I am a cultural historian, curator, educator, and advisor based in London and Athens.

My teaching and research explore the politics and aesthetics of anticipation through various media. The subjects I address span the ancient Greek world, critical museology, cultural diplomacy, traditions of performing heritage and knowledge, and continuities between the ancient and contemporary — I use the term ‘aesthetico-political phenomenology’ to describe my practice’s central subject.

Currently, I serve as Foyle Curator of Exhibitions and Public Programming at Pushkin House and Lecturer in Global Art at the Institute of Contemporary Art. I run several interdisciplinary projects including: the Lecture Performance Archive, Avenir Institute, a nomadic think tank, and Fortune Teller, an Athens-based kunstverein. I am a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) in London and a Member of the International Association of Curators of Contemporary Art (IKT).

With the generous support of numerous fellowships, I earned a BA in Politics and an MA in European Studies (with distinction) and pursued a Ph.D. in Politics at HSE Moscow, a CertHE in International Security from Stanford University, a DipHE in Fine Art from the Antwerp Royal Academy of Fine Arts and an MRes in Art and Design from the KdG University of Applied Sciences and Arts (with distinction). I am currently completing my Ph.D. in History of Art at the University of Edinburgh, with a thesis entitled “Queer Aesthetics and the Politics of Performing Knowledge.”

I am deeply committed to diversity and inclusion in academia and the art world. I come from a working-class family with mixed Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, and Ashkenazi heritage from the borderland provincial town of Bryansk. I have lived in Moscow, Brussels, Berlin, São Paulo, and Cambridge. I speak English, Russian, and French and read ancient Greek.

  • I conceptualise and curate multimedia projects, discursive programmes, lecture performances, workshops and art exhibitions.

    I have presented artistic and curatorial work at the Helsinki Art Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek Museum, Marres House for Contemporary Culture, Brussels, Tallinn, Athens and London galleries. I have organised numerous international exhibitions and public programmes in the context of the Venice Biennales of Art and Architecture (2015, 2016, 2017, 2019 & 2022), São Paulo Biennale (2016), Tbilisi Architecture Biennale (2020), Ural Industrial Biennial (2017), Art Basel Miami, London Art Fair, and Cosmoscow.

    I was the Curator-in-Residence at U-jazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art in Warsaw, Projeto Fidalga in São Paulo, Critical Mass in St Petersburg and Fire Station in Dublin. I was also a founding curator of the Penthouse Art Residency (2016-2017) in Brussels.

  • I teach art and politics, cultural history and critical humanities, develop custom-made educational programmes and moderate panel talks. I also mentor on these subjects privately with the individual curricula. I lead travelling seminars and discursive walkthroughs at art museums, galleries, cultural memory sites, fairs, festivals, biennales, etc.

    I was the “Futures of Democracy?” Visiting Professor at the University of Applied Arts Vienna and a Co-Convenor of PPV: Politics and Aesthetics in the Global East at the University College London. I have lectured at the Universities of Cambridge, Cologne, Bremen, Edinburgh, Namur, Leuven, St Andrews, Roskilde, Tallinn; FAAP (São Paulo), The New School (New York), Jan van Eyck Academie (Maastricht). I have contributed to dozens of global conferences, symposia, fairs, summits, and other events, including the St Gallen Symposium, World Business Summit, PRIMER San Francisco, and the Association of Professional Futurists.

  • I write about art, politics and culture at large. My writing has been published in numerous leading venues, including Doppiozero International, Ocula, Obieg, Conceptual Fine Arts, Moscow Art Magazine, Arts of the Working Class, A*Desk, the Brussels Times, and exhibition catalogues, books, and volumes. My political opinion pieces and peer-reviewed essays appeared in Law and Politics, Insurance Business, Euractiv, Radio Free Europe, and think tanks’ publications in Brussels, Washington, Moscow, etc.

    Edward Elgar Publishing will publish my latest book contribution in Art, Heritage and Performative Politics in late 2024. My work has been translated into more than a dozen languages.

  • I advise universities, non-profits, arts institutions, and collectors on creative communication and presentation strategies, conceptualisation and ideation, development and project management, storytelling, and other related areas. I occasionally facilitate meetings for businesses and government agencies. My clients come from various fields and include global leaders in education and the arts.

    I am an expert in EU-East and Russian affairs and politics. Since 2008, I have provided communication consulting and political analysis to organizations, not-for-profit foundations, and think tanks. I have worked with the EU-Russia Centre, the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), the European Geopolitical Forum, the Eurasia Competitiveness Institute, Strategy Partners, the Institute of Contemporary Development, Development Alternatives (DAI), and the Institute for Political Infrastructure Analysis.