This project was in collaboration with Kent Hansen, Olga Kopenkina, and Alexandra Lerman.

For project website and videos, click here.

“Reading Lenin with Corporations” is a reading seminar for corporate employees, which met in PS 122 Gallery once a week during this September 2008. Each session of the “Reading Lenin with Corporations” was led by cultural practitioners.

“Reading Lenin with Corporations” brought together artists, writers, and corporate employees to discuss the current state of globalization in the intersection of politics, art, and culture. At the core of the seminar was V.I. Lenin’s text Imperialism the Highest Stage of Capitalism. Each session focused on a chapter from Lenin's book which was discussed in the context of the modern philosophical and political debates on Imperialism.

The agenda of the organizers of the seminar was a genuine attempt to understand multiple conflicting positions on a phenomenon known as “Imperialism.” The seminar discussed the implications and limitations of Imperialism the Highest Stage of Capitalism, and more broadly, the effectiveness of Marxist analysis of Imperialism today. Lenin’s text will became a point of departure for a serious discussion of the global changes in structure and operations of Imperialism since the book’s release in 1917.

Although reading sessions was closed for general public, reading sessions was recorded on video and then screened during regular gallery hours in PS 122 Gallery.