First collection of Russian contemporary art writing to launch in London

A London bookshop will on Wednesday host an event to mark the publication of the first anthology of Russian contemporary art writing ever to be produced outside of Russia.

Cosmic Shift: Russian Contemporary Art Writing includes texts translated into English by some of Russia’s most prominent artists, writers, philosophers, historians and curators who examine the different contemporary art movements in the region.

Edited by Elena Zaysteva and Alex Anikina, contributors include husband-and-wife team Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, whose exhibition at Tate Modern will open later this month, art critic and philosopher Boris Groys, prominent painter and filmmaker Pavel Pepperstein and artist and curator Bogdan Mamonov.

The 536-page paperback costs £20 and is published by ZED, which describes itself as the world’s largest English-language publishing collective.

The launch, beginning at 18:30 at Waterstones on Gower Street, will feature an exhibition of Pavel Pepperstein’s Political Hallucinations, a film screening of Krisis by Dmitry Venkov and a Q&A with the book’s editors chaired by Will Strong of Calvert 22 Foundation.

More information and tickets for the launch can be found here.