Set the stage Marta Volkova & Slava Shevelenko 12.04.2026 - 05.07.2026
Miss Little Red Riding Hood, Dmitri Shostakovich, a chair under hypnosis, and a cheerful birch tree are just a few of the many characters featured by Marta Volkova & Slava Shevelenko in their exhibition *Set the stage*. More than ten years after their installation *From the life of the beetles*, the artist duo Marta & Slava return to 38CC. Central to their new exhibition is a recent series of narrative sculptures, complemented by a selection of never-before-shown sketches from their rich archive. Together, these works offer insight into the creative process and the duo's idiosyncratic view of contemporary society. Visual narratives unfold on colorful vase shapes, in which fact and fiction merge. Characters and symbols appear and disappear in a continuous story that has no clear beginning or end. The art of Marta & Slava is partly shaped by their Russian background; in 1991, they exchanged the then Soviet Union for the Netherlands. Their work explores how societies create myths and how official history and personal memories intertwine within them. Set the Stage offers a glimpse into their mindset, where imagination, irony, and absurdity converge.
