OSTALGIA

When I go back to my roots, it is usually for either food or art. This time, it’s the latter. With an exhibition covering art from all (well, almost all; Bulgaria is not included) the former Eastern block countries, the New Museum New York exposes Eastern artists to Western judgement.

In the nineties, the Germans coined a new word, Ostalgie, to describe wistfulness for life in the former Eastern Bloc. The New Museum’s sweeping exhibition, “Ostalgia,” presents works by more than thirty artists from twenty countries across Eastern Europe and the former Soviet republics, interspersed with pieces by Westerners grappling with the facts and the fictions of life under Communism. “Ostalgia” is curated by Massimiliano Gioni, Associate Director and Director of Exhibitions with Jarrett Gregory, Assistant Curator and will be on view at the New Museum through Sept. 25.