Freedom is a continuous practice—it cannot be established once and for all but must be constantly reaffirmed. This dynamic shines through in the art of the ZIP Group. Their utopian installations feature plywood and wooden structures that transform easily depending on context, space, and the needs of those who interact with them. This flexibility lets visitors and passers-by establish themselves on their own terms. Over the collective’s years of work, this open model form designed for quick reassembly has become the foundation of the Krasnodar collective’s artistic method.
Alas, since 2022 the context that was native to the ZIP Group has changed, leaving virtually no room for political imagination or space for exercises in creative freedom. Forced to depart from their hometown, the collective reassembled itself anew in exile—in between Yerevan and Berlin. The adaptation to new locations has left a mark on their practice—their joint artistic production now must bridge different life rhythms, time zones, and the distance of four thousand kilometers, while their installation expertise finds use on actual construction sites. Censorship penetrates not only institutions but increasingly seeps into individual consciousness—the same prohibitions and restrictions that once were at the core of critically-oriented art now threaten its very existence.
Can we counter systemic violence—which drains community resources and reduces both speech and political action to monotonous repetition—with established practices of solidarity and collectivity? Can we glimpse even a minimally life-affirming horizon through the crushing weight of headlines and the labyrinth of bureaucratic demands?
Critical circumstances demand radical methods, but this attitude is impossible without repose. The exhibition Worker’s Drift shifts attention away from daily oppression, creating space to slow down and discover fresh approaches to collaborative work. Objects flow freely through the exhibition space, forging new connections and taking on unexpected functions. Constructed from re-purposed materials out of former works by artists-in-residence of XL Projects Berlin, these structures stand ready to drift beyond the gallery walls into the streets, opening community boundaries to chance encounters.
Here, the ZIP Group examines how their practice and personal dynamics within the collective have changed over the past three years, appropriating their workshop space as a community hub despite existing constraints. Evgeny Rimkevich’s photo archive from the Yerevan construction sites demonstrates that balancing artistic thought with physical labor is a question of sheer willpower. These themes echo through the pages of the Tanz Auf Dem Vulkan newspaper. The checkers game ‘Shovels versus Bushes’ serves as a metaphor for building political resistance. With their drink purchases, patrons of the Sozial Kasse bar support the immigration experience mutual aid fund, set for paying royalties for performance or space activation within the exhibition framework, for fare dodging fines, etc. In a quiet corner near the ceiling, a lullaby by the sound artist Mikhail Kurilov creates a sanctuary for restorative sleep—a space where like in the exhibition itself, whimsical logic reigns and visitors briefly discover their own superpowers.
Evgenia Skvortsova
