- Что такое утопия? Утопия, как мы ее понимали, сейчас должна быть переосмыслена в контексте настоящего и будущего. Мы представляли себе утопию как мир, в котором и нам, и другим людям будет хорошо. Но сейчас история складывается так, как будто хорошо не будет никому. И чтобы понять, как мы можем жить в будущем, нам нужно вначале понять, что мы делаем сейчас и что произошло в прошлом. Почему мы все пришли к тому, что у нас невозможно будущее — вот что необходимо понять.
Показалось важным сейчас сделать эту работу и в контексте Типографии. В 2017 году этот автобус символизировал самоорганизацию в Краснодаре, которая мчится в будущее, в процессе самообразования, хоть и в школьном автобусе. Когда Типография стала иногентом, мы разбиты, но ищем как пересобраться.
#zipgroup #xlgallery #ccatypography
Join us on Saturday, May 9 for the activation of the ExBrache space in Wedding. As part of the @mowe_festival we are opening the garden on the former wasteland of the ExRotaprint factory and welcoming new and old friends to learn more about its history through a tour of the facilities, join forces to create a new sanctuary through collective amphitheater repair, and unwind at the Socialkasse bar with mellow music @kmkmkm.mkmkmk@mdvdv____ and snacks.
09. – 10. Mai 14:00-20:00 Uhr |will be the Mural/Live painting: Children’s Series mit Egor Gor @_goregor
ExBrache
Reinickendorfer Str. 41
13357 Berlin
Zugang über Lidl Parkplatz
ExRotaprint
Gottschedstr. 4
13357 Berlin
The ZIP group brings its Fugue “to the table.” Openings appear across the tabletop, from which fragments of the past — or more broadly, fragments of themes and connections — break through: a piece of a bridge, a sinkhole in the road, a journey home to a former collective farm, divided monuments (a horse and a Cossack — but not together). These ruptures disrupt the integrity of the upper level.
Using wooden slats and twisted ropes, the artists construct a resonant two-tier structure. The elements of the lower layer function as separate fragments of memory, like “island-institutions” that gradually assemble into a larger picture. Communication operates here like a message in a bottle from Evgeny Rimkevich in Armavir, cast into the water and received here on the island in Spandau.
The layered table dominates the studio space; on the wall — delicate “from-the-bottle” drawings and attached notes attempting to describe something simple (at times achieving poetry), as if fugue and entropy were sealed inside the studio. ZIP’s Fugue reflects on a past that refuses to let go, that grows into the present, disrupting harmony and creating a shared dramatic tension — echoing the clash between the aesthetic and the physiological in the works of Provmyza.
We combined two materials — a utopian wooden structure resembling a “mouth,” the frame of a bus stop with a frame of handcar, and a metal bench with a model of a hut and two metal mugs. For the exhibition Next Stop Spandau at @xlprojectsberlin , in the @backsteinboot space, where our workshop is now located. Совместили два материала, утопическую конструкцию из дерева, как «пасть», каркас остановки, сто с завившей дрезиной и металлическую лавочку с макетом шалаша и двумя металлическими кружками. Для выставки Следующая остановка Шпандау в XLprojectsberlin пространство Backsteinboot где теперь находится мастерская.
At the beginning of September, we had an exciting milestone. As ZIP Group and the Typography collective @typography_worldwide , we’ve been working since spring 2025 on a garden called ExBrache—literally “former ruin”. It’s a large pit left from a demolished production hall of the Rotaprint printer factory. Today the factory site is the unique ExRotaprint project, run by artists Daniela Brahm @daniela.brahm and Les Schliesser. Les proposed creating an art camping in the garden.
Our Marianna @maryangelsuperstar is currently in a master’s program with the curatorial collective behind documenta 15, and the course explores how collectives can work and support each other and, more challengingly, how a collective of collectives can be linked and exist. Within this course, called Lumbung Practice, the collective of collectives damdam emerged. Typography is one of damdam’s participants, and they were the first we invited to pitch tents in the garden.
We had a great time: Marianna organized visits to @savvycontemporary , @sinematranstopia , @spore.initiative , and other places; Daniela and Les shared the inspiring story of ExRotaprint; and Valya Fetisov @valiafetisov and Lena Ishchenko @beyond_n_between led a T-shirt printing workshop. In short, it was fantastic.
Through this closer connection with @millemains_ , @biquiniwax_tv , United Fried Front, @levelfive.brussels , @spin.collectiveee , and @elalto_aesthetics , we’re also becoming part of damdam’s “collective of collectives” network.
Thanks for the photos, Jado @jumbojado . Much respect to ExRotaprint and everyone involved for their boldness.
