Career Diversity: Discovering and Uncovering Narratives in Art History
As Curator and Head of Collections and Exhibitions at Minneapolis’ Museum of Russian Art (TMORA), Masha Zavialova (PhD 2008, above), presides over the art holdings of the only museum of Russian art in the US—in addition to a stream of archival and contemporary artwork borrowed from public and private collections for TMORA shows. Since becoming curator in 2008, she has presented more than 100 exhibitions, ranging from Soviet-era propaganda posters to the work of dissidents and exiles, from Soviet-era holiday ornaments to nesting dolls, from a show of unsung women artists to the current, continually-updated “Say No to War: Political Cartoons by Ukrainian and Russian Artists.”
Zavialova has stated in interviews with the New York Times and other media that the political cartoon display will be up until the Russian war in Ukraine is over. But TMORA will not be torching its 12,000 Russian artworks and artifacts. “It’s putting things into historical context,” she explained to the Times, “showing the country as a country of revolutions, and a history of oppression and resistance.”
Zavialova grew up in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) during the Cold War amid the closed Soviet culture of propaganda and political intimidation. She moved to Minneapolis in 2001 for her doctoral studies after winning prizes for translations of novels by American Black women writers such as Toni Morrison. “I came to the University of Minnesota after a life lived in the Soviet Union or whatever else remained after its collapse,” she says. “Graduate school became a revelation: no two-hour long lectures, no multiple oral exams every semester, no indoctrinating textbooks.” She graciously responded to questions via email.
Please describe your current position. What surprised you about the role?
What surprised me in this job was the diversity of tasks, skills, and responsibilities the curatorial position involves. You could be doing the work of researcher, writer, exhibition designer, project manager, area specialist, public speaker, fundraiser, educator, art advisor—and all within a week or two.
What is most fulfilling or energizing about your work?
Putting together an exhibition is a creative process. You have a blank canvas in front of you, and you can paint whatever you think is right and good and beautiful on it. The freedom of it is exhilarating. Also, working with collections and researching individual artworks is a journey of endless discoveries.
What English professors here significantly nurtured your development?
Reading primary sources, discussing them with fellow students and teachers, and writing 20-page long papers for every course might seem like nothing special for a “traditional” student, but for me these activities were like daily taking the Berlin Wall apart piece by piece. Paula Rabinowitz and Maria Damon helped me to navigate the unfamiliar seas with their timely advice, friendly guidance, and fascinating and innovative scholarship. Classes taken with Tim Brennan, Cesare Cesarino, John Mowitt, Tom Pepper, and other outstanding professors were a revelation. I am eternally grateful to them.
What advice would you give graduate students preparing for careers?
There are many paths in professional life for a person with an academic degree. It is important, though, to keep your researcher’s mind always working, as if you never finished your PhD program.
I wish I knew I had to put my dissertation into a book form and try to publish it when I was still on campus. After that—no time to focus on such a project (unless you manage to get into academia).
