On the night Zula will be in conversation with Dr Madeline Yale Preston to discuss the book’s making, the politics of representation, and the intersections of queerness, culture, and belonging. Copies of Nothing but a Curtain will be available on the night, alongside a selection of Zula’s limited prints.
“This project is a way of questioning how gender, tradition, and social expectation shape who we are — and how much of that we choose to reveal.” — Zula Rabikowska
Zula travelled by public transport along the former Iron Curtain border for 4,552 miles (7,326 km) across across 20 cities in Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria, documenting how younger generations experience the legacy of communism. Focusing on women, non-binary, genderfluid, and transgender people born during this era, Nothing But a Curtain explores the personal, social, and political impacts of this geo-political transformation. Zula created the project using a Soviet-made Kiev 80 camera, the images reflect the lasting imprint of Soviet history on gender identity, symbolized by the camera’s "curtain" of light.
Zula’s work captures the nuances of identity and place, blending documentary and conceptual approaches to reimagine Eastern Europe through a deeply personal and feminist lens.
Get to know Zula Rabikowska
Zula Rabikowska is a Polish London-based documentary photographer and visual artist whose work explores identity, migration, and gender across Central and Eastern Europe. Drawing on her Polish heritage, she uses portraiture and storytelling to amplify underrepresented voices within LGBTQI+ and migrant communities. Her work has been exhibited internationally and published by outlets including BJP, BBC, The Guardian, Rolling Stone, and Bloomberg. Zula is a recipient of the Getty Images Grant, the Centre for British Photography Grant, and the MEAD Fellowship, and has won awards such as the AOP Talent Award and Earth Photo Moving Image Award. Zula is also a co-founder of Rethinking Eastern Europe, a platform supporting creatives from the region, and teaches photography at Kingston University.
Get to know Dr Madeline Yale Preston
Dr Madeline Yale Preston is a photography historian, curator, writer, editor and arts advisor. Committed to fostering artistic and curatorial growth, she also mentors artists, curators and arts administrators in writing, editing, funding and professional development. Madeline is a trustee for the Centre for British Photography and former executive director for the Houston Center for Photography. She holds a PhD from UAL Chelsea College of Art and Design (2021), where her research centred the ethical curation of so-called Middle Eastern photography.
Get to know Gem Fletcher
The foreword to Nothing but a Curtain was written by Gem Fletcher. Gem Fletcher is a hybrid creative exploring the intersection of art, photography and fashion. She also hosts The Messy Truth podcast, a series of candid conversations that unpack the future of visual culture.
The foreword to Nothing but a Curtain was written by Gem Fletcher. Gem Fletcher is a hybrid creative exploring the intersection of art, photography and fashion. She also hosts the Messy Truth podcast, a series of candid conversations that unpack the future of visual culture.
Polish artist and photographer Zula Rabikowska revisits Zofia Rydet’s Sociological Record, offering a warm, celebratory and personal contemporary lens on one of Poland’s most significant photographic archives.
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