ALL

7 October, 18:30: Growing Up in The Gulag

^{Photo: From the Photobook by}^{Dasha Karetnikova}^{“Motherland hears, Motherland knows”, 2019–2023, Fotohof}

Lecture, Talk, Presentation of the Photobook "Motherland hears, motherland knows" by Dasha Karetnikova.

When: 7 October, 18:30
Location: Dialogbüro Vienna (Eßlinggasse 9/6, 1010 Wien)
Language: English
Entry: Free Registration here

SPEAKERS

Dasha Karetnikova, documentary photographer
Irina Ostrovskaya, historian, custodian of the Memorial archive
Anna Aicher, photographer and team member of Fotohof
Yuri Kazakov, historian, translator

Stalin’s Gulags were filled not only with convicts, but also with “family members of traitors to the motherland:” mothers, wives, sisters, and of course, children of the falsely convicted.

In 1938, Georgiy Karetnikov was born in one of those camps, known by its acronym, ALZHiR (Akmolinsk camp for wives of traitors to the motherland). He first saw his mother only after they were freed, when he was eight. They spent those eight years in the same camp, yet his mother was not allowed to see her child.

^{Photo: From the Photobook by}^{Dasha Karetnikova}^{“Motherland hears, Motherland knows”, 2019–2023, Fotohof}

What was daily life like in the camps? The first half of our event will explore this further: what did the women do? What happened to their children? Despite everything, how did they continue to love and create art?

In the second half, we’ll hear Georgiy Karetnikov’s story and how he later revisited the sites of his memory. His daughter, the documentary photographer Dasha Karetnikova, accompanied him on this journey. She captured their family history in the photobook Motherland Hears, Motherland Knows, published by the Austrian FOTOHOF.

^{Photo: From the Photobook by}^{Dasha Karetnikova}^{“Motherland hears, Motherland knows”, 2019–2023, Fotohof}

Our discussion will not only be an introduction to the history of one camp and one family, but an invitation to talk about how we in Russia, Austria, and other countries handle the memory of repressions today, how we can find new ways to rethink it, and how personal experiences become part of a common history. Join us!

^{Image: ALZHiR 1940, Archive of Zukunft MEMORIAL e.V.}

2025-09-30 11:04