“Soviet Lives of Uncle Tom”
335 Nassau Boulevard, Garden City Park, New York 11040
February 1, 11 am – February 27, 7 pm
Monday – Saturday, 11 am – 7 pm, free admission
Please write to racc.ny@mail.ru or call (347) 662 1456
The artist is available for interviews
Russian American Cultural Center (RACC) presents an exhibition of sixteen drawings and collages by Dmitry Borshch, “Soviet Lives of Uncle Tom”, in which the artist illustrates not the book “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” but its varied lives in Russia, from 1852 to post-Soviet times. “Having read one of many Soviet children’s editions of the book as a child and later becoming impressed by its global success, I have never attempted to illustrate it traditionally, in the manner of Hammatt Billings, its first illustrator, and those who followed him,” says Dmitry. “In this exhibition I illustrate the handling of the book by Russian censors, editors, preface and afterword writers, publishers. Although it was published in Russia about three years before statutory abolition of serfdom, and already then manipulated for the Russian government’s benefit, I focus in the exhibition on Soviet manipulations of the classic, performed by those who were living in Soviet bondage upon a novel about bondage in America. Excerpts from their prefaces to the book, afterwords, and translations are rendered calligraphically: Stowe’s English and translators’ Russian passages are organized into parallel columns on the same pink sheets, which helps the viewer to notice politicized manipulations of the translators and their censor-editors. All these pictures were made recently but are informed by thirty-five-year-old memories: like you [the exhibition’s curator] I still remember the late Soviet treatment of this novel, when it was employed widely for anti-capitalist, anti-American propaganda, extolment of USSR as the righteous opposite of USA, advancement of Soviet hegemonic goals,” concludes the artist.
Our exhibition will take place during the African American History Month, ending with a talk by Dmitry on the relationship between Russian serfs and American slaves, and the uses of literature for anti-Western purposes in Russia now. Dr. Khidekel curated “Soviet Lives of Uncle Tom”, which is supported by funds from New York State Council on the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and Materials for the Arts.
For more than 10 years Dmitry Borshch has collaborated with Russian American Cultural Center. It was founded in 1998 by Dr. Regina Khidekel and earned its 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status in 1999. RACC aims to provide permanent cultural representation to more than 700,000 Russian-speaking residents of New York. The center has adopted and broadened the strategy of organizations like No Longer Empty, http://www.nolongerempty.org/ which invigorate neighborhoods by mounting exhibitions in their unutilized or temporarily underutilized spaces. Visitors coalesce around a space where art may have never been exhibited before.
Regina Khidekel received her PhD from St. Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts, became the director of that city’s Diaghilev Art Center in 1990, and in 1998 the founding director of the Russian American Cultural Center in New York. She is the author of “It’s the Real Thing” (1999, University of Minnesota Press) and has contributed essays to the following publications: “Lyubov Popova” (1994), “Lazar Khidekel: Suprematism and Architecture” (1995), “Sterligov Group: Paintings from Russia” (1995), “Russian Constructivist Roots: Present Concerns” (1997), “Forbidden Art” (1998), “Lev Meshberg” (1999), “Tamar Hirschl” (2000), “In Malevich’s Circle” (2000), “A Life of Colors” (2001), “Surviving Suprematism” (2004), “Family Album. Artists from St. Petersburg” (2006), “Anna Rochegova” (2008), “Homage to Diaghilev’s Enduring Legacy” (2009), “Trajectory of Suprematism” (2011), “Floating Worlds and Future Cities: Lazar Khidekel, Suprematism and Russian Avant-garde” (2013), “Building Drawings and Drawing Buildings” (2014), “Lazar Khidekel and Suprematism” (2014). She has lectured at many universities and curated many exhibitions.
The artist was born in Dnipropetrovsk, studied in Moscow, today lives in New York, Dnipro, and Ramat Gan. His works have been exhibited at Russian American Cultural Center (New York), HIAS (New York), Consulate General of the Russian Federation (New York), Lydia Schukina Institute of Psychology (Moscow), Contemporary Art Centers (Voronezh, Almaty), Museums of Contemporary Art (Poltava, Lviv). More exhibitions can be found in the Brooklyn Arts Council registry: http://archive.is/ClMDa
http://www.russianamericanculture.com/galleries/emerging-artists/dmitry-borshch/
About the image:
An untitled illustration for “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” 2016, ink on paper, 48 x 29 inches
