Slavs and Tatars: MERCZbau
@ Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society
5701 S Woodlawn Ave, Chicago, IL 60637
On view through Friday, October 7th
MERCZbau revisits the intertwined histories of the Ukrainian city of Lviv and the Polish city of Wroclaw as seen through the prism of a particularly eastern Orientalism. The Berlin-based artist collective have created a speculative range of merchandising dedicated to the defunct Department of Oriental Studies of what was once known as the Jan Kazimierz University of Lwow, acting as if age-old traditions of scholarship and inquiry about “the East” had survived the Polish population’s forcible westward journey after World War II. The installation thereby offers a reflection on the human drama of migration as well as the shifting meanings of our enduring East/West divides, made so much more poignant by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The exhibition was made possible in part through a partnership with the Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry and Gray Center Fellow Leah Feldman. Proceeds from the sale of the merchandise will be donated to support victims of the Russian assault on Ukraine.
Curated by Dieter Roelstraete
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