Anastasia Sosunova, Mila Panić, Ala Savashevich, Dominika Olszowy, Miroslav Tichý and Nikita Kadan

curated by Sergey Kantsedal

05/03 – 12/04/2025

OPENING 04/03/2025, 6-9pm

POOR BUT SEXY, curated by Sergey Kantsedal (March 4 – April 12, 2025), takes its title from the iconic phrase coined by former Berlin mayor Klaus Wowereit. The slogan was designed to rebrand the post-Wall city as a raw, seductive destination for the West, with its low-cost labour and vast infrastructure. It also stands as an emblem of how, from a pro-Western perspective, the fate of the East after 1989 was framed and sold. But there’s more: it reflects the ongoing polarisation between East and West, as described in Poor But Sexy: Culture Clashes in Europe East and West by Polish author Agata Pyzik (2014, Zer0 Books). Pyzik’s book delves into the "hidden" history of the East, focusing on its troubled and somewhat submissive relationship with the “West”. From artistic practices to subcultures, from post-punk to Bowie’s fascination with the Eastern Bloc, from orientalism to self-colonization, Pyzik’s work rejects both nostalgia for the “good old days” and the desire to become a “normal” part of Europe.

Starting from this provocation, POOR BUT SEXY presents works by Ala Savashevich (1989, Belarus), Anastasia Sosunova (1993, Lithuania), Dominika Olszowy (1988, Poland), Mila Panić (1991, Bosnia and Herzegovina), Miroslav Tichý (1926–2011, Czech Republic), and Nikita Kadan (1982, Ukraine). Exploring various perspectives and micro-narratives spanning generations, artistic languages, and geographies, the exhibition functions as a time capsule—a glimpse into the living archive of a fractured and oblique present we inhabit. Each work relates intimately to the others, occupying a shared realm where experiences, genealogies, and cultural micro-histories intersect. A sense of belonging is questioned introspectively—not as a subject, but more as an attitude. Playful yet serious—poor but sexy in every sense—the exhibition triggers a conversation that develops across time and space, sparking a dialogue between objects, bodies, fantasies, and dreams.