…how is it towards the east?
An exhibition and series of events, workshops, and screenings
1 May–2 June 2013
Calvert 22 Foundation
22 Calvert Avenue
London E2 7JP
Nearest Tube: Shoreditch High St / Old St / Liverpool St
Hours: Wednesday–Sunday noon–6pm
Admission Free
T +44 (0) 20 7613 2141|
info [at] calvert22.org
Contributors: Hannah Black, Tessa Brown and Cathy Lane, Adam Chodzko, Stefan Dickers, Germano Facetti, Andrew Kötting, David Mabb, Michael Marriott, Nada Prlja, David Rosenberg, Marina Vishmidt, Alfred & Ben White, and Sarah J. Young. In collaboration with Bishopsgate Institute Library and Archive, The Courtauld Institute Research Forum, East London Fawcett Society, Cinenova, Studio Hato and X Marks the Bökship.
Curated by Elizaveta Butakova, Marina Doritis and Lily Hall
Calvert 22 presents …how is it towards the east? a month-long exhibition and series of events which aim to make visible a body of research into the histories, both personal and collective, of the Calvert 22 building and surrounding area. Fostering conversations around how histories are written and recorded in print and on screen, …how is it towards the east? critically examines modes of self-organisation and the traces of Eastern European and Russian immigration in the East End.
The exhibition combines archival material and examples of historic printed matter from émigré political agitators, alongside a rolling programme of documentary films; as well as exhibited video works by Adam Chodzko, Germano Facetti and Andrew Kötting.
Nada Prlja’s newly commissioned work Subversion to Red takes the form of a performative round-table discussion titled Red Discussion. The event is conceived as a discussion between relevant thinkers and theorists who have been invited to analyse and critique various concepts within socialist / Marxist theory. The aim is to deconstruct former models (those no longer relevant to current social and political structures) and to propose aspects within them that may still be applicable today. During the event, various ideas and key words will been written onto a pentagonal table, which serves as a platform to build up and define a set of concepts and ideals that could be used as a guide for redefining contemporary society.
The exhibition features newly commissioned archival display tables and furniture, designed by Michael Marriott. An illustrated catalogue designed by Studio Hato with newly commissioned essays by Hannah Black, Michael Marriott and Marina Vishmidt.
Events programme
Thursday 2 May, 7pm
Nada Prlja, Red Discussion
Join us for the first stage of Sarajevo-born artist Nada Prlja’s new commission Subversion to Red, a performative round-table discussion reflecting upon the relevance and application of socialist and Marxist ideals today. Speakers include Dave Beech, Hannah Black, Gail Day, Mark Fisher and Nina Power. Chaired by Vlad Morariu.
Saturday 4 May, 4pm
David Mabb: in conversation
Join artist David Mabb discuss utopian possibilities of design in relation to the work of William Morris.
Thursday 9 May, 7pm
“Reds in the East End”
Archivist Stefan Dickers and Dr. Sarah J. Young present histories of the radical East End, exploring material from the press and Bishopsgate Institute archive on troublemakers, rabble-rousers and revolutionaries (Russian and otherwise).
Saturday 11 May, 2pm
“Rebels, strikers and anti-fascists: women of the radical Jewish East End”
David Rosenberg leads a one-off walk retracing the footsteps of activist Emma Goldman, sweatshop worker Milly Witkop, writer Eleanor Marx and other female militants and suffragettes who fought to challenge the conditions they faced. Places are limited; booking is essential.
Sunday 12 May, 4:30pm
Film screening: Anou Banou (The Daughters of Utopia), Edna Politi, 1983, 85 minutes
Four women born at the turn of the century in Russia and Poland travel to Palestine in the 1920s ‘to build the country by building themselves’. Sixty years later, they evoke the adventures, hopes and struggles of that period.
Thursday 16 May, 7pm
Panel discussion: “Free Press? Radical Histories and Independent Publishing in London”
In collaboration with the Courtauld Institute Research Forum
Exploring independent publications as a means of creating a space for Leftist discourses, radical theory and cultural critique, this panel discussion invites participants to reflect on the history of independent publishing in London, considering the problems raised by the ephemerality of such practices and their value within the context of new technologies today.
Speakers include Patrick Goddard, Pauline van Mourik Broekman and Michel Prigent. Chaired by Klara Kemp-Welch.
Saturday 18 May, 2pm
Workshop: Hato Press and X Marks the Bökship
A poster workshop looking at historical production techniques, local street posters, anarchist pamphlets and manifestos. The workshop will introduce the subject of cheap production methods and how they inform form, content and distribution within small social organisations and communities.
Thursday 23 May, 7pm
Film screening: Bred and Born, Joanna Davis and Mary Pat Leece, 1983, 75 minutes
Bred and Born features four generations of women in an East London family who talk about their own experiences and close family ties, and a women’s group who discuss their roles as mothers and daughters.
Friday 24 May, 7pm
The East London Fawcett Society’s Great East London Art Audit
East London Fawcett’s Art Audit campaign was launched in order to provide a platform for celebrating women in the arts, and for initiating discussion on their position in the contemporary art world. Join them as they reveal the results of their year-long survey of London’s galleries and museums.
Sunday 26 May, 4:30pm
Film screening: The Peasant Women of Ryazan, Olga Preobrazhenskaya, 1927, 70 minutes
Set in the years 1916–18, The Peasant Women of Ryazan portrays life in a close-knit rural community in revolutionary Russia.
Further details on events can be found on our website.
About Calvert 22
Calvert 22 is the UK’s only not-for-profit foundation dedicated to the presentation of contemporary art and culture from Russia, CIS countries and Eastern Europe and presents a dynamic programme of exhibitions, talks and cross-disciplinary events.
