← Items Overview
Item: The Spectators / Глядачі

Nikita Kadan / Нікіта Кадан

2016

Drawing, 5 x (75 x 55 cm).
Materials: charcoal on paper

Collection: Collection M HKA / Collection Flemish Community (Inv. no. BK007959).

The Spectators is a series of portraits of 'public enemies' from the former Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1934, the constructivist artist Aleksander Rodchenko was commissioned to create an anniversary album to commemorate 10 years of Soviet rule in Uzbekistan. However, during the 1937-1938 period, some of Uzbekistan's top government officials, whose photographs had been published in the album, fell from grace. In his author's copy of the album, Rodchenko painted in ink the faces of the political prisoners because even possessing portraits of “public enemies” could lead to arrest. According to Kadan, the black spots on the faces of the commissioners are themselves portraits of sorts, faces of the spirits of history observing the augmentation of its ruins. 

Media

View all

Events

View all

Ensembles

View all

Actors

View all

About M HKA / Mission Statement

The M HKA is a museum for contemporary art, film and visual culture in its widest sense. It is an open place of encounter for art, artists and the public. The M HKA aspires to play a leading role in Flanders and to extend its international profile by building upon Antwerp's avant-garde tradition. The M HKA bridges the relationship between artistic questions and wider societal issues, between the international and the regional, artists and public, tradition and innovation, reflection and presentation. Central here is the museum's collection with its ongoing acquisitions, as well as related areas of management and research.

About M HKA Ensembles

The M HKA Ensembles represent our first steps towards initiating the public to today's art-related digital landscape. With the help of these new media, our aim is to offer our artworks a better and fuller array of support for their presentation and public understanding.