About Svetlana Boym

Svetlana Boym (b. 1966) is a writer, theorist, and media artist who leads parallel lives.

She is the author of The Future of Nostalgia (Basic Books, 2001), (translations into Serbian, Italian, Polish (partial), Chinese, Hebrew, Turkish, Spanish, forthcoming), the novel Ninochka (2003), Kosmos: Remembrances of the Future (with photos by Adam Bartos, 2003), Territories of Terror: Memories and Mythologies of Gulag in Contemporary Art (2006) Architecture of the Off-Modern (2008) and Another Freedom: The Alternative History of an Idea (2010)

Her recent media exhibits include “Phantasmagorias” in Copenhagen and Kaunas (2009), “Historiar_Imaginar” in Madrid, Centro de Arte Contemporaneo, CA2M (2009), “Nostalgic Technologies” (2006 in Ljubljana and Cambridge), “Unforeseen Past” (2007, NYC) and “Skipping the Page” (Center for the Book Arts, NYC). She has contributed to many journals, including Art Forum, ArtMargins, Cabinet, Punto de Vista, Critical Inquiry, Representations, Poetics Today, and Harpers’s Magazine. In yet another life she wrote a play The Woman Who Shot Lenin, performed at the Charlestown Working Theater in Boston.

When not doing art projects, Svetlana Boym teaches in Comparative Literature at Harvard University and is an Associate of the Graduate School of Design. Native of St. Petersburg, Russia, she now lives and works in Cambridge, USA and on svetlanaboym.com.

To learn more about her academic interests and publications, please visit her staff pages at Harvard's Department of Comparative Literature.

2006-2009 Lectures and Artistic Presentations

• Vienna Kunsthalle (October 2009)
• Frieze Art Fair,  London, UK (October 2006)
• Freud's Museum, Vienna ArtWeek, Vienna, Austria (March 2006)
  
• Puebla, Mexico
• Ljubljana City Museum, Ljubljana City of Women Festival, Slovenia (October 2006)
• Cranbrook Graduate School, Cranbrook, MI (January 2007)
• Columbia Univ., Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture (November 2006)
• Boston University Art Gallery, Territories of Terror (Curator; October 2006)
• Kitchen, Performance Art Space,  New York (April 2006)
• Apexart, New York (2007)
• Universita Ca Foscari/Teatro di Piazza Santa Margherita, Venice, Italy (April 2008)
• Universita di Bologna (April 20008)
• Cambridge UK, Distinguished Scholar and Artist Workshop (April 2008)

2006-2009 Solo and Group Exhibits

• "The Off-Modern Show (Nostalgic Technologies and Phantasmagorias)," BKS Gallery of the Royal Academy of Art, Copenhagen, Denmark. (October-December 2009)
• "Nostalgic Technologies," Galerija 101, Kaunas, Lithuania. (October-November 2009)
  
• “Unforeseen Past/Touching Photographs” in the show “Imaginar_Historiar,” Centro de Arte Contemporaneo, Dos de Mayo (CA2M), Madrid, Spain (May-September 2009)
  
• Solo show, CGIS Gallery, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA  (2007)
  
• Solo show, Metelkovo-Factory Rog, Ljubljana, Slovenia (October 2006)
  
• "Unforeseen Past," Nailya Alexander Gallery, New York (2007)
  
• "Skipping the Page," The Center for Book Arts, New York (January 2008)
  
• "Nostalgia: Images and Sounds," Teatro di Piazza Santa Margherita, Venice, Italy (Multimedia Performance, April 2008)