Anna Karpenko on how avant-garde artists who defied state borders are subjected to appropriation attempts

In this interview, KU Leuven history professor Martin Kohlrausch speaks with independent curator Anna Karpenko about the avant-garde movement between the East and the West. They discuss how avant-garde artists and architects endeavored to transcend borders and how their legacy is now subject to appropriation attempts, particularly in the post-Soviet context of the former USSR.

Anna Karpenko (b. 1985) is a curator and author. She studied philosophy at Belarusian State University (Minsk), visual studies at European Humanities University (Vilnius), and curatorial studies at the Academy of Fine Arts (Leipzig). Karpenko is a member of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA). As a curator, she has produced exhibitions and research projects with institutions such as Museum Sztuki (Lodz), Gallery Arsenal (Bialystok), Labirynth Gallery (Lublin), Badischer Kunstverein (Karlsruhe), and the Museum of Contemporary Art, GfZK (Leipzig).

As an author, her work has appeared in Springerin magazine, BLOCK magazine, Dwutygodnik, RTV magazine, Magazyn SZUM, and Kulturaustausch magazine. She also authored and edited the book When The Sun Is Low - The Shadows Are Long, published by Spector Books (Leipzig) in 2023. Though her heart belongs to Belarus (Minsk), she is currently based in Germany (Leipzig and Berlin).