ЗААГС / ZAAGS

Art Prospect Festival, Saint Petersburg, Russia | September 2021

Artists: Anna Tereshkina & Anastasia Makarenko

ЗААГС was a temporary, interactive office by Anna Tereshkina and Anastasia Makarenko located inside DK Gaza which provided fictional Boston marriage registrations during the Art Prospect Festival. The registration experience playfully probed the typical marriage registration process, offering a space to appreciate and commemorate potentially alternative forms of friendship and closeness not always recognized within mainstream social structures. The artists occupied an entire room of DK Gaza, which was set up as a familiar administrative space. During their appointment, participants discussed their relationship and went through a series of small pseudo-bureaucratic rituals led by the artists, which ended with taking a portrait. Participants left with a certificate of registration and their photograph, a copy of which was also on display in the office and in the ZAAGS photo album.

ЗААГС is short for Запись актов альтернативного гедонистического состояния (Bureau of Acts of Alternative Hedonistic Nature), a title which pays tribute to the late feminist activist Tatiana Nikonova, whose work in sexual education, gender equity, and pro-LGBTQIA+ rights included celebrating “hedonism” as a source of joy and empowerment.

A Boston marriage is a colloquial term used to describe a type of mutual living relationship between two women. This form of official cohabitation started in the United States in the 19th century, and allowed women to live autonomously without a dependency on men or on their families. Women still choose to live together in this way today, favoring friendship and closeness over traditional partnerships. During COVID-19, when isolation and restricted social life has kept people apart, friendship and intimacy has proven to be an important part of survival. This project offered a chance to acknowledge kinship in all of its forms.