Ostalgia

The word "ostalgie" emerged in Germany in the 1990s to describe a then-burgeoning nostalgia for the era prior to the collapse of the Communist Bloc and the breaking up of countries formerly united under Communist government. "Ostalgia" looks at the art produced in these countries--some of which did not even formally exist two decades ago--bringing together the work of more than 50 artists from 20 countries across Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Republics. Many of these works, by seminal figures and younger artists alike, offer a series of reportages on life and art under Communism and in the new post-Soviet countries. Eschewing a chronological perspective, "Ostalgia" instead establishes a series of dialogues between different generations and geographies, zigzagging across distant cultural landscapes, revealing local avant-garde practices and highlighting their international affinities, which by implication critique the hegemony of western art historical paradigms. Among the artists included are Victor Alimpiev, Said Atabekov, Miroslav Balka, Irina Botea, Erik Bulatov, Andre Cadere, Phil Collins, Tacita Dean, Stanislav Filko, Sanja Ivekovic, Jiri Kovanda, Edward Krasinski, Jonas Mekas, Boris Mikhailov, Paulina Olowska, Roman Ondak, Helga Paris, Dmitri Prigov, Anri Sala, Simon Starling, Andro Wekua and Anna Zemankova.