Vorlesungsverzeichnis

(ENTFÄLLT) Decolonizing the "Russian Avant-Garde“ — A Data Approach (Seminar)

Dozent/in: Bárbara Romero Ferrón, Lynn Rother

Inhalt: The term “Russian Avant-Garde” has long been used to describe early twentieth-century artistic movements such as Suprematism and Constructivism, which flourished until the Soviet Union mandated Socialist Realism as the sole sanctioned style in the mid-1930s. Its uncritical use in the art market, museums, and academic scholarship has imposed national labels on artists who, although born under the Russian Empire, cannot simply be described as Russian given the empire’s multiethnic composition, shifting borders, and the diverse influences that shaped their work. Russia’s recent war on Ukraine has brought renewed scrutiny to the notion of what constitutes “Russian” in art and culture, and Ukrainian institutions and representatives have been calling for a decolonization of Ukrainian heritage. Against this backdrop, museums in Europe and the United States have begun revising the way they label artists’ nationalities, as well as their places of birth, death, and artistic activity—initially focusing on prominent figures such as Alexandra Exter, Sonia Delaunay-Terk, and Kazimir Malevich. These updates vary and sometimes contradict each other from one museum to another, and they also depart from other conventions museums have traditionally used in their labels. These efforts highlight not only the challenge of conveying complex and sensitive information in just a few lines for so-called “artist biolines,” but also the knowledge gaps and biases concerning Eastern Europe. Limited availability of reliable data and linguistic inconsistencies—whether English versions of names are based on Ukrainian or Russian spellings—are only two of the obstacles museums face in aiming to present accurate information to their visitors. In the case of lesser-known artists, especially those born in rural areas, the research and decision-making required increase significantly. In the digital sphere, museums can supplement their information by linking to knowledge repositories—provided that these sources are accurate and meet scholarly and ethical standards. Accordingly, this seminar examines the multifaceted biographies of marginalized “Russian Avant-Garde” artists in order to review, correct, and enrich data in repositories such as Wikidata and Getty’s ULAN.

• Leuphana Bachelor - Major Kulturwissenschaften (bis Studienbeginn WiSe 22/23) - Kunst und Zeitgeschichte
• Leuphana Bachelor - Major Kulturwissenschaften (ab Studienbeginn WiSe 23/24) - Kunst und Zeitgeschichte