Igor Ponosov. Actionism as an indicator of political changes in Russia: from 1991 to the present day

The lecture will be devoted to actionism as an important indicator of social changes taking place in Russia from 1991 to the present. Using provocative and often quite radical artistic actions as an example, we will trace how they became a reflection of various eras of political transformations in the country, how artists focused on social problems, fought against conformism and declared democratic values. The lecture will consider key examples of such actions and their influence on public consciousness and the cultural landscape of Russia.

Igor Ponosov is an artist, curator and theorist focused on urban art and activism, co-founder of the Partizaning movement. Author of the books Art and the City and Russian Urban Art: History and Conflicts. Laureate of the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art’s support program for Russian artists, laureate of the Sergei Kuryokhin Prize in contemporary art (in the Best Text on Contemporary Art nomination), finalist of the Kandinsky Prize. Laureate of the GARAGE.txt program to support researchers writing about contemporary art and culture. Curator of exhibition and festival projects in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan and Berlin. * (zur Zeit in Straßburg).

Abbildung: Oleg Kulik, Mad Dog, 1994, © Oleg Kulik.