Authors

Discussion

The International Bureau of Revolutionary Artists (IBRA) was a union established in the USSR in 1930 with the aim of consolidating and guiding leftist artists worldwide. Its formation coincided with heightened interest in the Soviet Union, spurred by the excitement surrounding the first Five-Year Plan and the global economic downturn that began in 1929. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, new revolutionary artist groups and societies of friends of the USSR emerged, many of which came into contact with IBRA. To recruit new supporters of the Soviet Union, IBRA sought connections not only with leftist artists but also with 'bourgeois' artists sympathetic to the Soviet cause. IBRA's unique feature was that its members were mostly practising artists, which gave the organisation a more democratic character, emphasising practical artistic collaboration over theoretical discussions.

At a practical level, IBRA acted as an intermediary between Western leftist artists and Soviet institutions such as the Museum of New Western Art and the Museum of Revolution, facilitating the participation of foreign artists in major collective exhibitions, such as the "Anti-Imperialist Exhibition" (1931) and "15 Years of the Red Army" (1933). Its most significant event was the "Revolutionary Art of the West" exhibition at the Museum of New Western Art in 1932.

In my presentation, I will reassess IBRA’s history within the broader context of cultural transfer between Western left-wing artists and the Soviet art scene. The history of IBRA demonstrates that, alongside the state-directed practices of cultural diplomacy, less formal, horizontal connections between artists also existed. While supervising the activities of leftist artist groups abroad, IBRA fostered dialogue and collaboration among artists with different backgrounds and creative approaches. Its dissolution in 1936 coincided with the imposition of hardline Party control over Soviet foreign art relations.

Exploring Soviet exhibitions and their reception offers valuable insights into the formation of the state-imposed canon and the emergence of artistic dissent. By focusing on IBRA’s exhibition practices, I aim to highlight the variety of "revolutionary art" that still persisted in the 1930s, demonstrating how international leftist artists presented alternatives to the normative representations of "proletarian art" promoted by the Soviet regime. This analysis offers a new perspective on Western leftist artists as a whole, challenging the commonly held view of them as mere agents of Soviet influence.