Red Africa
A season on the legacy of cultural relationships between
Africa, the Soviet Union and related countries during the Cold War
4 February - 3 April 2016
Introduction to the Red Africa season
Calvert 22 is pleased to announce the launch of their new seasonal programme, Red Africa. Taking
place from 4 February - 3 April 2016, Red Africa will comprise an exhibition, film screenings, talks and
events exploring the legacy of the cultural relationships between Africa, the Soviet Union and related
countries that flourished during the Cold War.
The season will present historical and contemporary responses to the geopolitical and cultural
connections of African nations to the Soviet Union and related countries. Links were forged particularly
during the second half of the twentieth century, as post-colonial power struggles drew support from
the East and the West. The Soviet Union, Yugoslavia , Cuba and East Germany all offered aid to national
governments such as those of Mozambique and Angola, as well as providing educational scholarships
as a means of wielding soft power.
The historic ties between these nations find expression across the twentieth and twenty- first centuries:
from early-Soviet utopian visions of interracial collaboration; through the height of the Cold War
when soft power was used to influence independence struggles; to the ongoing stories of African
independence and liberation. The season will seek to uncover and explore some of these links.
Exhibition - Things Fall Apart
Forming the centrepiece of the Red Africa season, Things Fall Apart will feature artists, filmmakers and
groups from across Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. Drawing on film, photography, propaganda,
and public art, the exhibition presents interdisciplinary reflections on African connections to the
Soviet Union and related countries.
Calvert 22, 22 Calvert Avenue, London, UK, E2 7JP.
Calvert 22 Foundation is a registered charity no.1134939 and a company limited by guarantee no. 06941737

www.calvert22.org
Curated by Mark Nash, the show gathers the responses of contemporary artists to different aspects
of Soviet and related nations’ interests in Africa, particularly focused on ambitions to influence the
development of political structures through film and art.
The exhibition reaches back to the beginning of the Soviet era through the work of Russian-American
artist Yevgeniy Fiks. Fiks explores representations of black people in Soviet press and propaganda as
early as 1920, which he presents through The Wayland Rudd Archive (image 1). The exhibition also
re-examines relationships built during the height of the Cold War, including Tito’s 1961 visit to Africa
(image 2).
Contemporary traces of communist street art and propaganda are captured by Jo Ractliffe and Kiluanji
Kia Henda, revealing the lasting legacy of liberation struggles on the continent. In addition, the work
of Onejoon Che critically examines the legacy of North Korea’s Mansudae Art Studio which produced
socialist realist artworks such as The African Renaissance (image 3).
Things Fall Apart is a collaboration with Iwalewahaus, University of Bayreuth, where it will travel in
May 2016. The exhibition takes its title from Chinua Achebe’s 1958 classic of post-colonial fiction,
seen by many as the archetypal modern African novel in English which reflects on the devastating
impact of colonialism in Africa. Our exhibition uses this association to focus on a similar loss of utopian
perspective following the end of the cold war and collapse of the Soviet Union and eastern bloc.
Participating artists:
Filipa César; Onejoon Che; Radovan Cukić and Ivan Manojlović (Museum of Yugoslav History); Angela
Ferreira; Yevgeniy Fiks; Kiluanji Kia Henda; Isaac Julien; Stevan Labudović and Milica Tomić; Tonel;
The Travelling Communiqué Group; Jo Ractliffe
Red Africa Events - film screenings, debates and talks
Accompanying the exhibition, a series of events and screenings will take place at Calvert 22. Throughout
the season, eight films will be screened, covering four decades of filmmaking practice originating
from or influenced by the continent. This element of the season will explore the continuing role of
international connections, as well as revealing the personal histories of people caught up in dreams
and disappointments inspired by the USSR.
The programme of screenings includes works from African directors of international renown such as
Abderrahmane Sissako and avant-garde cinematic innovators like Chris Marker.
Further announcements of the full events programme line-up will follow.
Calvert 22, 22 Calvert Avenue, London, UK, E2 7JP.
Calvert 22 Foundation is a registered charity no.1134939 and a company limited by guarantee no. 06941737

www.calvert22.org
Notes to Editors
Things Fall Apart is the third exhibition in a series curated by Dr Mark Nash focusing on the post-communist
world. The first, Reimagining October (with Isaac Julien, Calvert 22 2009) attempted to make connections
between artists embedded in Soviet visual culture across the ‘break’ of 1989. The second, One Sixth of the Earth
(MUSAC Leon and ZKM Karlsruhe 2012-13), performed a similar excavation for former Eastern Bloc countries.
This exhibition draws on the research project Socialist Friendship (2014-15), which traced the work of African
artists and filmmakers who trained in the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc. It continues Nash’s exploration of the
wider effects of communism, and the legacy still felt in the post-Soviet world.
About Calvert 22 Foundation
The mission of the Calvert 22 Foundation is to support and share the contemporary culture and creativity of
the new east – Eastern Europe, the Balkans, Russia and Central Asia – enriching perceptions of the region and
furthering international understanding.
Calvert 22 is a not-for-profit organisation committed to dialogue and discovery, to the development of
international creative networks, and to the role of learning and education as the basis for knowledge sharing and
institutional exchange.
The Foundation achieves its aims through:
Exhibitions and events – Calvert 22 hosts an ongoing programme of exhibitions, talks and screenings, being the
UK’s first not-for-profit institution dedicated to the presentation of contemporary art from the new east region.
Culture – The Calvert Journal is an online magazine focused on contemporary culture from the new east, including
art, film, architecture, design and avant-garde culture.
Research – The Calvert Forum is an in-house think tank centred on the role of creative industries in regional
development. The Forum also operates as a digital and physical platform for discussion and learning.
Things Fall Apart
Calvert 22 Foundation
4 February – 3 April 2016
Free Admission
22 Calvert Avenue
E2 7JP
Opening times:
Wednesday - Sunday
12pm - 6pm
Red Africa
Calvert 22 Foundation
4 February – 3 April 2016
Press enquiries
Flint PR
Brigette Manion
For more information about
screenings, events and talks
visit: calvert22.org
+44(0) 203 463 2088 /
brigette.manion@flint-pr.com
Calvert 22, 22 Calvert Avenue, London, UK, E2 7JP.
Calvert 22 Foundation is a registered charity no.1134939 and a company limited by guarantee no. 06941737

www.calvert22.org
Image captions clockwise from top left
1. Soviet poster from 1933, part of the Wayland Rudd Archive. Courtesy of Yevgeniy Fiks
2. Tito, With Friends in Africa - Tito press service (1961). Courtesy of Museum of Yugoslav History
3. The African Renaissance Monument, (2010). Courtesy of Onejoon Che
4. Isaac Julien, Places des Cineastes, 2005. Courtesy of Isaac Julien