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Molla Nasreddin ⧚ Slavs and Tatars

02 Dec 2011

Presentation by Slavs and Tatars (artists-in-residence)

Slavs and Tatars presented “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 practice is based on three activities: exhibitions, books and lecture-performances. Pursuing an unconventional research-based approach, the group identifies the "area east of the former Berlin Wall and west of the Great Wall of China known as Eurasia" as the focus of their multidisciplinary practice. 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.

Venue: Sazmanab (Sazman-e Ab St.)
Friday, December 2, 2011 – 8:30-10:30 PM




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