ALL

28 May | Co-opt, coerce, corrupt: How Russian empire ruled its vassals

Artist Talk & Photo Project Presentation by Max Sher

When: 28 May 18:30
Where: Dialogbüro Vienna
Esslinggasse 9 / 6, 1010, Vienna
Language: English
Admission: Free of charge, please register here

Photographer Max Sher, who has been working on his research-based photo project Empire since 2021, will present photographs from his visits to three key geographies — the former Duchy of Courland (Latvia), the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti (Georgia), and the Bökei Horde (Kazakhstan) — while discussing the persistent Russian policy of ‘co-optation of elites’, adapted to local contexts but consistently aimed at domination.

In his now almost forgotten orientalist travelogue 'A Journey to Arzrum during the Campaign of 1829', published in 1836, writer Alexander Pushkin praised to be the father of the modern Russian language ironically but very appropriately suggested that it was 'luxury' that may entice Russia's neighbours into submission. In fact, this imperialist tactic, today referred to as 'co-optation of elites', was and still is Russia's preferred way of dealing with its neighbours that it considers to be its vassals forming part of a 'legitimate sphere of influence'.

This imperialist tactic, today referred to as 'co-optation of elites', was and still is Russia's preferred way of dealing with its neighbours.

Photographer Max Sher who has been working on his research-based photo project 'Empire' since 2021, will talk about this persistent Russian policy based on three geographies where the Russian empire employed various forms of 'co-optation of elites', diversifying based on local specifics but always pursuing its ultimate goal — domination.

These three geographies are the former German-ruled Duchy of Courland annexed in late 18th century (now in Latvia), the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti (now in Georgia), annexed in early 19th century, and the Bökei Horde, a Kazakh khanate created by Russia as a ‘protectorate’ in what is now Western Kazakhstan in 1801.

Max Sher is a photographer and visual artist based in Berlin since 2021. Born in St. Petersburg, raised in Siberia and educated in Siberia and France as a linguist, he took up photography in 2006, first as photojournalist, then also as an artist. He is primarily interested in the representation of built environment, architecture, and infrastructure, as well as in investigating local/problematic histories.

His work was exhibited as part of solo and group shows at AFF Gallery Berlin, Museum der Trostfrauen (Berlin), Calvert22 Gallery London, Format Festival (UK), Noorderlicht Festival (Netherlands), Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Alexey Shchusev Museum of Architecture, Triumph Gallery, PERMM, Yeltsin Center, among others. As a photojournalist, Sher has worked on assignments for The Guardian, Der Spiegel, The New York Times Magazine, Bloomberg Businessweek, Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin, Die Welt, Le Monde, Libération, and other printed and online media.

Sher has published a number of photo books and zines, including A Remote Barely Audible Evening Waltz (Treemedia Publishers, 2013), Palimpsests (Ad Marginem Press, 2018, supported by the Heinrich Böll Foundation), 245 Khrushchev Housing Entrances (self-published in 4 editions, 2018-20), Dictatorship of the Seven Seas (2018), and Infrastructures, a joint photobook with Sergey Novikov published in 2019 under their own small publishing brand RecurrentBooks with the support of Heinrich Böll Foundation.

Sher's latest photo book Snow was published by The Velvet Cell in early 2025 with the support of Friedrich Ebert Foundation. Since 2021, he has been working on a new project titled Empire, tracing histories of imperialism within geographical Europe.

AWARDS, SHORTLISTS, ETC.
Deutscher Fotobuchpreis 2025, Silver in Documentary Category, 'Snow'
Lucie Photobook Prize 2025, Finalist, 'Snow'

Register to the event

2026-05-19 11:07