Exhibition view

Contemporary photo- and video-art from Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Germany.
Artists and regional curators:
Ukraine: Alevtina Kaknidze, Viktor Marushchenko, curator – Olesia Ostrovska-Liuta.
Belarus: Igor Savchenko, curator – Katerina Kenigsberg.
Georgia: Irina Abzhanadze, Koka Ramishvili, curator – Nino Chogoshvili.
Kazakhstan: Erbossyn Meldibekov/Nurbossyn Oris, Oksana Shatalova, curator – Valeria Ibrayeva.
Kyrgyzstan: Talgat Asyrankulov, Shailo Dzenkshenbayev, curator – Gamal Bokonbayev.
Germany/Italy: Christian Borchert, Tina Bara/Alba D’Urbano, curator – Barbara Christofe.
Russia: Olga Chernysheva, Vladimir Kupriyanov, curator – Anna Gor.
Uzbekistan: Viktor AN, curator – Shakhnoza Karimbabayeva.

An exhibition “1989 – 2009: Turbulent World – Telling Time” explores issues on perception and understanding of dynamic transformational processes in post-soviet countries, caused by fall of the Berlin Wall. Around 200 photos and 5 video works reflect processes and experience in 7 ex-Soviet countries and Germany. The exhibition is focused on four important topics: family, identity, urban changes and politics.
Family is in the centre of the documentary photo series of Irina Abzhanadze and Christian Borchert. Other artists (Erbossyn Meldibekov/Nurbossyn Oris, Vladimir Kupriyanov, Igor Savchenko) use pictures from old family photo albums as a source. Addressing to the live-stories of the fathers’ generation together with issues on time, place and manner of the pictures encourages thoughts about role of the medium in private and public contexts.
Such a dialog with individual history also concerns identity questions. To tell this story means to tell story about him/herself – Tina Bara/Alba D’Urbano and Oksana Shatalova realize this in their own way. Artistic self-portraits of Alevtina Kakhidze and Talgat Asyrankulov create touching pictures of a hybrid post-soviet identity.
The next group of the photos by Shailo Dzenkshenbayev, Oksana Shatalova, Viktor Marushchenko, and Viktor AN is dedicated to urban changes and social consequences of the decrease of production. While Viktor Marushchenko documents humiliating working conditions in illegal Ukrainian mines, Viktor AN’s photos, made in 1989, reflect consequences of the ecological catastrophe at Aral Sea.
Both big sized video works of Olga Chernyshova and Koko Ramishvili illustrate in detail a political field and its ritual practices. Perhaps, there is some logic of accident, that both works on this subject come from those two countries, that in 2008 tried to solve conflicts with military force.
Thus, the exhibition draws attention to the painful experience of this time and demonstrates a rich palette of artistic attempts to start a dialog with this experience and work it through.

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