Founded in 2009 and based in Detroit, Post-Soviet Graffiti (Alexis Zimberg, director and Nicholas van Beek, photojournalist) examines graffiti and street art in the region spanning the former Soviet Union. This investigation analyzes graffiti not only as a popular public aesthetic but also as an effective alternative avenue of political expression and even as a catalyst to violence. At the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Post-Soviet Graffiti will exhibit 24 fieldwork photographs that represent a wide array of messages, media, and contexts.
Part of the series Pluralism in Politics and Culture, a new initiative jointly sponsored by CREES and WCED that examines the foundations of free and open societies. The project builds on the university’s rich legacy of study and support of the dissident culture in the former Soviet Union and on several existing efforts at U-M. The series focuses on multiple facets of political pluralism, including its legal, cultural, and economic dimensions, and explore them in a broader historical context.
Sponsor: CREES
