𝘿𝙤 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝘽𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙑𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙖? was part of 17 Circle @neuekunstinhamburg at @kunstvereinhh , curated by @fabianschoeneich .
The exhibition brought together works centered on the figure of Baba Vanga (1911–1996), moving between belief and state-controlled knowledge.
•••••
Phenomenon is a multimedia installation: a transparent wall filled with sugar cubes onto which a video is projected.
The video is composed of fragments from 𝙋𝙝𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙣 (1976), the first official documentary about Baba Vanga. Filmed in her home in Petrich and produced for Bulgarian state television, it was banned shortly after its release.
The footage shows her house, visitors, and sessions of divination.
•••••
Visitors were required to bring a piece of sugar to the sessions. According to Vanga, it functioned as a material capable of absorbing personal information and acting as a medium in the process of establishing contact.
Photos (1-3): @freddott
𝐀𝐫𝐭 𝐑𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐦 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔
Booth L2 / New Art Section 𝐊𝐚𝐭𝐣𝐚 𝐏𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐤𝐨
At the center of Katja Pilipenko’s work are time, memory and ideology. She shows how stories, images and media shape political reality. And how the past is retold to justify the present.
In 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙊𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙍𝙪𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙖 Pilipenko combines drawings of covers from popular Russian time travel novels with well known anti war poems. The often violent and nostalgic fantasies of these books meet texts that clearly reject war. The work shows the gap between imperial longing and a cultural memory that understands war as a catastrophe.
The 𝙋𝙤𝙥𝙖𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝘾𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙧 continues this idea. The calendars begin on February 24, 2022 and move backwards into a Soviet shaped visual world. Old patterns, historical images and familiar visual codes show how nostalgia becomes politically effective. Time does not appear as progress but as a retreat into an idealized past.
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝙨𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙥𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙃𝙖𝙣𝙙 (𝙐𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙡𝙚𝙙), adds the role of myth and media repetition. The slowly rotating hand quotes the gesture of the clairvoyant Baba Vanga. A figure shaped into a political symbol through images and stories. The work shows how collective belief and media images reinforce each other.
Together the three works show a society moving in a loop of past, propaganda and promises of the future. Pilipenko shows how ideologies are shaped not only through politics but also through images, popular culture and collective narratives.
@art_rotterdam@katjapilipenko@melike_bilir
Seat Ensemble Cubes: @studio.care.rotterdam
The New Art Section was curated by @ovulodrmsgl
📸 @frank_hanswijk
Save the Date: Art Rotterdam 2026 Preview: 26 March, Fair: 27–29 March
We are very happy that the gallery was invited by curator Övül Ö. Durmuşoğlu to participate in the New Art Section of Art Rotterdam 2026. The section brings together international positions and highlights new artistic voices and current social questions.
We present a curated solo booth with works by Katja Pilipenko, including her drawing series The Other Russia.
In the drawing series The Other Russia, Katja Pilipenko appropriates the covers of popadantsy books, a post Soviet literary genre in which protagonists travel back in time to change the course of history. These stories often reflect dissatisfaction with the country’s past and fantasies of Soviet or imperial restoration. Pilipenko redraws the often kitschy and violent book covers and combines them with canonical Russian anti war poetry, widely known as part of a shared cultural memory for those for whom war is fundamentally unacceptable. By bringing these elements together, her drawings confront two conflicting imaginaries of history and war within Russian society, exposing a deep social division.
Katja Pilipenko is an artist from Moscow, based in Hamburg, whose practice is shaped by Russia’s transition from post-Soviet democracy to an authoritarian media regime. Her work examines mediated truths, language, and perception, as well as the formation of myths and ideologies within politics and society. Working across installation, video, printmaking, and sculpture, she investigates how power and control operate through technologies, narratives, and collective practices.
Image: The Other Russia (Kim), 2023, 59,4 x 42 × cm (63,5 x 46 cm framed), pencil on paper 📸 by @henning.rogge@katjapilipenko@ovulodrmsgl@art_rotterdam@melike_bilir
So happy to hold this catalogue in my hands. Designed by @0176hwendy and @casparreuss , it brings together material from my research trip to Bulgaria and North Macedonia around the figure of Baba Vanga.
Developed within the 17th circle of @neuekunstinhamburg at @kunsthaushamburg , curated by @fabianschoeneich .
Thank you to everyone involved for the care and collaboration. 💓
𝘿𝙤 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝘽𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙑𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙖?
My project is part of Reisestipendiat:innen der Neue Kunst in Hamburg @neuekunstinhamburg at Kunstverein Hamburg @kunsthaushamburg .
Inspired by my journey to Bulgaria and North Macedonia and by the figure of Baba Vanga (1911–1996), the work moves between belief and state-controlled knowledge, exploring how faith, science and media transform individual figures into collective myths.
Together with Simone Kessler @simone__kessler , Nicholas Mboya @nikomambomboya , Mohammad Poori @mo_poori and Anna Stüdeli @anna_stuedeli , curated by Fabian Schöneich @fabianschoeneich (CCA Berlin).
𝙆𝙪𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙞𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙃𝙖𝙢𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙜
𝙊𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜: 23.01.26, 19:00
𝙀𝙭𝙝𝙞𝙗𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣: 24.01.26 – 01.02.26
40 Jahre NEUE KUNST IN HAMBURG e.V.
Am Freitag, 23. Januar eröffnet um 19 Uhr die Ausstellung „40 Jahre Neue Kunst in Hamburg“ im @kunstvereinhh
Gezeigt werden die neuen Arbeiten der aktuellen Reisestipendiat:innen Katja Pilipenko @katjapilipenko , Nicholas Mboya @nikomambomboya , Anna Stuedeli @anna_stuedeli , Simone Kessler @simone_kessler & Mohammad Poori @mo_poori . Kuratiert von Fabian Schöneich (CCA Berlin) @fabianschoeneich .
Ausgehend von intensiven Reisen in die USA, Kenia, China, Georgien, Bulgarien und die Republik Nordmazedonien sowie einem Aufenthalt auf einem Forschungsschiff in europäischen Meeren zeigen die Künstlerinnen, wie sie Gegenwart in ihren jeweiligen künstlerischen Praxen verorten.
Außerdem feiert NEUE KUNST IN HAMBURG e.V. sein 40-jähriges Jubiläum mit einer kleinen Ausstellung von Werken ehemaliger Reisestipendiat:innen. (Dauer bis 1. Februar )
#art #simonekessler #kunst #kunstinhamburg #artinstallation
Here are some impressions from my research travels on Baba Vanga in Bulgaria and North Macedonia this February:
1. The Memorial Temple “St. Petka of Bulgaria” (Vanga’s Church) in Rupite – 𝘉𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘉𝘢𝘣𝘢 𝘝𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘢, 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦.
2. Kozhuh Volcano in Rupite, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘉𝘢𝘣𝘢 𝘝𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴.
3. The resting place of Baba Vanga at her house in Rupite.
4. Inside the Temple of Saint Petka, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘉𝘢𝘣𝘢 𝘝𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘢, 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘖𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘥𝘰𝘹 𝘊𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴.
5. The mineral springs in Rupite, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘝𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩.
6. The table in Baba Vanga’s house – 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘶𝘨𝘢𝘳, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯.
7. Inside Baba Vanga’s house in Rupite
8. The turtle pond in Rupite.
9. Novo Selo, North Macedonia – 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘝𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 12.
10-11. The Baba Vanga House-Museum in Petrich, Bulgaria.
12. Bible Verses on the way up the mountain in Melnik, Bulgaria.
13. Hamzali village, North Macedonia– 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘝𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘢 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴.
14. Lunch break in Melnik.
Happy to share the publication 𝙁𝙪𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙪𝙤𝙪𝙨, produced by Mousse (@moussemagazine ) in collaboration with Kunsthaus Hamburg (@kunsthaushamburg ). ✨
Released on the occasion of the annual exhibition of the Hamburg Grants for Visual Arts 2025, the catalogue includes my works from 2024-2025, alongside a generous and precise text on my practice by Agnessa Schmudke (@agnessa.tbd ), and a thoughtful text on my most recent work 𝙈𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙖 𝘾𝙪𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣 by Jaana Heine (@jaana.hn ).
Huge thanks to Jaana Heine (@jaana.hn ), Anna Nowak (@anna.m.nowak ), and Lea Ziegler for staying behind and carrying this through.🌷
The publication also brings together texts on the works of the other participating artists:
Birit Glombitza (4711uboot) on Francesca Bertin (francesca_bertin);
Christopher Wierling (@labrador_eyes ) on Maxime Chabal (@maxime.chabal );
Lesia Hudz (@drunk.spectator ) on Wassili Franko (@wassili_franko );
Dr. Belinda Grace Gardner (@belindagracegardner ) on Katharina Kohl (@_katharina_koh ;
Sarah Crowe (@roundsquared ) on Lila-Zoé Krauss (@l.twills );
Dr. Anne Daffertshofer (annedaffe) on Nina Kuttler (@nina.kttlr );
Josefina Dux (@joseefinad ) on Ruxin Liu (@ruxilin );
Agnessa Schmudke (@agnessa.tod ) on Katja Pilipenko (@katjapilipenko );
Melanie Roumiguière (@melanie_roumiguiere ) on
Sohorab Rabbey (@sohorab_rabbey );
Eglè Ambrasaite (@egleambrasaite ) on Kristina Savutsina (@styropo ).
Available at the Kunsthaus shop and online:
https://www.moussemagazine.it/shop/future-continuous/
Supported by the Ministry of Culture and Media Hamburg (@bkm_hh ).
𝘍𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘰𝘶𝘴 continues at @kunsthaus_hamburg until the 23rd of January. My new work 𝘔𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢 𝘊𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 (2025) is on view.
Huge thanks to @jaana.hn for the curation, and to @anna.m.nowak , Lea Ziegler, Jonas Kolenc, and the entire Kunsthaus team, for the care and dedication that made the exhibition possible.
Thanks as well to the @bkm_hh for the support.
Inspired by the Russian popadantsy genre, time-travel stories where protagonists try to “fix” history, 𝘗𝘰𝘱𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘊𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬 explores how images and everyday objects revive imperial myths.
Twelve risograph prints form the face of a clock; a rotating hand lets viewers “choose” the past. At 12:00, the wartime poster 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 – 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯 slips back into the WWII victory narrative.
Created at @risofort and presented at @kunsthaushamburg in June 2025. Supported by @claussen.simon.stiftung
→ link in bio for edition details
📸 𝐁𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐭 𝟓𝟖 + 🎤 on time travelers (попаданцы) in Russian literature during 𝙙é𝙥𝘼𝙍𝙏𝙎 𝙞𝙢 𝙂𝙚𝙥ä𝙘𝙠 on June 6 at @kunsthaushamburg , supported by @claussen.simon.stiftung
A culinary intervention, 𝐁𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐭 𝟓𝟖, recreates a Soviet-style gathering: a table set with snacks and champagne. Each glass is engraved with the number «58», a reference to Article 58 of the Soviet penal code, used to prosecute vaguely defined “counter-revolutionary” acts. The engraved number interrupts the ritual of toasting, marking a rupture between gesture and meaning.
📷 @svenwied
