Ukrainian-born artist Galina Konopatskaya spent a significant part of her life in Dagestan, in the North Caucasus. Immersed in the local cultural milieu, she vividly depicts the people and everyday life around her: scenes of city life, workers in farms, and public festivities. Equally fascinated by the traditional culture of Dagestan and the promise of Soviet modernity, she often painted empowered women, as seen in Patimat, which depicts a strong-willed young Dagestani woman cutting off her braids. The feminist theme is further developed in Cosmic Mother, which depicts a female cosmonaut with a child in her hands floating in outer space. Created at the height of the space race between the US and the USSR, the painting subverts the male-dominated image of technofuturism with a vision of a future filled with care.

Works in the exhibition: 
Patimat (1968), oil on canvas, 83 × 96 cm, reproduction
Family Watching TV (1970), oil on canvas, 170 × 210 cm, reproduction
Cosmic Mother (1970), oil on canvas, 124 × 91 cm, reproduction