International Communism and Transnational Solidarity in the Context of the First Russian Art Exhibition

This essay will analyze how Willi Münzenberg's International Workers’ Relief organisation made the First Russian Art Exhibition of 1922 intelligible from the perspective of communist internationalism and review its role in the creation of new forms of transnational solidarity between the West and Soviet Russia. While previous contributions on the exhibition have focused on the Soviet cultural diplomacy or the activity of individual Russian artists, the role of the Workers’ Relief organization has remained less explored. The article argues that the International Worker's Relief organization represents another important manifestation of transcultural agency that linked Weimar Germany with the new Russia.