Georgy Mamedov & Oksana Shatalova

Oksana Shatalova (1972) and Georgy Mamedov (1984) are curators, researchers, authors and participants in many artistic projects. They are authors of the book Queer-communism as Ethics (Free Marxist Press, 2016). They have worked together since 2007. In 2011 they entered the curatorial group of the Pavilion of Central Asia at the 54th Venice Biennale; in 2012 (together with Аsel Akmatova) they opened the STAB (School of Theory and Activism) in Bishkek. The sphere of their research interests include the history and theory of culture, contemporary philosophy, cultural politics, gender theory, and queer theory.

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STAB (School of Theory and Activism, Bishkek) is a Central Asian artistic and research initiative whose members see art as an instrument of social criticism, a territory of solidarity, and a practice of radical imagination. STAB works on a seasonal basis: with a public programme in spring and an educational programme in autumn. Each Spring from March through June there takes place a Spring Creative Report—a large thematic public programme whose theme in 2017 is that of Queer Futurology. In Autumn, STAB’s Evening School runs from September through to December, combining a theoretical reflection with artistic imagination. The 2017 evening school, “When the Subaltern Speak,” will be dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the October Revolution.

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan