Slavs and Tatars presents “Molla Nasreddin: the magazine that would’ve, could’ve, should’ve.” It features a selection of the most iconic covers, illustrations and caricatures from the legendary Azeri satirical periodical of the early 20th century, “Molla Nasreddin.” The most important publication of its kind, “Molla Nasreddin” was read across the Muslim world from Morocco to Iran, addressing issues whose relevance has not abated, such as women’s rights, the Latinization of the alphabet, Western imperial powers, creeping socialism from Russia in the north, and growing Islamism from Iran in the south. “Molla Nasreddin” not only contributed to a crucial understanding of national identity in the case study of the complexity called the Caucasus, but offered a momentous example of the powers of the press both then and today.

Slavs and Tatars is a faction of polemics and intimacies devoted to an area east of the former Berlin Wall and west of the Great Wall of China known as Eurasia. The collective’s work spans several media, disciplines, and a broad spectrum of cultural registers (high and low) focusing on an oft-forgotten sphere of influence between Slavs, Caucasians and Central Asians. Slavs and Tatars has published Kidnapping Mountains (Book Works, 2009), Love Me, Love Me Not: Changed Names (onestar press, 2010) and Molla Nasreddin: the magazine that would’ve, could’ve, should’ve (JRP-Ringier, 2011). Their work has been exhibited at the Frieze Sculpture Park, the 10th Sharjah, 8th Mercosul and 3rd Thessaloniki Biennials. After devoting the past 5 years primarily to two cycles of work, namely, a celebration of complexity in the Caucasus (Kidnapping Mountains, Molla Nasreddin, Hymns of No Resistance) and the unlikely heritage between Poland and Iran (Friendship of Nations: Polish Shi’ite Showbiz, 79.89.09), Slavs and Tatars have begun work on their third cycle, The Faculty of Substitution, on mystical protest and the revolutionary role of the sacred and syncretic, for The New Museum Triennial as well as solo engagements at Secession, Vienna, MoMA, NY, and Künstlerhaus Stuttgart in 2012.

Presentation by Slavs and Tatars (artists-in-residence at Sazmanab Project)

Admission is free
RSVP required. RSVP at RSVP(at)sazmanab.org
Limited seating on a first-come, first-served basis