Contemporary art in the context of political self -censorship

The story of how contemporary art has revealed political self -censorship and has become relevant.

Just think! Even September in the yard, not everyone has returned to our blessed stability after relaxing in the crisis of Europe, and so many political events have already passed that you will not mention everything! Here you have Putin on the Deltplan, and the "re -election" Gudkov back from the Duma, and the "march of millions" ...

It is a pity that behind all these events the exhibition "Open Letter" in the Park of the sculptures Museon, organized by the "Nomad Museum of Modern Art" on September 1-2 during the celebration of Moscow Day, remained an inconspicuous. This wonderful project was invented by Yuri Samodurov and Mikhail Pogarsky , and Grigory Zaslavsky, Maria Poleshina and Ksenia Uvarova, helped to direct and organize it.

In a huge and absolutely remarkable sculpture park near the artist’s house, the original works of artists and prints from the Mail Art of the M. Pogarsky collection were placed in such a way that the art of sculpture combined with contemporary art into an impressive exposition of public art ... there was something to see!

However, the event was not only interesting, but also - alas! - The topical in the literal sense of the word:

"I came to the conclusion that it is impossible to engage in public art in Moscow in an atmosphere of fear and self -censorship, prevailing among the leadership of art institutions, and I consider it pointless and hopeless to try to continue my attempts ... " (Yuri Samodurov - this is from this letter )

But about everything in order. What did the exhibition consist of?

Well, for example, to the sculpture of Vuchetich, who offers to "re -scan swords to the oral", a message was attached to move from hard work further and still "re -display the screaming into a dream!" (author Mikhail Pogarsky):

We will bring you the world with bayonets (Maria Kalmykova).

Or here you have the grave torments of truth, justice and other human virtues (Clara Golitsyn, Vitaly Barabanov).

Well, the message is to us all about the fact that it is very reasonable to be silent (Yasha Yavorskaya).

Of the political messages, there were poetry in defense of Pussi Rait. To read them, it was necessary to pull the paper (authors of Rita Novikova, Viktor Voronkov) - and then the text of the same Catalan song was opened in the translation of Arkady Kots, which the guys sang in Avtozak:

Let's destroy this prison

Here these walls should not stand ...

More photos can be viewed, for example, here .

And there was also an action at the monument to Kalinin: the actress-Excurser told about Kalinin and the letters that they wrote to him, and offered to write her letter (complaint or denunciation). People wrote, lowered it into a box and left. Then a man was catching up with an actor who depicted the security service and strictly asked to sign in the statement for his denunciation.

And there were postmen on bicycles. These are:

They offered visitors to write any open letter. And there were many letters! Letters to a variety of addresses - from Samodurov to the Virgin. They were very funny among them. About, for example, that in the Tretyakov Gallery there is not a single positive picture ...

“So what does self -censor have to do with it?” You ask. “And why did such a scandalous and unpleasant sediment, which Yuri Samodurov wrote about?”

And this is the topicality that we all know well. The curators of the “Open Letter” action tried to make it (just a few percent!) Artistic and political, because without it there is no Public-Art! They offered several completely political works. For example, the installation of the artist Oleg a Koster called "flags, a rake and sculpture of Stalin." She should have looked like this:

The rake that we always advance ...

To understand what the installation would look like, Yuri Samodurov asked Oleg a Koster to come to the art park and take a trial setting and a trial picture ... Without the knowledge of the Museum’s directorate ... The photography lasted less than 10 minutes, during which the park was explained, after which the installation was disassembled.

Why? And very simple! It turned out that, unlike all the other sculptures of the Museon Park, it is the monuments of Soviet leaders that cannot be made by characters in artistic installations! It seems like a desecration turns out ...

And this despite the fact that the art Park Museon initially arose as a place where the sculptures of defeated Soviet leaders were brought in, so that the fact of the collapse of the Soviet regime and its fragility remained in the memory of society!

Here is such a "contemporary art." It seems - stability. And you look - everything rustled and smells bad.

As one person wrote in a letter to Comrade. Kalinin: "Dear Mikhail Ivanovich, you would have looked at our life now ...".