Cargo Cult: Artists from the Ex-Eastern Bloc

Cargo Cult: Artists from the Ex-Eastern Bloc

Cargo Cult: Artists from the Ex-Eastern Bloc exhibition’s catalog

The title of this exhibition refers to the religious practices that appeared in tribal societies, as a result of their interaction with technologically advanced, non-native cultures. The followers of these cults believed in obtaining the material wealth (the “cargo”) of the advanced cultures by conducting rituals mimicking the behavior and the day to day activities they have observed among the holders of the desired wealth (the “cargo”). Notable examples of cargo cult activity include the setting up of mock airports, offices, dining rooms and appliances, performing parade ground drills with wooden or salvaged rifles; fetishization and attempted construction of Western goods, such as radios and other commodities made of coconuts and straw.

Design: Avi Bohbot
21-16.5cm
88 Pages

Cargo Cult: Artists from the Ex-Eastern Bloc

Artists: Michail Grobman, Yuri Albert, Ivars Gravlejs, Andrey Lev, Pavel Pepperstein, Anton Smirnsky (FenSo), Neo-Barbizon Group (Natalia Zourabova, Zoya Cherkassky, Anna Lukashevsky, Olga Kundina, Asya Lukin), Igor Guelman-Zak, Maxim Komar-Myshkin, Arcadi Greenman, Ilya Medvedev, TBA & Nikakoi, Kollektiv and Birobidzhan

Curator: Max Lomberg

2012