Panacea Sovietica

Gravidan, a Soviet hormonal drug, becomes a tool of power. The project explores the body as a biopolitical resource, where attempts to outwit nature mirror the desire to prolong authority.

In the late 1920s, in one of the experimental laboratories of the young Soviet Republic, a hormonal drug called Gravidan was developed from the urine of pregnant women by physician Alexei Zamkov. It was used to treat a wide range of conditions — from mental and cardiovascular disorders to infections. The drug proved especially effective in addressing sexual dysfunction, which quickly made it highly popular among the Soviet elite.

By the 1960s, Gravidan was declared ineffective and gradually fell into obscurity. In a new world, research quietly resumed amid renewed interest in prolonging life. Production initially served the domestic elite, later expanding to allied autocrats and “indispensable” leaders worldwide. Access to the drug became a tool of loyalty and dependence, while the country’s geopolitical influence grew alongside its distribution, forming what came to be known as Gravidan Diplomacy.

The project examines the human body as a site of biopolitical experimentation. Aging politicians seek to reclaim potency and maintain their position, while female reproductive bodies are reduced to bioreactors — used either for extracting regenerative substances or for reproducing human resources for the state. All attempts to outwit the laws of nature ultimately fail, and the history of these efforts repeats itself endlessly — the only form of immortality their ambitions achieve.

The project brings together staged photography, contemporary media, and appropriated archival imagery, including materials related to Gravidan and its creator, Alexei Zamkov. It unfolds as a visual narrative that blurs the boundary between historical record and speculation.