Slavs and Tatars

Slavs and Tatars is an internationally-renowned art collective devoted to an area east of the former Berlin Wall and west of the Great Wall of China known as Eurasia. Their work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, NY; Salt, Istanbul; Vienna Secession, Kunsthalle Zurich, Albertinum in Dresden and Ujazdowski Centre for Contemporary Art Warsaw, among others. The collective’s practice is based on three activities: exhibitions, publications and lecture-performances. Imbued with humor and a generosity of spirit, their work commonly blends pop visuals with esoteric traditions, oral rituals with scholarly analysis in a way that opens new paths of contemporary discourse. In addition to their translation of the legendary Azerbaijani satirical periodical Molla Nasreddin (currently in its 2nd edition with I.B Tauris), Slavs and Tatars have published more than ten books to date, most recently Wripped Scripped (Hatje Cantz, 2018) on the politics of alphabets and transliteration. In 2019, the collective curated the 33rd Ljubljana Biennial of Graphic Arts and their work was included in the main exhibition, "May You Live in Interesting Times," of the 58th Venice Biennale. They have participated in the 11th Sharjah, 10th Manifesta, 8th Berlin and 9th Gwangju Biennials as well as group shows at the Centre Pompidou, Paris; Tate Modern, London; Kunsthaus Graz, and Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. The collective launched a residency and mentorship program for young professionals from their region in 2018 and recently opened Pickle Bar, a new project space-cum-slavic apéritivo bar a few doors down from their studio in Berlin’s Moabit district. 

Events

7

Feb

 Feb 07, 2024, 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
 Midway Plaisance Ice Rink

1130 Midway Plaisance North, Chicago, IL

Launch event--Portable Gray Issue 11: Borders, Edges, Language
Wednesday, February 7, 5:00–7:00 PM 
Midway Plaisance Ice Rink, 1130 Midway Plaisance North
*Free Skating for Portable Gray fans who bring their own skates and/or mention PG at the skate rental.
**Free hot cocoa & cookies, pizza & assorted beverages

24

Oct

 Oct 24, 2024, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
 Punch House

Thalia Hall, 1227 W 18th Street, Chicago IL

Join us at the Punch House for a special book launch celebration for Azbuka Strikes Back: an Anti-Colonial ABCs by artist collective Slavs and Tatars and UChicago scholar Leah Feldman. The event will feature a short conversation with the authors and a live performance by DJ Lutto Lento who mixed the audio for the book’s interactive components.