of Artpool Art Research Center)
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Visitors entering the Chapel.
Photo: György Galántai (courtesy of Artpool Art Research Center)
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Visitors entering the Chapel.
Photo: György Galántai (courtesy of Artpool Art Research Center)
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Visitors entering the Chapel.
Photo: György Galántai (courtesy of Artpool Art Research Center)
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Visitors entering the Chapel.
Photo: György Galántai (courtesy of Artpool Art Research Center)
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Visitors entering the Chapel.
Photo: György Galántai (courtesy of Artpool Art Research Center)
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Visitors entering the Chapel.
Photo: György Galántai (courtesy of Artpool Art Research Center)
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Visitors entering the Chapel.
Photo: György Galántai (courtesy of Artpool Art Research Center)
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Visitors entering the Chapel.
Photo: György Galántai (courtesy of Artpool Art Research Center)
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Visitors entering the Chapel.
Photo: György Galántai (courtesy of Artpool Art Research Center)
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Visitors entering the Chapel.
Photo: György Galántai (courtesy of Artpool Art Research Center)
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Visitors entering the Chapel.
Photo: György Galántai (courtesy of Artpool Art Research Center)
Date: 28 July 1972
Participants: György Galántai (1941), István Haraszty (1934)
Location: Chapel Studio of György Galántai, Balatonboglár
The action took place during the exhibition of the Pécs Workshop (Ferenc Ficzek, Károly Halász, Károly Kismányoki, Ferenc Lantos, Sándor Pinczehelyi, Kálmán Szíjártó, Katalin Nádor) and István Haraszty’s kinetic sculptures.
Documents:
István Harasztÿ – interview (1998)
György Galántai – manuscript (1998)
Source: Törvénytelen avantgárd. Galántai György balatonboglári kápolnaműterme 1970–1973 [Illegal Avant-garde, the Balatonboglár Chapel Studio of György Galántai 1970–1973], eds. Júlia Klaniczay and Edit Sasvári (Artpool–Balassi, Budapest, 2003): 138.
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Author: Ieva Astahovska
Keywords: abstract art, censorship, environment / installation, pop art, youth/student organization
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The opening. Photo: Māra Brašmane.
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The opening. Photo: Māra Brašmane.
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The opening. Photo: Māra Brašmane.
Date: 1972
Participants: Romualds Geikins, Jānis Strupulis, and Piotr Severin
Location: Latvian Art Academy, Riga
There were a series of exhibitions organized by students themselves through the student club and the Communist Youth Committee, but entry to them was restricted to students and staff of the academy. The official justification for the events was the need for the academy’s faculty to be informed about the extracurricular explorations of their students.
The students produced a number of freethinking events that broke artistic taboos and caused controversy, scandal, and the closure of several exhibitions. These exhibitions were not controlled by any approval (censorship) committee and did not respect thematic or ideological boundaries, and hence works with eccentric styles and content could be displayed.
For example, in 1972 three students from the painting and sculpture departments—Romualds Geikins, Jānis Strupulis, and Piotr Severin—organized an exhibition/action with abstract, Op-art and Pop-art works arranged in an unusual set-up. Some of the works were displayed on the floor, which was strewn with papers, while elements such as chairs and easels were stacked in installation-like piles, disturbing the space. The exhibition was banned the next day, deemed artistically unsuitable and to be propagating politically dissident notions.
Several other exhibitions of independent works were also shut down in a similar manner.
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Author: Ieva Astahovska
Keywords: censorship, hyperrealism, painting, self-management
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Poster for the exhibition. The poster was created by Polis himself redrawing Purmale’s painting Double Portrait (1973).
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Miervaldis Polis and Līga Purmale posing with Polis’s Pans, 1975. Photo: Atis Ieviņš
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Miervaldis Polis: Pans. 1975.
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Miervaldis Polis and Līga Purmale posing with Polis’s Pans, 1975. Photo: Atis Ieviņš
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Miervaldis Polis’ painting Automobile House. 1973.
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Miervaldis Polis: Brass Band, 1974.
Date: August 1974
Participants: Līga Purmale and Miervaldis Polis
Location: Riga Photo Club in the Central Printing Workers’ Club
This exhibition of photorealist works by fourth year Art Academy students Miervaldis Polis and Līga Purmale was the first serious manifestation of its kind not just in Soviet Latvia, but also in the wider region. It was unprecedented for students to organize an exhibition on their own initiative open to all outside the academy. To make it happen, the artists had to collect recommendations and permits from almost ten different institutions. The artists vividly recall[1] an episode in which members of the Central Committee suddenly turned up at the exhibition, apparently on the basis of an anonymous report that one of the paintings made a mockery of Lenin. But while the painting Brass Band (1974) did have a figure of a little trumpet player in a peaked cap in the foreground, it bore no resemblance to the proletariat leader.
At one of the exhibition’s public discussions, the artists were approached by Estonian art enthusiast Matti Miliuss, who subsequently arranged for the exhibition to be presented at the Deaf Persons’ Society in Tartu and the Tallinn Art Institute in Estonia.
The exhibition gained a lot of public attention despite receiving no press coverage. This resonance was connected with the unabashedly photorealist and hyperrealist manner of painting. The exhibited works formally complied with the official line of Soviet art—realism—but in reality they were much closer to contemporary trends in Western art. The professional art scene greeted the young artists with a mixture of genuine admiration and resigned or harsh criticism, but in time Purmale and Polis would come to be regarded as masters of the genre.
[1] An interview with M. Polis in May, 2011.
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Author: Yelena Kalinsky
Keywords: censorship, non-conformist art, outdoor event, unofficial event
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Authorities attack artists and audiences with water cannon. Photo: Vladimir Sichov (courtesy of Igor Shelkovsky).
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Destroyed works by Lydia Masterkova and others. Photo: Igor Palmin (courtesy of Igor Palmin).
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Artists set up. Lydia Masterkova, center. Photo: Igor Palmin (courtesy of Igor Palmin).
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Artists and public. Photo: Igor Palmin (courtesy of Igor Palmin).
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Artists and public. Photo: Igor Palmin (courtesy of Igor Palmin).
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Invitation to the First Fall Outdoor Exhibition of Paintings (courtesy of Vitaly Komar).
Date: Bulldozer Show – 15 September 1974; Izmailovsky Park – 29 September 1974
Participants: Oskar Rabin, Evgeny Rukhin, Vladimir Nemukhin, Lydia Masterkova, Nadezhda Elskaya, Yuri Zharkikh, Aleksandr Rabin, Alexander Melamid, Vitaly Komar, Viktor Tupitsyn, and others
Organized by: Oskar Rabin and Aleksandr Glezer
Location: Bulldozer Exhibition – Profsoyuznaya Street and Ostrovityanova Street, Beliaevo, Moscow; Izmailovsky Park Exihibition – Izmailovsky Park, Moscow
The Bulldozer and Izmailovsky Park exhibitions were pivotal episodes in the history of unofficial Soviet art. A small group of artists, led by painter Oskar Rabin and poet and collector of underground art, Aleksandr Glezer, attempted to stage the First Fall Outdoor Exhibition of Paintings on an empty site on the outskirts of Moscow. Several participants were detained on the way to the show, and the rest were met by militia with dump trucks, bulldozers, and “volunteer workers” who announced that they were building a park on the site. The spectators–around 400 artists, local residents, as well as Western journalists and diplomats–were asked to leave, and the scene turned violent when the “workers” charged at the artists, knocking their works to the ground to be destroyed. Several foreign journalists were beaten; police arrested Oskar and Aleksandr Rabin, Rukhin, Elskaia, and Tupitsyn; and twelve spectators were taken for interrogations. While the Soviet press called the show a “provocation” intended to harbor anti-Soviet sentiment, front-page coverage in the foreign press highlighting the violence and objections from the US embassy in Moscow put pressure on the Moscow authorities to ease their stance. As a result, the Second Fall Outdoor Exhibition of Paintings was allowed to take place two weeks later on 29 September 1974 in Izmailovsky Park, for which the show takes its more common name. It lasted for four hours, was seen by hundreds of spectators, and was the first uninterrupted public display of unofficial art in the Soviet Union, albeit not without repercussions. Many of the original participants of the Bulldozer show were persecuted or exiled, and several died under mysterious circumstances. Exhibitions of unofficial art began to be mounted through the new Painting Section of the Graphic Arts Union, which was soon established as a means to bring nonconformist art under the management of the official art bureaucracy.
Document: Invitation to the Bulldozer Exhibition (1974)
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Author: Yelena Kalinsky
Keywords: artists’ union, censorship, collective practices, environment / installation, interactivity, non-conformist art, painting, unofficial event
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Mikhail Roshal, Victor Skersis, Gennadii Donskoi performing Hatch Eggs! Photo: Igor Palmin (courtesy of Igor Palmin)
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View of the exhibition opening at DK VDNKh. Photo: Igor Palmin (courtesy of Igor Palmin)
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Father Dmitri Dudko and Father Aleksandr Men at the exhibition at DK VDNKh. Photo: Igor Palmin (courtesy of Igor Palmin)
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Artists installing the exhibition at DK VDNKh. The controversial work titled Hippie Flag by the group Volosy [Hair] can be seen on the center wall. Photo: Igor Palmin (courtesy of Igor Palmin)
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Viewers waiting at the entrance to the exhibition at the Palace of Culture, VDNKh.
Date: 20–30 September 1975
Participants: A total of 122 Moscow artists
Location: DK VDNKh (Dom Kultury, Vystavka Dostizhenii Narodnogo Khoziaistva; Hall of Culture pavilion at the Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy), Moscow
Organized by: The organizing group at various points in time included Aleksandr Rabin (b. 1951), Larisa Pyatnitskaya, Igor Sinyavin (b. 1933), Eduard Zelenin (1938–2002), Koryun Nahapetyan (1926–1999), Aleksandr Kurkin, Vitaly Komar (b. 1943), Alexander Melamid (b. 1945), Mikhail Odnoralov (b. 1944), Maksim Dubakh, Borukh (Boris Shteinberg, 1938-2003), Lev Bruni (1950–2011), Vyacheslav Koleichuk (b. 1941), Vitaly Linitsky (b. 1934), Yakov Levinshtein (b. 1923), E. Kovaikina, Tatiana Kolodzei (b. 1947), and Leonid Talochkin (1936–2002).
After the Bulldozer and Izmailovsky Park exhibitions that took place in the autumn of 1974, some unofficial artists were emboldened to seek more opportunities to show their work in public. Their efforts resulted in a series of significant exhibitions the following year that included an exhibition of painting at the Beekeeping Pavilion, DK VDNKh on February 19–22, 1975, by twenty Moscow-based artists. A two-part apartment exhibition series titled “Apartment Previews in Advance of the All-Union Exhibition” also took place at private addresses in the hope of convincing the Ministry of Culture to mount a union-wide exhibition. (First exhibition: March 29–April 5, 1975, eight apartments, 132 artists, 741 works; Second exhibition: April 23–27, 1975, six apartments, 163 artists, 726 works). Finally, the “Exhibition of Works by Moscow Artists” at DK VDNKh took place September 20–30, 1975. Each exhibition was not without difficulty. Local authorities used many tactics to intimidate artists and limit participation including the exclusion of artists not based in Moscow, threats to participants (i.e., Nadezhda Elskaia was threatened with the removal of her daughter; others with loss of work or living space; threat of psychiatric intervention), delays with the hanging of the show or difficulty installing the works, and obstacles created for the public audience members such as long queues, closed cafes and toilets. A total of 145 unofficial artists submitted artworks for the exhibition, but after much back-and-forth between the group of organizers and the administration, only 122 Moscow artists were allowed to participate. The exhibition at the DK VDNKh attracted huge crowds who were forced to wait in line for hours to gain entry. Two of the more controversial works exhibited were Hippie Flag by the group Volosy [Hair], and the action Hatch Eggs! by the collaborative trio of Mikhail Roshal (1956–2007), Victor Skersis (b. 1956), and Gennady Donskoi (b. 1956) who were later called the Nest. The latter work consisted of a pile of branches and leaves in the shape of a nest, two meters in diameter, and was installed directly on the floor of the exhibition hall. Viewers were invited to sit in the structure in order to “hatch eggs”; signs nearby stated: “Quiet! Experiment in progress!” According to Roshal, the Ministry of Culture had threatened to remove Hatch Eggs!, but the other exhibitors refused to help and it remained in place, becoming a place where people would sit, eat, drink, and socialize. Eventually, the work was destroyed when the authorities declared it a fire hazard and soaked it with a fire extinguisher.
See I. Alpatova, L. Talochkin, and N. Tamruchi, eds., “Drugoe iskusstvo”: Moskva, 1956–1988 (Moscow: Galart, 2005).
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Author: Ieva Astahovska
Keywords: absurdity, censorship, concert, contemporary music, festival, happening
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Preparations for a concert by Alexei Lubimov in the hall of the Academy of Art as part of the avant-garde music festival, 1976. Photo: Kirils Šmeļkovs
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Preparations for a concert by Alexei Lubimov in the hall of the Academy of Art as part of the avant-garde music festival, 1976. Photo: Kirils Šmeļkovs
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Preparations for a concert by Alexei Lubimov in the hall of the Academy of Art as part of the avant-garde music festival, 1976. Photo: Kirils Šmeļkovs
Date : April 1976–October 1977
Location: Latvian Art Academy hall and the student club of the Polytechnic Institute in Anglican Church, in Riga
Participants and organizers: Alexei Lubimov, et. al.
The first significant experience of contemporary music for musically conservative Riga was the concert series “Twentieth-Century Music” by Russian pianist Alexei Lubimov during the 1975/76 season. Although the series was banned, architecture student Hardijs Lediņš and violinist Boriss Avramecs encouraged Lubimov to play his intended program at an unofficial festival. Its culmination was a concert at the Art Academy, where Riga and Moscow musicians performed works by Karlheinz Stockhausen, John Cage, and others. There were also performance elements presented by the musicians and selected audience members, as well as a happening after the second part of the concert with spontaneous improvisations, provocative acts, and absurdity. “It was fun but it ended in scandal, because it broke all the rules and notions about high-minded art,” recalled Avramecs[1].
The festival also took place the following year, officially sanctioned as “The Days of Music” dedicated to music by contemporary Soviet composers and the sixtieth anniversary of the Great October Revolution. But hidden under the acceptable name were works by avant-garde Soviet composers, including Vladimir Martinov’s Easter Cantata, which was not part of the approved program. Deemed to be “religious propaganda,” this work served to justify the state’s repression of the musicians and organizers and a complete ban on playing similar music, either officially or unofficially.
[1] An interview with B. Avramecs in May, 2011.
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Author: "pARTisan"/ Olga Kopenkina
Keywords: artists’ union, censorship, painting
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Exhibition “1+1+1+1+1=6.” Invitation card for the exhibition. From Andrei Plesanov’s archive. Courtesy: “pARTisan”.
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Exhibition “1+1+1+1+1=6.” On the steps of the House of Writers’ union. Minsk, February 12, 1985. Artists: Ihar Kashkurevich, Ludmila Rusava, Adam Hlobus. Courtesy: “pARTisan”.
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Exhibition “1+1+1+1+1=6”. The visit of the official committee appointed by Ministry of Culture and government agency, which later banned the exhibition. House of Writers’ Union. Minsk, 1985. Photo from Adam Hlobus’ archive. Courtesy: “pARTisan”.
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Exhibition “1+1+1+1+1=6”. View of the installation. Artist Serhey Malishevski. House of Writers’ Union, Minsk. 1985. Adam Hlobus’ archive. Courtesy: “pARTisan”.
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Exhibition “1+1+1+1+1=6”. View of the installation. House of Writers’ Union. Minsk, 1985
Courtesy: “pARTisan”.
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Hanging exhibition “1+1+1+1+1=6” at the House of Writers’ Union. Ihar Kashkurevich’s painting “Still-life” is carried upside down. From Adam Hlobus’ archive. Minsk, 1985. Courtesy: “pARTisan”.
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View of exhibition “1+1+1+1+1=6” at House of Writers’ Union, Minsk. 1985. From Adam Hlobus’ archive. Courtesy: “pARTisan”.
Date: 12 February 1985
Participants: Adam Hlobus, Ludmila Rusava, Ihar Kashkurevich, Siarhei Malisheusky, Jauheniya Lis, Uladzislau Kufko
Organizers: Union of Writers
Location: House of Union Writers, Minsk
The exhibition was organized with support from the Union of Writers, thanks to the efforts of Viktar Karamazau, Mikhas Stratsou and Maksim Tank. Nevertheless, the authorities banned the exhibition even before it was opened. Union of Painters allowed using their premises for a day-long exhibition of paintings. Number of official painters, among which were well-known Mikhail Savitsky and Zair Azgur, subjected the exhibition to heavy-handed criticism blaming the participants in betrayal of socialist realism. The show was met with great appreciation in Belarus artistic circles and stands out as the first open attempt to show to the public new artistic forms and ideas.
Source: Volha Archipava. Belarusian Avant-garde of the 1980s. ‘pARTisan’s Collection’ series. Minsk 2012. http://partisanmag.by/
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Author: "pARTisan"/ Olga Kopenkina
Keywords: censorship, environment / installation, irony, non-conformist art, political reflection, site-specificity
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Poster for exhibition “On Kalektarnaya”. Hall of the Institute “Minskgramadzianproject”, Kalektarnaya street, Minsk. September 1987. From archive of Adrej Plesanov. Courtesy: Journal “pARTisan”.
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“On Kalektarnaja”. 1987. View of the exhibition. From archive of Adrej Plesanov. Courtesy: Journal “pARTisan”.
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“On Kalektarnaja”. 1987. View of the exhibition. From archive of Adrej Plesanov. Courtesy: Journal “pARTisan”.
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“On Kalektarnaja”. 1987. View of the exhibition. From archive of Adrej Plesanov. Courtesy: Journal “pARTisan”.
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“On Kalektarnaja”, Minsk, 1987. View of the exhibition. From archive of Adrej Plesanov. Courtesy: Journal “pARTisan”.
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Exhibition “On Kalektarnaja”, Minsk, 1987. Artur Klinau is giving interview. From archive of Artur Klinau. Courtesy: Journal “pARTisan”.
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Exhibition “On Kalektarnaja”, Minsk, 1987. Participants of the exhibition. From archive of Adrej Plesanov. Courtesy: Journal “pARTisan”.
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Exhibition “On Kalektarnaja”, Minsk, 1987. “Patriarch” by Vitaly Rozhkov (a.k.a. Bismark), oil painting. Courtesy: “pARTisan.”
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Exhibition “On Kalektarnaja”, Minsk, 1987. “Murder on Kastrychnickaja Street” by Artur Klinov, oil painting. Courtesy: “pARTisan.”
Date: September–November 1987
Participants: Aliaksej Zhdanau, Todar Kopsha, Artur Klinau, Andrej Pliasanau, Vital Razhkou
Organizer: Forma, the alternative artists collective
Location: Minskgramadzanproject Institute, Kalektarnaya street, Minsk
This exhibition introduced a non-conformist approach to space organization. It stirred up an official criticism, which resulted in several attempts to close down the show. A telegram asking for support was sent to Raisa Gorbacheva (the wife of the head of the USSR government). It read: “Dear Mrs. Raisa Gorbacheva! The first exhibition of young painters was opened in Minsk but the authorities are trying to shut it down. Please, protect our cultural endeavors!”
Document: Nataliya TATUR: Exhibition on Kalektarnaya, 4—Fragments From the Book of Remembrance (2004)
Source: Volha Archipava. Belarusian Avant-garde of the 1980s. ‘pARTisan’s Collection’ series. Minsk 2012. http://partisanmag.by/
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Author: "pARTisan"/ Olga Kopenkina
Keywords: censorship, environment / installation, painting, unofficial event
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Preparations of exhibition “Perspektiva” at Belarusian Institute of Information Technology. Minsk, December 1987. From archive of Alexander Zabauchik. Courtesy: “pARTisan”.
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Exhibition “Perspektiva”. General view. The show room of Belarusian Institute of Information Technology, Minsk. December 22, 1987. From archive of Alexander Zabauchik. Courtesy: “pARTisan”.
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“Another slap in the artists’ face”. The banner of the meeting against the banning of exhibition “Perspektiva”. December 1987, Misnk. From archive of Andrei Plesanov. Courtesy: “pARTisan”.
Date: 22 December, 1987
Participants: Andrej Bialou, Sirhej Voichanka, Aliaksej Zhdanau, Aliadsander Zabauchyk, Ihar Kashkurevich, Artur Klinau, Todar Kopsha, Valery Pesin, Andrej Pliasanau, Ludmila Rusava, Uladzimir Tsesler
Location: Belarusian Institute of Information Technology, Minsk
The big-scale exhibition has become a legend of the 1980s. It is believed to be a starting point in the history of Belarusian art. The opening of the exhibition was banned and the participants under the guidance of Andrej Pliasanau and Aliaksander Dabravolsky started a demonstration and protest action. They headed towards City’s Party Committee (Gorkom) carrying posters and paintings. As a result, they got permission to open the exhibition.
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