Russia - Art Resistance and the Conservative-Authoritarian Zeitgeist

<p>This book explores how artistic strategies of resistance have survived under the conservative-authoritarian regime which has been in place in Russia since 2012. It discusses the conditions under which artists work as the state spells out a new state cultural policy, aesthetics change and the state attempts to define what constitutes good taste. It examines the approaches artists are adopting to resist state oppression and to question the present system and attitudes to art. The book addresses a wide range of issues related to these themes, considers the work of individual artists and includes besides its focus on the visual arts also some discussion of contemporary theatre. The book is interdisciplinary: its authors include artists, art historians, theatre critics, historians, linguists, sociologists and political scientists from Russia, Europe and the United States.</p> <p></p><p>1. Introduction</p><p></p><p>Part I: The Conservative Zeitgeist and Russian Cultural Policy</p><p></p><p>2. The "Russian World", Genetically Modified Conservatism, or Why Culture Matters</p><p></p><p>3. The New State Cultural Policy and Visual Art</p><p></p><p>4. Neo-traditional Fits with Neo-liberal Shifts in Russian Cultural Policy since 2010</p><p></p><p>5. Daughterland [Rodina-Doch]: Contemporary Russian Messianism and Neo-conservative Visuality </p><p>6. The Case of Hungary - a Parallel Development </p><p>Part II: The State of Affairs: Voices from the Russian Art Scene</p><p></p><p>7. Culture as the Enemy: Contemporary Russian Art under the Authoritarian Regime</p><p></p><p>8. Voices from within the Art Scene. Interviews with Russian Artists</p><p></p><p>Part III: Artistic Counter-Strategies </p><p></p><p>9. Dissensus and "Shimmering": Tergiversation as Politics</p><p></p><p>10. Humor as a Bulletproof Vest: Artists Embracing an Ironic Zeitgeist</p><p></p><p>11. Demontage of Attractions</p><p></p><p>12. The Chto Delat School for Engaged Art and Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya</p><p></p><p>13. A Dilemma for the Contemporary Artist: "Revolutionary Pessimism" of Roman Osminkin</p><p></p><p>14. Radical Art Actionism</p><p></p><p>15. Petr Pavlenskii and his Actions"</p><p></p><p>16. Document: Pavlenskii and Yasman: Dialogues about Art</p><p></p><p>Part IV: Theatre: A Parallel Development</p><p></p><p>17. Theatre of a Period of Archaization</p><p></p><p>18. Non-conformist Theatre in Russia: Past and Present</p><p></p>