Post-Soviet Liberalization as Corporate Rebrand? Katya & Alexei Tylevich Explore the Provocative Guardhouse Installation T.G.I.Freiheit.

Their provocative installation T.G.I.Freiheit, housed in our East German guardhouse, puns on the German word for freedom. It highlights the ironies and contradictions around the post-communist embrace of “freedom” in Eastern Europe.

The piece transforms the guardhouse, an instrument of control, into a satire of an American-style chain restaurant, run by a dummy with a suspicious resemblance to a certain Russian leader. The work highlights the dark side of post-communist Eastern Europe's liberalization, and the consequences of attempts to rapidly privatize formerly socialist economies via so-called “shock therapy.”

We hope you’ll join us to hear from the Tylevich siblings on T.G.I.Freiheit, a piece that problematizes conventional narratives about progress, freedom, and the “End of History.”