Taus Makhacheva : types du Caucase

Coming from the personal archive of the artist, these postcards date back to the 19th century and can be considered representative for the “popularized ethnography” of the Russian Empire. Their primitive typology follows the classical rules of exotization: they depict “pittoresque” groups from various tribes, families or nationalities, or representatives of diverse professions. Tellingly, the legends on the postcards are in Russian and French, which designates them as being for the members of the elites of that time. This collection creates it’s own “travelling exhibition space”, reflecting on the Caucasus as an eternal “travel-destination” and a space of conquest-reconquest and ongoing conflict. For the artist, archives emerge from a desire to understand, share, discuss and represent a space of resistance against natural or state-organized amnesia. Makhacheva’s collection becomes a space of reflection on colonial pictoralism, the construction of “The Other”, and functions as her own space of display and analysis. (bron: website uitgever)