Founded in 2006, the artist collective Slavs and Tatars reflects on the relationship between Eastern and Western societies while focusing on the geographic “area east of the former Berlin Wall and west of the Great Wall of China, known as Eurasia,” the physical point where Europe and Asia meet. Through the staging of performances, the publishing of books, and the installation of works of art, the group investigates how local identities and historical narratives are impacted by transnational relationships. Their work—which promotes contemplation and aims to revisit, resuscitate and revise history with humor rather than rigorous analysis—questions our understanding of religion, politics, ritual, and language. In looking to the past, Slavs and Tatars strive to understand contemporary cultural complexities.
In addition to their numerous publications, lectures, and public performances, Slavs and Tatars have exhibited across the Middle East, Europe, and North America, at institutions such as the Tate Modern, Centre Pompidou, and Istanbul Modern. They have been the subject of solo exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, New York (2012); Secession, Vienna (2012); Dallas Museum of Art (2014); Kunsthalle Zürich (2014); and New York University Abu Dhabi (2015). Their work is included in a number of public collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Tate Modern, London; and the Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah.