Korni (The Roots) (Our Grandmothers’ Gardens series)
2022 - Photography (Photography)
Framed: 120 x 90 x 15 cm
Olga Grotova
Our Grandmothers’ Gardens by Olga Grotova is based on the history of Soviet allotment gardens, which were small plots of land distributed amongst the families of factory workers to compensate for poor food supply in a country that was over-producing weapons. Beginning in the 1960s, Grotova’s great grandmother and grandmother tended an allotment garden for three decades, after their release from an all-female gulag camp for “enemies of the people”. These camps detained wives, sisters, mothers, and daughters of men executed during Stalinist repressions. The detainees were often subjected to rape and violence—a horrific chapter in Soviet history that is persistently covered up by the Russian state. The family’s garden was set up with the help of other former inmates of the gulag camp and became a site where trauma could be processed through engagement with the earth. In 2021, Grotova and her mother Tatiana traveled back to the Urals to find the garden. On their journey they visited communities wrecked by deindustrialization and extreme pollution, and met women who still garden to regain autonomy from the state. Our Grandmothers’ Gardens presents an installation of photograms made using an intricate process developed by the artist which layers the traces of plants, debris, and women’s belongings found in the gardens with drawings, soils, and pigments. Grotova’s process of layering, erasing, and rearranging is connected to her grandmothers’ daily labor of digging and planting; acts that aided in processing their trauma. By employing the camera-less (and less precise) technique of the photogram, Grotova transfers agency to the plants and objects that are intertwined with the lives of the women who tended the gardens. The installation is juxtaposed with highly constructed propaganda images from Soviet magazines such as Peasant Woman and Gardening from the 1950s-1960s. The work critiques the state-commissioned photographs of women for their connection with Soviet colonization and oppression, notably in the Soviet republics that have been drained of resources and harvests for the benefit of the Russian state. The photograms give voice to the debris and the discarded, much like the women’s voices drowned out by patriarchal structures.
Olga Grotova is an artist and poet whose practice involves collecting and mapping stories of Soviet and Eastern-European women that have been erased from established historical narratives. Grotova undertakes research journeys to discover the lost histories of communities and families from former Soviet states in order to dispel male-dominated and power-centric ‘official’ narratives. Her practice is a feminist interruption of the Russian political narrative plagued by extraction, patriarchy, and imperialism. Centering erased narratives about women undermines political regimes built on terror, misogyny, and militarization. By uncovering women’s histories and questioning the homogenized state-backed narrative, Grotova’s work creates potential for larger explorations of resistance to global ecological catastrophe, colonization, and totalitarianism.
Colors:
Related works sharing similar palette
© » ARTS EQUATOR
Weekly Picks: Indonesia (17 - 23 December 2018) | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Weekly To Do December 17, 2018 Top Picks of Indonesia art events in Bali and Solofrom 17-23 December 2018 The year is coming to a close but there are still a few exciting art events that might brighten your holiday season...
© » ART CENTRON
Turner Prize Winner Jesse Darling Claims the Spotlight - Artcentron Home » Turner Prize Winner Jesse Darling Claims the Spotlight ART Dec 15, 2023 Ξ Leave a comment Turner Prize Winner Jesse Darling Claims the Spotlight posted by ARTCENTRON Jesse Darling, Turner Prize Winner with Delirious at Towner Easbourne...
© » PAINTERS' TABLE
Art review: Larry Groff at Prince Street Gallery | Painters' Table Images only Larry Groff, Will be Wild, 2022, oil on linen, 36 × 52 inches (courtesy of the artist and Prince Street Gallery) Larry Groff, Nap Dream, 2023, oil on linen mounted on board, 36 × 36 inches (courtesy of the artist and Prince Street Gallery) Larry Groff, Gracias a la vida, 2023, oil on linen mounted on board, 36 × 36 inches (courtesy of the artist and Prince Street Gallery) Larry Groff, My French Defense, 2023, oil on linen mounted on panel, 24 × 30 inches (courtesy of the artist and Prince Street Gallery) Larry Groff, Unbroken Circle, 2023, oil on linen, 24 × 30 inches (courtesy of the artist and Prince Street Gallery) Larry Groff, Circling the Square, 2023, oil on linen mounted on board, 36 × 36 inches (courtesy of the artist and Prince Street Gallery) Larry Groff: Flipped Prince Street Gallery, New York October 3 – 28, 2023 A lot is happening in Larry’s Groff’s recent paintings...
© » HYPERALLERGIC
New Bedford Whaling Museum Restores Rare Panorama Painting Skip to content Conservation efforts to restore Charles Sidney Raleigh’s “Panorama of a Whaling Voyage” (1878–80) This December, the New Bedford Whaling Museum revealed the groundbreaking restoration of one panel from Charles Sidney Raleigh’s “Panorama of a Whaling Voyage” (1878–80)...
© » KADIST
Asli Çavusoglu is in residence at KADIST Paris from February to May 2020 to develop a project based on previous research she conducted on colors, extending her interest for their political histories towards the production of fabrics colored by naturally cultivated and fairly distributed vegetables, fruits and other edible plants...
© » SLASH PARIS
Animals — Loevenbruck Gallery — Exhibition — Slash Paris Login Newsletter Twitter Facebook Animals — Loevenbruck Gallery — Exhibition — Slash Paris English Français Home Events Artists Venues Magazine Videos Back Animals Exhibition Mixed media Vue de l’exposition Animals, galerie Loevenbruck, Paris © Photo Fabrice Gousset, courtesy Loevenbruck, Paris Animals Ends in about 1 month: November 17, 2023 → January 20, 2024 Animals is a collective exhibition that brings together artworks from different cultures and periods, all exploring the theme of the animal figure...
© » KADIST
Robert Therrien
1985In No Title (Blue Chapel) Therrien has reduced the image of a chapel to a polygon...
© » KADIST
Ahmet Ögüt
2022Monuments of the Disclosed by Ahmet Ögüt is an NFT series of digital monuments to whistleblowers...
© » KADIST
Habits and customs of _______ are so different from ours that we visit them with the same sentiment that we visit exhibitions Lu Huanzhi, Ho Tzu Nyen, Li Liao, Irena Haiduk, Siniša Ilic, Eva Barto Editors: Biljana Ciric and Fayen d’Evie Design: 3-ply, Toby Tam and Biljana Ciric Risograph cover, 5 x BW digital print booklets...
© » KADIST
Rudolf Polanszky
2005Polanszky’s sculpture is made from raw, found materials that have the patina of age...
