Contributor Update, Dmitry Borshch

Join Superstition Review in congratulating past contributor, Dmitry Borshch, on some exciting news! Since being featured in Superstition Review Issue 12 in 2013, Dmitry has had some amazing art exhibitions in his home state of New York. Here are just a few:

Disasters of War in East Ukraine, an exhibition about the continuing war in Donbass. Check out full details of this exhibition on Actipedia.

“When I mentioned to a friend employed by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in New York that I am preparing a series on the war in East Ukraine, which involves traveling there, he encouraged me and even gave the number of two employees of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. One of them, a monitor with its Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, provided me with valuable security information as I traveled to Donetsk, Poltava, Kiev, Mariupol, and other places from Dnepropetrovsk, my place of birth. There in 2015 I began to research ‘Disasters’ through interviews with ‘переселенцы’, persons resettled from ATO, the zone of Ukrainian government’s ‘anti-terrorist operation'”, Borshch explains, adding “I wanted the series, whose title obviously refers to Goya’s ‘Los desastres de la Guerra’, to be first exhibited in cities afflicted by the war.”

From Disasters of War in East Ukraine art exhibit by Dmitry Borshch
Turkish past, Ottoman present and Spengler in Turkey. Check out full details of this exhibition on Actipeida.

Two weeks after Erdoğan ascended to the presidency Borshch organized an exhibition in Istanbul, “Turkey’s New Sultan”, for which, the artist explains, “[he] had to revive the Soviet practice of apartment exhibitions. No gallery in Turkey that we contacted would agree to mount it, fearful of being prosecuted on charges of “insulting Turkishness” – Article 301, Turkish Penal Code. So, as in eighty-nine when I and other nonconformists mounted exhibitions in Dnepropetrovsk apartments because galleries could only exhibit Soviet (meaning Socialist Realist) works, the curator of this exhibition found an apartment in south Istanbul where we showed fifteen drawings on the prime ministership of Erdoğan and invited sympathetic locals to visit; about seventy visited during the exhibition’s almost three weeks, many of them artists. “Turkish past, Ottoman present” is an outgrowth of “Turkey’s New Sultan”. All fifteen collages in it depict Erdoğan and members of his sultanic, neo-ottoman court, such as Binali Yıldırım, Ahmet Davutoğlu, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.”

Denial of Family Values, Gay and Anti-gay Propaganda in Russia. Check out full details of this exhibition on Actipedia.

“This exhibition was created in America but premiered in Russia a year after the passage of what many know as “gay propaganda law”, the bill unanimously approved by the State Duma (with one abstention) and signed into law by President Putin in June, 2013. We contacted five galleries and several cultural centers, not just in Moscow, but none of them agreed to mount our exhibition because of the new law and broad anti-gay, anti-trans sentiment in the country. As thirty years ago in Dnepropetrovsk when I organized apartment exhibitions because only Socialist Realist art could be officially exhibited, we rented a three-bedroom apartment on Moscow’s Budyonny Prospekt, mounted the exhibition, and invited only those who were sympathetic to or could tolerate our views on gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans rights, would not report us to the police who could impose a fine for an unsanctioned exhibition or – this has happened with some exhibitions in Russia deemed “offensive” to religious or national feelings – damage the pictures,” explains Borshch, adding, “There was another apartment exhibition in Moscow, on Tverskaya Street, followed by one more in Saint Petersburg’s Kalininsky District, both lasting a month in early 2016”. Figurative drawings like “The Making of Brothers” are displayed in our exhibition alongside excerpts from speeches on homosexuality and its “evils” by Russian public figures, which are rendered calligraphically on white, yellow, and pink sheets.

“This was the first of two apartment exhibitions mounted by the artist in 2014. Less than three months after it, reacting to the presidential campaign victory of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Borshch had the other apartment exhibition in Istanbul. As some nonconformists did in the Soviet Union, he continues to employ this tactic of apartment exhibitions in Putin’s Russia, Erdoğan’s Turkey, and elsewhere,” writes Dr. Khidekel in the introduction to “Denial of Family Values, Gay and Anti-gay Propaganda in Russia”, which she curated. It is happening on the sixth anniversary of anti-gay legislation’s passage, and during the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month in America.”

Soviet Lives of Uncle Tom. Check out full details of this exhibition on ArtRabbit.
Dmitry Borshch

“Having read one of many Soviet children’s editions of the book as a child and later becoming impressed by its global success, I have never attempted to illustrate it traditionally, in the manner of Hammatt Billings, its first illustrator, and those who followed him,” says Dmitry. “In this exhibition I illustrate the handling of the book by Russian censors, editors, preface and afterword writers, publishers. Although it was published in Russia about three years before statutory abolition of serfdom, and already then manipulated for the Russian government’s benefit, I focus in the exhibition on Soviet manipulations of the classic, performed by those who were living in Soviet bondage upon a novel about bondage in America. Excerpts from their prefaces to the book, afterwords, and translations are rendered calligraphically: Stowe’s English and translators’ Russian passages are organized into parallel columns on the same pink sheets, which helps the viewer to notice politicized manipulations of the translators and their censor-editors. All these pictures were made recently but are informed by thirty-five-year-old memories: like you [the exhibition’s curator] I still remember the late Soviet treatment of this novel, when it was employed widely for anti-capitalist, anti-American propaganda, extolment of USSR as the righteous opposite of USA, advancement of Soviet hegemonic goals,” concludes the artist.”

The Second October Revolution, about 1993 constitutional crisis in Russia. Check out full details of this exhibition on ArtRabbit.

“25 years ago, while staying with relatives in Moscow, I observed what was a genuine possibility of restoration of the Soviet Union, meaning the imposition of Soviet rule and governance on all the former republics of USSR. I heard megaphone speeches by parliamentarians at their White House, promising exactly this and lamenting the Union’s dissolution. That was on September 26; on October 4 I was able to hear from New Arbat (then Kalinin Prospekt) tanks shelling the parliament building. My show is a dramatization of that and other actions ordered by Boris Yeltsin which effectively ended attempts to restore the Union. Blackened stories of the White House I saw on October 8, a week before leaving Moscow, announced this end,” says Borshch.

Congratulations, Dmitry!

#ArtLitPhx: Frida Khalo and Diego Rivera exhibition discussion

Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera exhibit at the Heard MuseumSunday August 13, the Heard Museum will host a live exhibition discussion on their Frida Kahlo exhibition. This exhibition has already received a ton of praise, and this may be the only North American stop for the traveling exhibition. The discussion will be moderated by Claudia Mesch, professor of Art History at ASU. She will explore the contemporary influences of the two legendary figures. The event runs from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. and is included with museum admission to the Frida Kahlo exhibit.

Event: Lori Eshleman Book Talk

PachacutiPlease join us for a book talk by Lori Eshleman

When: Wednesday, March 25, 2015 at 7pm

Where: Changing Hands Bookstore, Tempe, AZ

Lori Eshleman, whose historical novel set in 18th century Ecuador titled Pachacuti: World Overturned (Bagwyn Books, 2015) (An imprint of the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies) has recently been published. Lori will be giving a book talk on March 25:  “Shamans, Jesuits and Rebels: Encounters in the New World.” http://www.eventbrite.com/e/shamans-jesuits-and-rebels-encounters-in-the-new-world-tickets-15051213585

Lori Eshleman has a Ph.D. in Art History from the University of Minnesota. She lives in Arizona, where she teaches at Arizona State University, and she has lived and traveled extensively in Ecuador. She has taught courses in Medieval art, Mexican art, and art of the Americas. This is her first historical novel.

For more information about Lori and her novel please visit:

https://acmrs.org/publications/catalog/pachacuti-world-overturned

Kindle Edition: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SW535H0

 

 

Intern Highlight: Stephanie De La Rosa

Advertising Coordinator Stephanie De La Rosa is a junior at Arizona State University pursuing concurrent degrees in Creative Writing and French and a minor in Art History. After graduation, Stephanie would like to live abroad and learn more languages, establish herself as a writer, and
eventually apply her literary and linguistic knowledge in the publishing
industry as a translator. This is her first semester with Superstition Review.

Watch this video to see Stephanie shares some of her literary inspirations.

Meet the Interns: Elizabeth Anderson, Nonfiction Editor

elizabethanderson_0_1Elizabeth Anderson, one of our Nonfiction Editors, is a senior majoring in Creative Writing and working on a minor in Art History.

Superstition Review: What do you do for SR?

Elizabeth Anderson: I find nonfiction literary writers across the country and solicit them for work for SR. I also choose a few nonfiction writers that speak to me and solicit interviews.

SR: How did you hear about or get involved with Superstition Review?

EA: I first got involved with SR after taking a poetry class with Trish. Last year, I was the Solicitations Coordinator, where I kept track of the editor’s e-mails, created spreadsheets, created documents of responses, and added names to the Solicitations List.

SR: What is your favorite section of SR?

EA: My favorite section is the Art section because of Karen Green’s work, which I find not only unique, but also very inspirational.

SR: Who is your dream contributor to the journal?

EA: Currently, my dream contributor would be Mary Cappello (whom I sent a solicitation e-mail out to!), because I absolutely loved the idea behind her narrative, “Awkward: A Detour.” She not only covers touchy familial subjects, but she has a fluid way of talking about normal, everyday life.

SR: What job, other than your own, would you like to try out in the journal?

EA: I would love to be one of the Art Editors because it is so outside of my realm of the written arts. The visual arts can excite so many emotions without saying anything, and I would love to learn how to capture these emotions.

SR: What are you most excited for in the upcoming issue?

EA: I am so excited just to hear back from the nonfiction writers that I solicited. I think that their feedback will be the biggest pay off for all of my hard work thus far.

SR: What are you currently reading?

EA: I am currently reading My Friend Leonard, by James Frey. No matter what the media says about him, Frey will always hold a special place on my bookshelf.

SR: What are some of your favorite websites to waste time on or distract you from homework?

EA: To distract me from homework, I love to read Democratic Underground, The Onion, and of course, playing Waka-Waka on Facebook.

SR: What would be your dream class to take at ASU? What would the title be and what would it cover?

EA: My dream class at ASU would be a poetry class that not only focuses on forms (I am currently in ENG 490 Forms class), but also incorporates actual student readings of the poetry outside of class. The title would be ENG 490.5 “Forms and Presentation.”

SR: What are some of your favorite literary links?

EA: My favorite literary links are poets.org, azpoetry.org, zeroland.

Introducing Elizabeth Anderson, by Veronica Martinez

elizabethanderson_0_1Intern Veronica Martinez interviews Elizabeth Anderson about what her challenges and rewards are as the Solicitation Coordinator for Superstition Review.

Veronica Martinez: What has your intern experience been like so far? 

Elizabeth Anderson: Coming into the internship, I was expecting to do more of the tedious random assignments that no one else wanted to do and be treated like I did nothing for the magazine. There have been many deadlines and a lot of very stressful projects, but I have realized that I have been given a string of support that I can reach at any given moment. My favorite part has been the reading last week at ASU East because it was rewarding to see that the writers we contact do actually respond and are willing to give back to the community.

VM: Can you give us a short description of what your internship duties are?

EA: I am currently the Solicitations Coordinator. I searched for fiction, nonfiction, art, and poetry writers to add to our current Solicitations list. I contacted bookstores, Undergrad and Grad programs, libraries and more to send out the fliers to ask for submissions for issue 3. I am in charge of reminded the genre editors of their deadlines. I am currently working on adding names to our distributions list from people who attended the AWP conference.

VM: What are your hopes for the future, in regards to what you are learning through this internship experience? 

EA: In regards to this internship, I am learning the basic skills of discipline and deadlines. I will be able to apply these skills to my dream of becoming a writer or an editor for a well-known magazine like Time or Life. I am learning how to be a committed intern, and have realized that there is a climb to get to the top. I hope that this internship will help me pursue my dreams and work hard for what I want. I hope to apply my new-found knowledge of the contemporary writers and the varieties of writing styles to my future work. Overall, this internship has been very inspiring.

VM: What’s one fun thing you can tell us about yourself? 

EA: I am absolutely obsessed with the Twilight series. I am one of nine children. I plan to move to Seattle when finished with school. I am an Art History minor.