Katharina Gruzei

Underground palaces

The Moscow Metro is a unique place. With a network of 400 kilometers of lines, exceptionally deep tunnels and stations, and nearly nine million passengers a day, it is one of the most heavily frequented underground subway systems in the world. Katharina Gruzei explored it over several years and now presents an aesthetically fascinating and socioculturally remarkable photographic survey. Ideologically charged and symbolic of Russia's eventful history, the Metro was started as a prestige project and simultaneously conceived to also be used as a bunker. It was always intended as a place for people to congregate and is still today a living space where social, political and societal tendencies are made legible. With her photo series, the artist enables an extraordinary journey through time and space in the underground of Moscow, a metropolis of millions.