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BQ

WEB MAIL CALL DIRECTIONS

03 May –
28 Jun 2025

BQ
03 May –
28 Jun 2025

„The Brotherhood of New Blockheads (1996-2002)“, curated by Daniel Baumann
Opening – 2 MAY 2025, 6-9 pm

BQ
BQBQ

„The Brotherhood of New Blockheads (1996-2002)“,
curated by Daniel Baumann

3 MAY until 28 JUN 2025
Opening – 2 MAY 2025, 6-9 pm

„Take a Leap in Five Acts“, 1996
Igor Panin, Sergey Spirikhin

Courtesy BQ, Berlin

Photo: Roman März, Berlin

The Brotherhood of New Blockheads was a performance group in St. Petersburg active between 1996 and 2002. Almost unknown in the West (and also in Russia), their art remains largely a mystery to be discovered.

The New Blockheads consisted of Vadim Flyagin, Igor Panin, Sergey Spirikhin, Inga Nagel, Vladimir Kozin, Maxim Rayskin, Oleg Khvostov and Alexander Lyashko and in just five years, they staged over 100 performances. Full of absurdity, poetry and humor, these seemingly useless performances reflected their time and the disintegrating Soviet Union. Art didn’t matter back then, and that was precisely its significance.

Installation view „The Brotherhood of New Blockheads (1996-2002)“, curated by Daniel Baumann, BQ Berlin, 2024.

Courtesy BQ, Berlin

Photo: Roman März, Berlin

„ON LITEYNY“
Situational performance
Liteyny Prospekt 52, Saint Petersburg
Artist: Igor Panin


Photo: Alexander Lyashko

TEACH YOURSELF TO SEE
Performance with readings

Borey Gallery, Saint Petersburg
1 May 1996
Initiator: Larisa Nazentseva
Artists: Igor Panin, Sergey Spirikhin, Vadim Flyagin

Photo: Alexander Lyashko

The exhibition at BQ in Berlin is the first in Germany to show a selection of around 25 artworks and performances.

The exhibition is curated by Daniel Baumann (Director Kunsthalle Zürich 2015-2025) with the support of Peter Belyi (artist and curator, St. Petersburg).

Installation view „The Brotherhood of New Blockheads (1996-2002)“, curated by Daniel Baumann, BQ Berlin, 2024.

Courtesy BQ, Berlin

Photo: Roman März, Berlin

„Roly-Poly“, 1999
Vadim Flyagin

Courtesy BQ, Berlin

Photo: Roman März, Berlin

BQ
Weydingerstraße 10
10178 Berlin

+49 (0) 30 2345 7316
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BQ presents
„The Brotherhood of New Blockheads (1996-2002)“, curated by Daniel Baumann
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