Socialist Anthropocene in the Visual Arts (SAVA)
@savaproject.bsky.social
Visual arts-led research project challenging the West-centric discourses of the Anthropocene by foregrounding Socialist environmental histories.
linktr.ee/sava.uea
linktr.ee/sava.uea
We are excited to announce the first solo exhibition in a UK institution by artist & filmmaker Saodat Ismailova, who was SAVA Creative Fellow 2024-5. The exhibition at Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art presents the world premiere of Swan Lake (2025), alongside works from her two decade-long career.
November 18, 2025 at 1:26 PM
We are excited to announce the first solo exhibition in a UK institution by artist & filmmaker Saodat Ismailova, who was SAVA Creative Fellow 2024-5. The exhibition at Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art presents the world premiere of Swan Lake (2025), alongside works from her two decade-long career.
SAVA Begins a New Phase at UEA
We are thrilled to announce that the URKI/ERC supported project on the Socialist Anthropocene in the Visual Arts together with SAVA research team will now be based at the School of History and Art History in the Sainsbury Centre, University of East Anglia!
We are thrilled to announce that the URKI/ERC supported project on the Socialist Anthropocene in the Visual Arts together with SAVA research team will now be based at the School of History and Art History in the Sainsbury Centre, University of East Anglia!
November 14, 2025 at 1:11 PM
SAVA Begins a New Phase at UEA
We are thrilled to announce that the URKI/ERC supported project on the Socialist Anthropocene in the Visual Arts together with SAVA research team will now be based at the School of History and Art History in the Sainsbury Centre, University of East Anglia!
We are thrilled to announce that the URKI/ERC supported project on the Socialist Anthropocene in the Visual Arts together with SAVA research team will now be based at the School of History and Art History in the Sainsbury Centre, University of East Anglia!
We are happy to announce Sammy Baloji as the new SAVA Creative Fellow!
Sammy Baloji is a photographer, visual artist and filmmaker exploring the colonial history of the Democratic Republic of Congo under Belgian rule, and its lasting ecological impact and entanglements into the present.
Sammy Baloji is a photographer, visual artist and filmmaker exploring the colonial history of the Democratic Republic of Congo under Belgian rule, and its lasting ecological impact and entanglements into the present.
November 13, 2025 at 2:54 PM
We are happy to announce Sammy Baloji as the new SAVA Creative Fellow!
Sammy Baloji is a photographer, visual artist and filmmaker exploring the colonial history of the Democratic Republic of Congo under Belgian rule, and its lasting ecological impact and entanglements into the present.
Sammy Baloji is a photographer, visual artist and filmmaker exploring the colonial history of the Democratic Republic of Congo under Belgian rule, and its lasting ecological impact and entanglements into the present.
The final piece from the online special issue of ARTMargins presents SAVA roundtable, led by Maja Fowkes, bringing together Aïda Adilbek, Aziza Kadyri, Aigerim Kapar, Anel Rakhimzhanova and Saodat Ismailova, in discussion on the environmental transformation of Central Asia during the Soviet period.
September 26, 2025 at 12:33 PM
The final piece from the online special issue of ARTMargins presents SAVA roundtable, led by Maja Fowkes, bringing together Aïda Adilbek, Aziza Kadyri, Aigerim Kapar, Anel Rakhimzhanova and Saodat Ismailova, in discussion on the environmental transformation of Central Asia during the Soviet period.
The complete online edition of the special issue of ARTMargins on The Socialist Anthropocene in the Visual Arts, edited by Maja and Reuben Fowkes, is now available on artmargins.com!
September 25, 2025 at 12:36 PM
The complete online edition of the special issue of ARTMargins on The Socialist Anthropocene in the Visual Arts, edited by Maja and Reuben Fowkes, is now available on artmargins.com!
Dilda Ramazan: Decolonial and Anthropocene Discourses in Contemporary Art of Former Socialist Contexts
Introducing the contributions of artists and scholars to the special print issue of ARTMargins: The Socialist Anthropocene in the Visual Arts, edited by Maja and Reuben Fowkes.
Link in bio!
Introducing the contributions of artists and scholars to the special print issue of ARTMargins: The Socialist Anthropocene in the Visual Arts, edited by Maja and Reuben Fowkes.
Link in bio!
September 24, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Dilda Ramazan: Decolonial and Anthropocene Discourses in Contemporary Art of Former Socialist Contexts
Introducing the contributions of artists and scholars to the special print issue of ARTMargins: The Socialist Anthropocene in the Visual Arts, edited by Maja and Reuben Fowkes.
Link in bio!
Introducing the contributions of artists and scholars to the special print issue of ARTMargins: The Socialist Anthropocene in the Visual Arts, edited by Maja and Reuben Fowkes.
Link in bio!
Mia Yu: Sublimating Socialist Construction Through Ink: Introduction to ‘When Thoughts Change, Brush and Ink Cannot Remain Unchanged’
Introducing the contributions of scholars to the special issue of ARTMargins: The Socialist Anthropocene in the Visual Arts, edited by Maja & Reuben Fowkes.
Introducing the contributions of scholars to the special issue of ARTMargins: The Socialist Anthropocene in the Visual Arts, edited by Maja & Reuben Fowkes.
September 23, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Mia Yu: Sublimating Socialist Construction Through Ink: Introduction to ‘When Thoughts Change, Brush and Ink Cannot Remain Unchanged’
Introducing the contributions of scholars to the special issue of ARTMargins: The Socialist Anthropocene in the Visual Arts, edited by Maja & Reuben Fowkes.
Introducing the contributions of scholars to the special issue of ARTMargins: The Socialist Anthropocene in the Visual Arts, edited by Maja & Reuben Fowkes.
IAS Book Launch: Special Issue of ARTMargins on the Socialist Anthropocene
Join Maja and Reuben Fowkes for the launch of the ARTMargins special issue. The evening will feature responses from Josephine Berry, Dimitra Gkitsa, Pushpa Arabindoo and Albert Brenchat Aguilar.
Tickets via link in bio!
Join Maja and Reuben Fowkes for the launch of the ARTMargins special issue. The evening will feature responses from Josephine Berry, Dimitra Gkitsa, Pushpa Arabindoo and Albert Brenchat Aguilar.
Tickets via link in bio!
September 22, 2025 at 12:04 PM
IAS Book Launch: Special Issue of ARTMargins on the Socialist Anthropocene
Join Maja and Reuben Fowkes for the launch of the ARTMargins special issue. The evening will feature responses from Josephine Berry, Dimitra Gkitsa, Pushpa Arabindoo and Albert Brenchat Aguilar.
Tickets via link in bio!
Join Maja and Reuben Fowkes for the launch of the ARTMargins special issue. The evening will feature responses from Josephine Berry, Dimitra Gkitsa, Pushpa Arabindoo and Albert Brenchat Aguilar.
Tickets via link in bio!
Reposted by Socialist Anthropocene in the Visual Arts (SAVA)
Book Launch: ARTMargins on the Socialist Anthropocene
30 Sept 6–7:30pm
Investigating transformation of nature in socialist art history, by discussing artworks that disclose environmental impacts of the system’s extractivist & terraforming interventions in natural world.
www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...
30 Sept 6–7:30pm
Investigating transformation of nature in socialist art history, by discussing artworks that disclose environmental impacts of the system’s extractivist & terraforming interventions in natural world.
www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...
IAS Book Launch: Special Issue of ARTMargins on the Socialist Anthropocene
Join editors Maja and Reuben Fowkes for the launch of a special issue of ARTMargins on the Socialist Anthropocene in the Visual Arts.
www.ucl.ac.uk
September 19, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Book Launch: ARTMargins on the Socialist Anthropocene
30 Sept 6–7:30pm
Investigating transformation of nature in socialist art history, by discussing artworks that disclose environmental impacts of the system’s extractivist & terraforming interventions in natural world.
www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...
30 Sept 6–7:30pm
Investigating transformation of nature in socialist art history, by discussing artworks that disclose environmental impacts of the system’s extractivist & terraforming interventions in natural world.
www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...
Dimitra Gkitsa: Chimneys and Electric Wires Conquering the Sky: The Great Transformation of Nature in Socialist Albania
Introducing the contributions of artists and scholars to the special print issue of ARTMargins: The Socialist Anthropocene in the Visual Arts, edited by Maja and Reuben Fowkes.
Introducing the contributions of artists and scholars to the special print issue of ARTMargins: The Socialist Anthropocene in the Visual Arts, edited by Maja and Reuben Fowkes.
September 19, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Dimitra Gkitsa: Chimneys and Electric Wires Conquering the Sky: The Great Transformation of Nature in Socialist Albania
Introducing the contributions of artists and scholars to the special print issue of ARTMargins: The Socialist Anthropocene in the Visual Arts, edited by Maja and Reuben Fowkes.
Introducing the contributions of artists and scholars to the special print issue of ARTMargins: The Socialist Anthropocene in the Visual Arts, edited by Maja and Reuben Fowkes.
Jakub Gawkowski: The Avant-Garde of Socialism in the Prehistoric Jungle: The Temporalities of Coal Mining in 1950s Upper Silesia
Introducing the contributions of artists and scholars to the special issue of ARTMargins: The Socialist Anthropocene in the Visual Arts, edited by Maja & Reuben Fowkes.
Introducing the contributions of artists and scholars to the special issue of ARTMargins: The Socialist Anthropocene in the Visual Arts, edited by Maja & Reuben Fowkes.
September 18, 2025 at 12:25 PM
Jakub Gawkowski: The Avant-Garde of Socialism in the Prehistoric Jungle: The Temporalities of Coal Mining in 1950s Upper Silesia
Introducing the contributions of artists and scholars to the special issue of ARTMargins: The Socialist Anthropocene in the Visual Arts, edited by Maja & Reuben Fowkes.
Introducing the contributions of artists and scholars to the special issue of ARTMargins: The Socialist Anthropocene in the Visual Arts, edited by Maja & Reuben Fowkes.
Anel Rakhimzhanova: 'Turksib Was Not Just a Railroad for Me': Visualizing the Anthropocene as a Transit
Introducing the contributions of artists and scholars to the special print issue of ARTMargins: The Socialist Anthropocene in the Visual Arts, edited by Maja and Reuben Fowkes.
Link in bio
Introducing the contributions of artists and scholars to the special print issue of ARTMargins: The Socialist Anthropocene in the Visual Arts, edited by Maja and Reuben Fowkes.
Link in bio
September 17, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Anel Rakhimzhanova: 'Turksib Was Not Just a Railroad for Me': Visualizing the Anthropocene as a Transit
Introducing the contributions of artists and scholars to the special print issue of ARTMargins: The Socialist Anthropocene in the Visual Arts, edited by Maja and Reuben Fowkes.
Link in bio
Introducing the contributions of artists and scholars to the special print issue of ARTMargins: The Socialist Anthropocene in the Visual Arts, edited by Maja and Reuben Fowkes.
Link in bio
Maja & Reuben Fowkes: Mega-Dams in the Hydrologics of the Socialist Anthropocene
Introducing the contributions of artists and scholars to the special print issue of ARTMargins: The Socialist Anthropocene in the Visual Arts, edited by Maja and Reuben Fowkes.
Explore their article via link in bio!
Introducing the contributions of artists and scholars to the special print issue of ARTMargins: The Socialist Anthropocene in the Visual Arts, edited by Maja and Reuben Fowkes.
Explore their article via link in bio!
September 16, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Maja & Reuben Fowkes: Mega-Dams in the Hydrologics of the Socialist Anthropocene
Introducing the contributions of artists and scholars to the special print issue of ARTMargins: The Socialist Anthropocene in the Visual Arts, edited by Maja and Reuben Fowkes.
Explore their article via link in bio!
Introducing the contributions of artists and scholars to the special print issue of ARTMargins: The Socialist Anthropocene in the Visual Arts, edited by Maja and Reuben Fowkes.
Explore their article via link in bio!
Anca Benera & Arnold Estefán: The Missing Mountain
Introducing the contributions of artists and scholars to the special issue of ARTMargins: The Socialist Anthropocene in the Visual Arts, edited by Maja and Reuben Fowkes.
Explore Anca Benera & Arnold Estefán's artist project via link in bio!
Introducing the contributions of artists and scholars to the special issue of ARTMargins: The Socialist Anthropocene in the Visual Arts, edited by Maja and Reuben Fowkes.
Explore Anca Benera & Arnold Estefán's artist project via link in bio!
September 15, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Anca Benera & Arnold Estefán: The Missing Mountain
Introducing the contributions of artists and scholars to the special issue of ARTMargins: The Socialist Anthropocene in the Visual Arts, edited by Maja and Reuben Fowkes.
Explore Anca Benera & Arnold Estefán's artist project via link in bio!
Introducing the contributions of artists and scholars to the special issue of ARTMargins: The Socialist Anthropocene in the Visual Arts, edited by Maja and Reuben Fowkes.
Explore Anca Benera & Arnold Estefán's artist project via link in bio!
The special issue of ARTMargins, featuring contributions by Anca Benera & Arnold Estefán, 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.
More info via link in bio.
July 23, 2025 at 1:13 PM
The special issue of ARTMargins, featuring contributions by Anca Benera & Arnold Estefán, 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.
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!
Check out the new post on the SAVA website to learn more about our journey - link in bio!
July 2, 2025 at 1:27 PM
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!
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 Wrocław, Poland. He will introduce his research on chemicalization in 1960s Poland as seen through the theoretical lens of the Socialist Anthropocene.
June 26, 2025 at 7:51 PM
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 Wrocław, Poland. He will introduce his research on chemicalization in 1960s Poland as seen through the theoretical lens of the Socialist Anthropocene.
Reposted by Socialist Anthropocene in the Visual Arts (SAVA)
Maja and Reuben Fowkes’s 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 Hila’s works 🖤 @savaproject.bsky.social
June 11, 2025 at 11:26 AM
Maja and Reuben Fowkes’s 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 Hila’s works 🖤 @savaproject.bsky.social
We'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, Erzë Dinarama, and Maja & Reuben Fowkes.
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, Erzë Dinarama, and Maja & Reuben Fowkes.
June 6, 2025 at 9:52 PM
We'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, Erzë Dinarama, and Maja & Reuben Fowkes.
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, Erzë 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.
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.
June 3, 2025 at 9:55 AM
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.
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 Universität Dresden on Wednesday, 4 June 2025, at 6.30 pm.
Details available via link in bio.
Details available via link in bio.
May 28, 2025 at 5:27 PM
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 Universität Dresden on Wednesday, 4 June 2025, at 6.30 pm.
Details available via link in bio.
Details available via link in bio.
New podcast episode with Ângela 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 Ângela Ferreira about her work on revolutionary Mozambique.
Tune in via link in bio.
Continuing our exploration of global perspectives on the Socialist Anthropocene, in this Left to Be Desired episode, Maja and Reuben Fowkes talk to artist Ângela Ferreira about her work on revolutionary Mozambique.
Tune in via link in bio.
May 21, 2025 at 9:27 AM
New podcast episode with Ângela 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 Ângela Ferreira about her work on revolutionary Mozambique.
Tune in via link in bio.
Continuing our exploration of global perspectives on the Socialist Anthropocene, in this Left to Be Desired episode, Maja and Reuben Fowkes talk to artist Ângela 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!
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!
May 19, 2025 at 9:17 AM
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!
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 city’s development & greening campaigns.
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 city’s development & greening campaigns.
May 16, 2025 at 9:51 AM
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 city’s development & greening campaigns.
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 city’s 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!
May 14, 2025 at 11:40 AM
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!