We unfortunately had to postpone the visit of Gluklya, the CREES 60th Anniversary/Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series speaker, due to COVID-19. We are working to reschedule her campus visit, but in the meantime, enjoy this interview which was recently conducted by our alumna Dianne Beal (BA REES '79), curator and art advisor of Galerie Blue Square: watch the video here.
Gluklya (Natalia Pershina-Yakimanskaya) is a visual and performance artist. Her manifesto states: “The place of the artist is on the side of the weak.” She uses clothing, installations, video, participatory projects, text, and research to develop a concept of fragility. For Gluklya, fragility is interpreted not as “delicate beauty” but as “invisible strength.” Her work explores topics of social exclusion, untapped intuitive knowledge, mind-body connections, violation of human rights, and stereotypes. Considered a pioneer of Russian performance art, Gluklya is a co-founder of the Factory of Found Clothes (FFC) and the group Chto Delat (What is to be done?). In 2012, FFC became the Utopian Unemployment Union, a project that unites art, social science, and progressive pedagogy to give people from all social backgrounds an opportunity to make art together. Today, the artist participates in many international shows including the 56th edition of the Venice Biennale (2015) and Positions #4 at the Van Abbemuseum in the Netherlands (2018-19). She has been awarded numerous art prizes and grants, including a fellowship from the Joseph Brodsky Fellowship Memorial Fund in 2014 and support from the Mondriaan Fund for recent projects.
Presented in partnership with the U-M Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series.
