Slavs and Tatars and the exhibition lines from Berlin to Mexico City
Published on 08/31/2026 at 15:26 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
Slavs and Tatars have long built their practice around the frictions of language, belief and geopolitics across Eurasia. Their recent presence in the group exhibition Seeing Words, Reading Images at PalaisPopulaire in Berlin underscores how text, translation and humor structure their work in institutional contexts.
Exhibitions from Berlin to Mexico City
The Deutsche Bank-owned space PalaisPopulaire in Berlin lists the group show Seeing Words, Reading Images from March 20 to August 17, 2026, as a survey of the Written Art Collection and the Deutsche Bank Collection, with Slavs and Tatars represented by the archival project Molla Nasreddin. The exhibition aligns their long-standing interest in satirical print culture with a broader investigation of how words become images within a corporate collection framework.
In parallel, the artist’s own website and gallery partners highlight the large-scale installation Samovar Swell at Museo Jumex in Mexico City, running in 2026 as a dedicated project space. The piece stages a reading room structured around a working samovar, kilims and rahlé book stands, emphasizing hospitality and multilingual reading as core elements of their spatial scenography.
Monday focus on exhibition formats
The Kalfayan Galleries program lists Samovar Swell at Museo Jumex between March 6 and August 23, 2026, framing the work as a central institutional presentation in Latin America. According to Museo Jumex, the installation is curated by Rosela del Bosque with Carolina Estrada García, and conceived as a sonic and performative environment activated by readings and voice-based events.
The group’s official exhibition listings further point to the 2026 show Of Thread and Stone at New Taipei City Art Museum, extending their exhibition geography into East Asia. This trajectory, from Mexico City to Taiwan and Europe, reflects how Slavs and Tatars structure a season through overlapping institutional collaborations rather than a single, headline-grabbing retrospective.
Further coverage on Slavs and Tatars
For additional background on Slavs and Tatars, including biennial appearances and institutional collaborations, the AD HOC NEWS archive offers related reports and analyses.
The core of their practice
Slavs and Tatars describe their work as focused on the region “east of the former Berlin Wall and west of the Great Wall of China,” combining installations, publications and lecture-performances. Projects such as Molla Nasreddin, The Contest of the Fruits and Samovar Swell exemplify how they weave research on print culture, oral traditions and transliteration into sculptural and spatial formats.
Where Slavs and Tatars stand now
As of late August 2026, Slavs and Tatars maintain an active exhibition calendar across Europe, Latin America and Asia, with institutional projects like Samovar Swell and Of Thread and Stone anchoring their current season rather than a single headline show.
Key facts on Slavs and Tatars
- Artist: Slavs and Tatars
- Medium / Genre: Installation, publishing and research-based practice
- Place(s) of practice: Studio practice anchored in Berlin with an international exhibition footprint
- Active since: Mid-2000s, with increased institutional visibility in the 2010s
- Key work groups: Molla Nasreddin, Samovar Swell, The Contest of the Fruits, Beyonsense
- Current/last exhibition: Seeing Words, Reading Images, PalaisPopulaire, Berlin, March 20 to August 17, 2026
- Major collections: Museo Jumex (Mexico City), institutions associated with Deutsche Bank Collection and the Written Art Collection
- Awards: Various project-based commissions and institutional invitations rather than headline award listings
- Next date: No specific date within a 30-day window is highlighted by primary institutional sources as of August 31, 2026
Frequently asked questions about Slavs and Tatars
Where can Slavs and Tatars be seen in institutional exhibitions in 2026?
In 2026, key presentations include the group exhibition Seeing Words, Reading Images at PalaisPopulaire in Berlin and the installation project Samovar Swell at Museo Jumex in Mexico City, alongside the planned exhibition Of Thread and Stone in New Taipei City.
What defines the installation Samovar Swell by Slavs and Tatars?
Samovar Swell at Museo Jumex centers on a functioning samovar, kilims and rahlé book stands, creating a space for reading and listening in multiple languages, with performative activations through voice and sound, as outlined by the museum and gallery materials.
How does the project Molla Nasreddin fit into their practice?
Molla Nasreddin is an archival and editorial project that revisits the early 20th-century satirical magazine from the Caucasus, situating its visual and textual strategies within contemporary debates on print culture, translation and political humor, and appears in contexts such as Seeing Words, Reading Images at PalaisPopulaire.
This article was produced with a.i. support and editorially reviewed. All statements without guarantee; auction results, exhibition dates and awards may change at short notice.
