The New Social is an independent London-based collective that stages public programmes – including film screenings of NEW EAST CINEMA in collaboration with Barbican and Calvert 22, talks and special projects – as a way of rethinking the “New East” (the expansive territory that stretches across Eastern Europe, the Balkans, Baltic, Russia and Central Asia). The New Social was founded by Olya Borissova and Anya Harrison.
Olya Sova is a London-based film programmer whose projects include developing film programmes and festivals (such as New York: Downtown in 2011) for Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, where she initiated Garage Screen, a programme of artist films and documentaries. She has also collaborated on film programmes with International Film Festival Rotterdam and Lo Schermo Dell’Arte.
Anya Harrison is a London-based independent curator and writer. Previously she worked as Project Executive on the book Frozen Dreams: Contemporary Art from Russia (Thames & Hudson, 2011) and organised exhibitions and special projects at Garage Museum of Contemporary Art working with artists such as Carsten Höller, Marina Abramovic and William Kentridge.
Anya and Olya are both currently working as Associate Curators on a new artist commission for Manchester International Festival 2017 and along with Sarah Perks, curating a major new group exhibition The Return of Memory.