Interview for “It’s an Artful Life”
“As co-founder of the Avenir Institute (www.avenirinstitute.info/) and having worked all around the world as a curator and analyst, Denis Maksimov has an incredibly deep perspective on the interchange of politics and art, as well as the intellectual impact of arts in daily life“. - Gillian Rhodes
Listen the interview here.
State of Noland
image - Avenir Institute
What is the State of Noland?
It is a condition of not aligning with nation state and particular geopolitical territory as well as possible formations of practical replacement of nation-state functionality with rhizomatic (“rhizome” - is a modified subterranean stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes), pastiche, assemblage alternatives. Nation state is a modern fiction, a child of Thomas Hobbes “Leviathan” and birth of nationalism in 19 century. None of the existing countries on the political map of today fulfil the requirements of the concept of nation state in political theory. Can we imagine the rhizomatic organs without the body (functionality without the current system frame), inverting and developing ideas of Antonin Artaud in theatre and and Gilles Deleuze in philosophy and applying it to politics?
by Denis Maksimov
The lecture was given in the programme of “EUROVISION” event at Centre culturel Brueghel in Brussels on April 20, organised by Giuseppe Porcaro (Head of Communications, Bruegel) and included contributions of Teresa Cos (artist and researcher), Ryan Heath (Senior EU Correspondent, POLITICO) and Giacomo Filibeck (Deputy Secretary General of the Party of European Socialists).
Listen to the audio recording here.
Art, society and politics: Russian ‘soft power’ in recent history
KU Leuven
What is the history of the interrelation between art and politics? Is ‘soft power’ really that new a phenomenon? How did art’s role from the tool of transmitting and narration of political power transformed during the 20th century? What role do art, so-called 'cultural diplomacy’, and soft power play in the big political games on the global scale? How did The Soviet Union and Russia exert this soft power? How does this compare to other countries?
More information | Lecture slides