odra club

ODRA continues to reflect on the #PostSoviet period of culture and publishes the second part of the essay of Anna Domini exploring the phenomenon of the Sanatorium as one of the main metaphors and associations with the period during and after the USSR. the first part ---> the second part 'In order to paint a picture of a bright future for the people, it was necessary to start materializing it somewhere — and such sanatorium complexes began to appear, into which an ordinary person could step into like a paradise, as the Soviet era saw it. ... It is interesting to consider the psychological case that people in the USSR had to remain children. Children need to be led and they are easy to manage. Acquired helplessness has created generations unable to move on their own. A human being grew up, but their inner age stood still.' // pic: Knossos palace

We have published a second essay as a part of our new column #PostSoviet on the cultural transformations in the former USSR republics over the past 30 years. In the essay, author Anna Domini explores the phenomenon of living in the post-Soviet culture through the metaphor of a sanatorium aka Soviet era resort. According to her, the sanatorium itself is a closed system and it is hard to get out of it, but while it seems exclusively positive for patients, in reality it is a mechanism of suppression of will and freedom.

Only 3 days are left until the end of the Open Call for a new column #PostSoviet, and after having received a lot of applications, ODRA kick-starts the column with an essay on the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt by Marusia Makhmutova, a fashion photographer and collage artist, who has worked with GQ, Esquire, Glamour and Marie Claire Italy. 30 years after the August Coup, Konstantin Makhmutov’s photographs became part of an exhibition at the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Center, while Marusia was asked by GQ Russia magazine to reinterpret those images. In her essay, Marusia tells a story of how she felt when she revisited the photos taken by her father.

OPEN CALL March 24 - April 24 В поддержку авторов, пишущих о культуре на постсоветском пространстве, запускаем опен колл. В новой рубрике #PostSovietбудем размышлять о турбулентности современного мира во взаимосвязи с наследием прошлого, пытаться делать культурные прогнозы. Принимаем тексты на английском, помогаем с редактурой и систематизируем локальные культурные процессы для англоговорящего мира. In order to support authors aiming for international socialization, we are launching a new column called #PostSoviet. The culture of the Post-Soviet states has a stamp of recognizable signs in different parts of neighboring countries. Currently, we are witnessing new transformations: mass relocations and the formation of a new reality that has a strong impact on culture. In the new #PostSoviet column, we want to reflect on current turbulent processes in close relation to the legacy of the past years and forecasts for the future shadowed by uncertainty. Send your texts or ideas to [email protected]