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Beetles and Caterpillars. The Insect Culture of the 1920−1940s
Avant-garde Center on Shabolovka
2021
2021
The curators of this exhibition continued the exploration of the artistic life of the first half of the 20th century through little-known yet striking themes. This project was a spin-off of the 2018 exhibition Surrealism in the Land of the Bolsheviks, curated by Nadezhda Plungyan and Aleksandra Selivanova. The Beetles and Caterpillars exhibition examined early Soviet culture through the lens of beetles—those unnoticed yet persistent inhabitants of book pages, gardens, private apartments, communal housing, vegetable beds, and even kindergartens.
In the post-revolutionary years, insects became deeply embedded in pamphlets, songs, and propaganda posters, symbolizing a wide range of external enemies of the proletariat. By the second half of the 1920s, however, the imagery shifted from external threats to "pests"—internal enemies that needed to be exposed and eradicated. These "pests" were contrasted with the diligent and useful "friends of mankind"—ants, bees, and silkworms.
While the Soviet authorities fought both real and metaphorical insects, artists and writers immersed themselves in their mysterious world. At the intersection of Art Deco and early Surrealism, insects shimmered and crawled through graphics, cinema, and photography, hid in children’s literature, and shone on theatrical stages. The "insect culture" of the pre-war years reflected, criticized, and sharpened the contours of Soviet everyday life and politics. It also brought together a diverse group of artists, including Vladimir Favorsky, Fyodor Semyonov-Amursky, Vasily Vatagin, Alexander Rodchenko, Boris Smirnov, and others.
The exhibition space—designed by theater artist Zhenya Rzheznikova—combined entomological collections and instruments from the 1920s–1930s, books, artistic works, and the heritage of young naturalists, creating an immersive journey through microworlds.
In the post-revolutionary years, insects became deeply embedded in pamphlets, songs, and propaganda posters, symbolizing a wide range of external enemies of the proletariat. By the second half of the 1920s, however, the imagery shifted from external threats to "pests"—internal enemies that needed to be exposed and eradicated. These "pests" were contrasted with the diligent and useful "friends of mankind"—ants, bees, and silkworms.
While the Soviet authorities fought both real and metaphorical insects, artists and writers immersed themselves in their mysterious world. At the intersection of Art Deco and early Surrealism, insects shimmered and crawled through graphics, cinema, and photography, hid in children’s literature, and shone on theatrical stages. The "insect culture" of the pre-war years reflected, criticized, and sharpened the contours of Soviet everyday life and politics. It also brought together a diverse group of artists, including Vladimir Favorsky, Fyodor Semyonov-Amursky, Vasily Vatagin, Alexander Rodchenko, Boris Smirnov, and others.
The exhibition space—designed by theater artist Zhenya Rzheznikova—combined entomological collections and instruments from the 1920s–1930s, books, artistic works, and the heritage of young naturalists, creating an immersive journey through microworlds.
Curators
Aleksandra Selivanova
Nadezhda Plungyan
Artist
Zhenya Rzheznikova
Aleksandra Selivanova
Nadezhda Plungyan
Artist
Zhenya Rzheznikova
