Professor: Stanislav Savitski
Semester: Fall 2023
Subject: ARTH
Course Level: 100
Number of Bard Credits: 4
Course Title: Contemporary Art in Russia
Max Enrollment: 22
Schedule: Tue Thurs 2:30 – 3:50 PM Berlin (UTC + 2)
Distribution Area: Analysis of Art
Cross-Listing(s): Russian and Eurasian Studies
Language of Instruction: Russian

The course aims to outline and discuss how the current political and socio-cultural context influences Russian contemporary art. For Russia, contemporary art is a young phenomenon. Until now, ideas about what art is have remained quite conservative. Traditionalist Russian institutions, such as the Academy of Fine Arts, various art universities, and art schools reproduce late modernist, if not earlier, artistic practices and discourses. The state, in its turn, has reduced support for contemporary art to a minimum. Unlike 10-15 years earlier, Russian museums and cultural institutions show little interest in it. Within the framework of the course, contemporary Russian art will be explored as fully as possible. While problematizing the actual existence of this phenomenon, we will take into account different positions of its opponents.