Vadim Zakharov recounts APTART's clandestine Moscow exhibitions at Central Saint Martins

On 23 May 2014, Vadim Zakharov presented a talk entitled 'APTART: On the walls, en plein air and beyond the fence' at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London. He discussed the APTART initiative, which originated as an apartment exhibition in Moscow in 1982, organized by Nikita Alekseev. This project, rooted in the Soviet practice of secret exhibitions, showcased installations created with temporary materials, later extending to outdoor locations on the outskirts of Moscow until its closure in 1984. Zakharov shared photographs from his archive that highlighted the challenges of public art in the 1980s Soviet context. This event coincided with the 'Paper Museums' exhibition at John Hansard Gallery (27 May–19 July 2014) and marked the end of the MRes Art: Exhibition Studies course. Zakharov, born in Dushanbe in 1959 and residing in Berlin and Moscow, is an artist, editor, archivist, and collector. He was involved in APTART during 1982–83 and has worked with Victor Skersis (as S/Z), Sergei Anufriev, Andrei Monastyrsky, Yuri Leiderman, and Niklas Nitschke. Since 1992, he has been the publisher of Pastor magazine and established Pastor Zond Edition. In 2008, he created the website 'Moscow Conceptualism presented by V. Zakharov', and in 2013, he represented Russia at the Venice Biennale with 'Danaë'. This event was organized in partnership with Afterall Books: Exhibition Histories, John Hansard Gallery, and the TrAIN research centre.