Eiko Grimberg

03.09.2017 –
07.10.2017

The Pool

In his photographic project The Pool, Eiko Grimberg deals with an area in the centre of Moscow that has, in its own way, hosted the entire history of the twentieth century. Until 1931, it was home to Russia’s largest Orthodox church. The Soviets had it demolished in order to construct the Palace of the Soviets in its place. After the war broke out, construction was halted; after Stalin’s death, the project was finally buried forever. Then, at the beginning of the 1960s, a swimming pool was built in its place. Because of its modern facilities, it was soon world renowned. Directly after the fall of the Iron curtain, the swimming pool was covered up and the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour reconstructed – where the band Pussy Riot would later stage their famous performance. Eiko Grimberg investigates a rather ideology-free phase of this area – the time of the pool. He collects eyewitness accounts through interviews and searches for graphical material from the period. At the same time, he explores contemporary Moscow, looking for architectural and artistic traces of the earlier Soviet years and the Stalin era.