Kasia Ploskonka

Kasia Ploskonka

Kasia Ploskonka is currently a PhD candidate at SOAS, University of London with a focus on autonomy and agency within contemporary art of post-Soviet Central Asia. She has completed her BFA with an Emphasis in Art History, Theory & Criticism from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), and MA in Contemporary Art from Sotheby’s Institute of Art London; and has concurrently been working for Frieze Art Fairs within data and insights.

Biography

A humanities and culture professional with 10+ years of experience working on the planning, implementation and delivery stages, and data and insights of time critical projects across the international cultural sector, in particular fine arts fairs.

Currently I am a PhD candidate at SOAS, University of London with a focus on autonomy and agency within contemporary art of post-Soviet Central Asia.Previously, I studied at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago where I completed the BFA program with an Emphasis in Art History, Theory & Criticism and the Sotheby’s Institute of Art – London MA program in Contemporary Art.

PhD Research

My PhD is positioned at the interchange of contemporary art and politics within a post-Soviet Central Asian context.

At its broadest level my research is looking at contemporary art produced after the dissolution of the USSR in 1991 up to present day within the Central Asian region, specifically: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The main research question asks what agency do artistic practices within Central Asia have as they negotiate through a post-Soviet condition, one that is being shaped trough the relationship of politics and cultural production?

This thesis will examine artistic practices in which engagement with the political, in an arena of state cultural production, asks how artists question conventions, and what strategies they use to do so.

Publications

  • (Forthcoming) Contesting Convention? The Case of Contemporary Art from Tajikistan. Special Issue for Central Asian Survey, Social role of Art and Culture in Central Asia: A multi-disciplinary Perspective.
  • For winning to have her photos selected for display at The George Washington University as part of the 2019 Central Eurasian Studies Society Photo Exhibit: ‘The Researcher and His/Her Fieldwork’ CESS Photo Contest.
  • For winning the CAPture Photo Contest “Central Asia in Focus” organised by the Central Asia Program at the George Washington University, 2020.
  • Post-Soviet migration in Central Asia through the lens of contemporary art. Nomadic Art Camp: Stocktaking for Broader Promotion of Sustainable Management of Mountain Resources and Landscapes, B’Art contemporary (Kyrgyzstan), 2018, Pages 46-48.
  • Mankurtism, Monuments and Marketing: Identity and power in Post-Soviet contemporary art of Central Asia. The SOAS Journal of Postgraduate Research, Volume 9 (2015-16), Pages 47-64.

Conferences

The Seventh Annual Doctoral Research Workshop on Central Asia: Art and Culture – Actors or Representatives?; Senate House, 26 January 2019; Presentation title: Contesting Convention? The Case of Contemporary Art from Tajikistan.

SOAS Website: https://www.soas.ac.uk/staff/staff106390.php
Academia: https://soas.academia.edu/KPloskonka
Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kasia_Ploskonka