Memorial Ilya Kabakov

Surrounded by family, Ilya Kabakov passed away on 27 May 2023 at the age of 89. Just over a month later, the Van Abbemuseum opened the exhibition Relinking: Kabakov Kabinet. This exhibition – ranging from large-scale paintings to small book illustrations – is the last that he would work on, together with his wife Emilia Kabakov. On Saturday 16 March 2024, the Van Abbemuseum is hosting a commemorative event. Several speakers will reflect on the life and work of Ilya Kabakov.

Emilia Kabakov

Ilya Kabakov was one of Moscow’s leading conceptual artists. In 1988, he began working together with his wife Emilia (b. 1945). From that point on, they considered all of their work a collaborative artistic expression. Born in Dnipro in Ukraine, previously Dnepropetrovsk of the Soviet Union, On the collaboration with her husband, Emilia recounted the following: “Ilya always used to say: ‘We are one person.’ Although he hadn’t travelled since 2014, he was always there remotely when I was on the road for exhibitions. His passing did not change our final exhibition together, but it did change the frame of mind I was in when arranging it.” Emilia will be attending the commemorative event.

Censorship and criticism

Much of Ilya’s older autonomous work was a melancholy yet humoristic comment on the failure of Soviet ideals. As such, to-do lists played a role in many of his drawings, prints and paintings: who is supposed to take out the rubbish bin; who is taking care of dinner? These kinds of lists were intended to organise everyday life in Soviet communal flats, the kommoenalka. Residents often attempted to shirk their duties here. In reality, communal spaces proved not to belong to everyone, but rather to no one.

Many of the illustrations Ilya Kabakov created for children’s books were created under state control. A censor would assess whether his drawings conformed to Communist Party guidelines. Later in his autonomous work, he would incorporate hidden messages into his children’s drawings that criticised the widespread censorship. For example, a hidden text lies behind a drawing of happy cows and bunnies in a colouring book. Translated, it reads: “fuck you!”

Close bond

The beginnings of the bond between the Van Abbemuseum and the Kabakovs date back to 2012. That was when the couple and the museum co-organised the exhibition Lissitzky – Kabakov: Utopie en Werkelijkheid (‘Utopia and Reality’). As guest curators, the Kabakovs showcased their work and the work of El Lissitzky (1890 - 1941). It was the first time that the oeuvres of these renowned 20th-century Soviet artists had been presented together. The Van Abbemuseum now owns a large collection of works by the Kabakovs. In 2021, the museum expanded that collection by adding 86 graphic works.

Commemoration

During the commemorative event on Saturday 16 March 2024, several speakers will reflect on the content, history and future of Ilya Kabakov’s work:

Full programme

1:45 PM Register at the cash register and enter the auditorium
2:00 PM Welcome Charles Esche, director Van Abbemuseum
2:15 PM Dr. Dmitri Ozerkov, art historian and curator
2:45 PM Prof. Dr. Christa-Maria Lerm Hayes (University of Amsterdam)
3:15 PM Bart de Baere (director M HKA, Antwerp)
3:35 PM Panel with Robbie Schweiger, Katerina Sidorova (researchers Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam), Alexandra Kharitonova (freelance curator and art historian) and Willem Jan Renders (freelance curator and researcher) led by Steven ten Thije (head collections, Van Abbemuseum)
4:30 PM Closing drinks at Karel 1 Museumcafé
6:00 PM End

The commemorative event will be filmed and can be shared on request.

Relinking: Kabakov Kabinet

This commemorative event is part of the exhibition Relinking: Kabakov Kabinet, the last exhibition Ilya Kabakov worked on. Children’s book illustrations, graphic prints, large-scale paintings, installations and international projects:this concise exhibition demonstrates the limitless bounds of the artistic imagination that Ilya and Emilia Kabakov shared. The exhibition, on display through Sunday 24 March 2024, introduces visitors to the rich world of experience the artist couple inhabited. To accompany the exhibition, a catalogue raisonné of Ilya and Emilia Kabakov’s graphic work has been published and will be on sale in the museumshop of the Van Abbemuseum or online.