How and why to engage in art in modern Russia is a question that everyone answers in their own way. Now that it is easy to get a criminal sentence for speaking out, a certain set of rules appears - what is permissible in creativity, how one can express oneself. But you shouldn’t think that art used to be completely free. Thus, the American writer Maggie Nelson writes: “When someone starts talking about “absolute freedom,” you already know that this is a false witness.” Despite the postmodern turn from the “root” to the rhizome, from the absolute to the multiplicity, from justification to groundlessness, the temptation to show art its place is strong even among the most unshakable critics. Why did we decide to make an exhibition? Elizaveta Berkutova, Maxim Frolov, Nariman Kalashnikov, Isenkkel Akhtimer, Vella Akhtimer, Lisa Bukina, Evgeniy Antonov and I met, talked a lot about life and art, and for the first time in a long time we wanted to create something. The result was an exhibition - beyond boundaries, beyond the framework of any specific topic. The artists’ works are a reflection on the present day.

In the book Branded with a Curse, philosopher Frantz Fanon comes to the conclusion that even detached observation of injustice leads to mental disorders. Fear, anger, powerlessness - these are the feelings we experience today. At the same time as the world, rhetoric is changing: words lose their original meaning and are endowed with new meanings, due to which the perception of reality acquires schizophrenic features. The duet work of Nariman Kalashnikov and Maxim Frolov, Don't Be a Menace to South Central in the Mind of Someone Living, is a performative act of co-creation, representing a mixture of different emotions. All the characters depicted are smiling, the canvas is filled with bright colors, but at the same time the viewer already knows: this is something eerie.

Traumatic perception of reality sometimes seems to compress a huge and diverse world into the size of a tight box from which it is impossible to get out. We chose the workshop as an exhibition space for a reason. It is cramped and dark here, but this is the place where artists often have to create their works. This state of being locked in – both physical and emotional – is explored by Elizaveta Berkutova in her project Ball and chain. The artist reflects on the changes that occur to a person who is again and again placed in a frame, deprived of his own voice.

Maxim Frolov's work is called ID. The artist studies and analyzes the traces left by a person in virtual reality. Cloud data accumulates more and more information about the user: biometrics, geolocation, query history, preferences in movies, music, food, sex... Filters do an excellent job of classifying everyone into one category or another and offering the most suitable product. Like the person himself, his virtual “I” is in constant development - either losing or strengthening its individuality.

A series of works by Evgeny Antonov and Nariman Kalashnikov “Import substitution and period” - images of fast food, made using 3D printing and smalt mosaics. The artists reflect on the connection between past and present, new and old, the intersection of cultures and the boundaries at which the movement towards independence from development leads to regression. Kalashnikov’s work “We’re learning English, but so far it’s bad” invites the viewer to guess what is written on the canvas, putting him in the position of an eternal student.

Liza Bukina’s ceramics “Beautiful Among the Shit” is a reminder to herself and the viewer of the importance of development even in a harmful environment. In the work “Dream Washing Machine” the artist reflects on the purification of thoughts, soul and mind, and “Dream Banknotes” is an understanding of material wealth in our time.

Isenkkel Ahtimer and Vella Ahtimer from the association HӖRACHA reflect on the topic of freedom. The installation “Heart-Shaped Bow” draws attention to the idea of overcoming hostility and suggests changing course - from violence and cruelty to compassion and love. The “tukhya” headdress, reminiscent of a warrior’s helmet, transforms the viewer’s voice into a metallic scream, which shows how powerful the spoken word can be even by one person...