The special issue of ARTMargins, featuring contributions by Anca Benera & Arnold EstefΓ‘n, Jakub Gawkowski, Dimitra Gkitsa, Anel Rakhimzhanova, Dilda Ramazan, Mia Yu, and edited by Maja and Reuben Fowkes is out now!
More info via link in bio.
@savaproject.bsky.social
SAVA is a visual arts led research project challenging the West-centric discourses of the Anthropocene by claiming the constitutive role of the environmental histories of Socialism in the formation of the new geological age. linktr.ee/ias.pact
The special issue of ARTMargins, featuring contributions by Anca Benera & Arnold EstefΓ‘n, Jakub Gawkowski, Dimitra Gkitsa, Anel Rakhimzhanova, Dilda Ramazan, Mia Yu, and edited by Maja and Reuben Fowkes is out now!
More info via link in bio.
The third SAVA Research Trip, this time to Kosovo and Albania, took place in June 2025. Our programme was full of guided visits to local museums, galleries, and sites of Socialist Anthropocene!
Check out the new post on the SAVA website to learn more about our journey - link in bio!
Our SAVA Research Fellow, Jan Burek, will speak this Friday, 27 June 2025, at 11.15 am at the Polish Cultural History Conference at the University of WrocΕaw, Poland. He will introduce his research on chemicalization in 1960s Poland as seen through the theoretical lens of the Socialist Anthropocene.
26.06.2025 19:51 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0"Beyond-Human Agents in the Eco-Critical Art Practice of the Socialist Anthropocene" lecture by Maja and Reuben Fowkes
Maja and Reuben Fowkesβs lecture on Beyond-Human Agents in the Eco-Critical Art Practice of the #Socialist Anthropocene at TU Dresden last week - fantastic as always. Also, I love Edi Hilaβs works π€ @savaproject.bsky.social
11.06.2025 11:26 β π 1 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0We're excited to announce SAVA Panel Discussion: Hope against Hope in the Socialist Anthropocene in Pristina!
Join us at the National Gallery of Kosovo on Mon 9 June, 6 pm for a panel exploring dreams and prospects for renewal in Kosovo, with Rozafa Berisha, ErzΓ« Dinarama, and Maja & Reuben Fowkes.
We're thrilled to share the upcoming SAVA Panel Discussion: Landscapes of the Socialist Anthropocene!
The panel will feature an introduction to SAVA by Maja and Reuben Fowkes, along with talks by Raino Isto and Jonida Gashi.
Join us on Fri 13 June, 6 pm at Zeta Contemporary Art Centre, Tirana.
We're happy to share Maja and Reuben Fowkes will deliver a keynote lecture titled 'Green Border Crossings: Beyond-Human Agents in the Eco-Critical Art Practice of the Socialist Anthropocene' at Technische UniversitΓ€t Dresden on Wednesday, 4 June 2025, at 6.30 pm.
Details available via link in bio.
New podcast episode with Γngela Ferreira
Continuing our exploration of global perspectives on the Socialist Anthropocene, in this Left to Be Desired episode, Maja and Reuben Fowkes talk to artist Γngela Ferreira about her work on revolutionary Mozambique.
Tune in via link in bio.
Maja and Reuben Fowkes on the History Workshop Podcast!
Listen to learn all about SAVA - how it came into being, what issues drive it, the complex histories it seeks to unpack, and why engaging with those histories matters today.
Listen via link in bio!
Sneak peek into our SAVA Research Fellows' work!
SAVA Research Fellow Makar Tereshin investigates how nuclear energy, water management, and botanical experiments converged in the desert city Aqtau, Kazakhstan. He's looking at archival photos related to the cityβs development & greening campaigns.
New podcast episode with Reinaldo Funes Monzote on the environmental history of Cuba and its place in the Socialist Anthropocene. Maja and Reuben Fowkes, joined by Sorcha Thomson, discuss Reinaldo's work on the different eras of Cuban environmental transformation. Listen via link in bio!
14.05.2025 11:40 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0Sneak peek into our SAVA Research Fellows' work!
SAVA Research Fellow Dr. Jan Burek researches the environmental history of state socialist Poland. Currently, he's studying the construction of the Mazovian Refinery and Petrochemical Works in PΕock for his research on chemicalization in 70s Poland.
Lisa Blackmore on Troubled Waters
In this new Left to Be Desired podcast episode Lisa Blackmore shares insights into the hydroforming of the rivers of Sao Paulo, and the consequences of channelizing the flow of its liquid arteries through frequent flash floods.
Tune in via the link in bio.
Mario Bianchini: Utopia, Entropy, and the GDRβs Socialist Anthropocene
Recorded in the heart of the former East German capital of Berlin, episode 9 of Left to Be Desired is a conversation between SAVA Research Fellow Alexander Petrusek and Mario Bianchini, ZZF Potsdam.
Tune in via the link in bio.
Maja and Reuben Fowkes recently interviewed SAVA Creative Fellow Saodat Ismailova @saodatismailova for Think Pieces, the UCL IAS review. Their conversation delves into the spiritual, ecological, and cultural threads that run through Saodatβs creative practice.
Read the full article via link in bio.
The new April issue of Art Monthly includes a feature by Maja and Reuben Fowkes, 'Afterburn: The Politics of Trees', in which they reflect on the political lessons we can learn from trees and on the role of artists as emissaries of arboreal ministry.
10.04.2025 12:12 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0Sneak peek into our SAVA Research Fellows' work!
SAVA Research Fellow Dr. Alexander Petrusek researches East Germany, the environment, and international socialist ideals in a Cold War context. He is currently working on an article that examines how DDR's ecosocialists used the ideas of zero-growth.
Some moments from Research Week V, held on 19-20th March 2025, at the UCL Institute of Advanced Studies. Thank you to everyone who joined us, and a special appreciation to our speakers for their insightful presentations and engaging workshops!
26.03.2025 12:05 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0Weβre happy to share that Maja and Reuben Fowkes will give a presentation 'Cosmic Rivers in the Socialist Anthropocene' as part of 'Interweaving Climate, Water(s), and Communities' at Exposed Arts Projects in London on Saturday, 22 March 2025, 1 pm. Link for more info in the bio.
21.03.2025 11:22 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0Some moments from the second day of SAVA Research Week V!
20.03.2025 18:04 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0A couple of pictures from the first day of Research Week V!
20.03.2025 10:14 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0SAVA Research Week V - GeotransformaciΓ³n: Southerning the Socialist Anthropocene
19 - 20 March 2025, UCL Institute of Advanced Studies
Explore the public events below and book your spot via link in bio!
SAVA RW5 GeotransformaciΓ³n: Southerning the Socialist Anthropocene
Introducing the speakers!
Massinissa Selmani is a French-Algerian artist whose practice centres around drawing filled with humour and absurdity. In 2015, he received a special mention at the 56th Venice Biennale.
SAVA RW5 GeotransformaciΓ³n: Southerning the Socialist Anthropocene
Introducing the speakers!
Oto Hudec is a Slovak visual artist addressing issues such as the climate crisis, immigration, and globalisation's environmental impacts. In 2024, he represented Slovakia at the 60th Venice Biennale.
SAVA RW5 GeotransformaciΓ³n: Southerning the Socialist Anthropocene
Introducing the speakers!
Γngela Ferreira is an artist and researcher teaching Fine Art at the University of Lisbon in Portugal and in Mozambique. Her multi-disciplinary practice focuses on the effects of (post)colonialism.
SAVA RW5 GeotransformaciΓ³n: Southerning Socialist Anthropocene
Introducing the speakers!
Reinaldo Funes Monzote is a Professor of History at the University of Havana and Coordinator of the Geo-Historical Research Program at the Antonio NΓΊΓ±ez JimΓ©nez Foundation in Cuba.
SAVA RW5 GeotransformaciΓ³n: Southerning the Socialist Anthropocene
Introducing the speakers!
Lucie ΔesΓ‘lkovΓ‘ is a Czech film historian based at the Department of Film Studies at Charles University Prague and the editor-in-chief of Iluminace, a journal of the Czech National Film Archive.
Join us for Maja and Reuben Fowkesβ keynote lecture 'More-than-Human Revolutionaries: The Politics of Trees in Socialist Art' on the occasion of the 30th Anniversary of SHERA.
You can join the lecture online tomorrow at 5.00 pm GMT. Book your spot via link in bio.
Tomorrow! Friends in Prague do not miss Maja and Reuben Fowkes lecture on Oil Rocks at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague!
17.02.2025 10:55 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0One example of her research material is the monthly magazine of the National Institute of Agrarian Reform, published in Havana, 1960-1962, under the direction of Antonio NΓΊΓ±ez JimΓ©nez.
13.02.2025 15:26 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0