Collection

The background of the collage are photos from the renovation conducted at the Vitebsk Art School, where the UNOVIS group was founded—dubbed by its founder, Kazimir Malevich, a “band of Suprematists.” Shabohin created the series We Are Stern Consumers of Cultural Revolutions (Social Marble) under the impression of the neglect resulting in the irreversible alteration in the building’s historic architecture. This occurred due to the superficial treatment of the unique heritage of UNOVIS by the Belarusian authorities, maintaining the established mistrust of the Soviet authorities towards the avant-garde. The collages allude to the practices of the cleaning services in Minsk: graffiti on marble surfaces in public spaces are “cleaned” by covering them with imitation marble plastic coating. Shabohin’s collages not only comment on the literal destruction of the school building, but also stress that the legacy of the Vitebsk avant-garde has been severely neglected and nearly forgotten. There are now in Vitebsk hardly any original works, publications or documents from the period when the group was active.

Visual artist, curator, activist. In 2004–2009 he studied at the Belarusian State Academy of Arts in Minsk. Shabohin creates installations, conceptual objects, photographs, video, painting, art in public spaces, and site-specific installations. He also works with archives and initiates long-term artistic research. He focuses on themes involving social, cultural and art-historical systems. Shabohin’s works are created in series, and their elements are often adapted to the context in which they are presented. In 2011–2014 he was editor in chief of Art Aktivist, an online magazine devoted to contemporary Belarusian art, and since 2015 he has been editor in chief of the portal Kalektar. He has lived and worked in Poland since 2016—since 2020 in Poznań.