This number is a kind of summation of a curatorial study that covered the post-Soviet space. One of its outcomes was four exhibitions held in the spring and fall of 2007 in four museums across Europe—"Memory’s Return» at the KUMU Museum (Tallinn, Estonia), «On Geekdom» at the Benaki Museum (Athens, Greece), «The Time of Storytellers» at the Kiasma Museum (Helsinki, Finland), and «Progressive Nostalgia,» which gave its name to the project, at the Luigi Pecci Contemporary Art Center (Prato, Italy).
In his article, Viktor Miziano wrote, in particular: «…one of the paradoxes of post-Soviet history is that any contemporary definition of relevance inevitably involves discussing the past; any self-definition in the present takes the form of historical reflection. Therefore, if one can call a certain project about nostalgia, it is important to specify that it is not about orthodox retention of the past nor about reactionary rejection of the present and progress. Today, nostalgia is a form of reflection on contemporaneity, a way to take a position in the present. It is a project about „progressive nostalgia”—nostalgia not for the past that was, but for the past as it could have been, in other words, nostalgia for the future.“
In essence, the publication offers a broad panorama of contemporary art life in the countries of the former USSR. It gathers the most significant works of artists whose creative output defines the current state of art in the once-unified country. Of particular interest are the authorial or critical commentaries accompanying each work, as well as an anthology of texts by leading critics and theorists of contemporary art from the CIS and the Baltic states.
According to one of the contributors, artist and art theorist Zeigam Azizov, «…in our complex ideological, economic, and aesthetic conditions, the role of the contemporary artist involves discovering what has been left behind and forgotten, examining it, and telling a new story. The goal is to restore the status of art as an instrument of thought, and if it regains the status of ‘thought’ and ‘expression, ’ it can also create meaning and significance—essential tools for dialogue.»