It has been announced that on the 16th November the Tsukanov Family Foundation and Saatchi Gallery will open Art Riot: Post-Soviet Actionism.
This new exhibition will be focusing on Post-Soviet Union protest art over the last 25 years as well as being a world premiere for protest artists Pussy Riot and Pyotr Pavlensky.
Taking place 100 years after the Russian Revolution, Art Riot: Post-Soviet Actionism will explore issues such as challenges to individual freedom of expression in the face of both political ideology and religion.
The exhibition will feature work by performance artists such as Oleg Kulik, Pussy Riot, Pyotr Pavlensky, Blue Noses Art Group, Arsen Savadov, AES + F, Vasily Slonov. Meanwhile, the display will also highlight a variety of different genres of protest art from posters and slogans to video art and staged photography.
Art Riot: Post-Soviet Actionism will also examine what it means to be an artist in the Post-Soviet Union today as well as raising questions about artistic freedom.
Running alongside the exhibition, the Tsukanov Family Foundation have teamed up with the award-winning theatre group Les Enfant Terribles, who have collaborated with Pussy Riot’s Nadya Tolokonnikova to present Inside Pussy Riot, a breakthrough immersive theatre experience, co-produced by Alexandrina Markvo (Bird&Carrot) that will take place during the exhibition’s run at Saatchi Gallery.
The production tells the story of Pussy Riot’s arrest and imprisonment following their 2012 performance inside Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Two of the group’s members Maria Alyokhina and Nadya Tolokonnikova were convicted of “hooliganism” and sentenced to 2 years in a labour colony, rising to worldwide notoriety as a result and becoming a symbol of defiance.
Curated by Marat Guelman, this is the fourth exhibition organised by the Tsukanov Family Foundation in partnership with Saatchi Gallery. The latest blockbuster shows of this cooperation were “Breaking the Ice: Moscow Art, 1960-80s” (2012-2013), “Post-Pop: East Meets West” (2014-2015) and “Revelations” (2016).
Art Riot: Post-Soviet Actionism will be on display at the Saatchi Gallery from the 16th November until the 31st December. For more information visit: https://www.saatchigallery.com/art/art-riot.php