Passion on the quilted jacket

The employee of the RSUSU, who opposed the lecture of Nikolai Starikov, was forced to resign from the university

The methodologist of the department of sociocultural research of the Russian State Humanitarian University, the artist Elizabeth Savolineen, who unfolded the poster "Watniks here is not a place" in protest against the university of one of the leaders of Antimaydan, Nikolai Starikova, resigned from the RSU "by her own free will". According to her, she became the most convenient figure for the role of the “switchman” after the protest of students and teachers against the lecture of Starikov .

It was on her dismissal that the Prochrevsky political scientist and the leadership of the university insisted. At a meeting with the rector of the University, Savolinen came in a wreath of barbed wire, apologized for turning the poster inside the building of the Russian State Humanitarian University, and not beyond, but these apologies were not accepted. For other participants in the action, the protest against Starikov’s speech ended without serious administrative consequences.

According to Elizabeth Savolineen, until the last moment she was not sure whether she would participate in the protest, so she painted the poster "Watniki here" Non -place "10 minutes before leaving the house. Nevertheless, it was this slogan that became one of the most remembered after that action. The image of the poster was widely dispersed on the Internet and caused the indignant reaction of the Prochrevsky bloggers and trolls. Savilineen was remembered by her other works, for example, "Medusa-Gorgon with a crown from the phalluses on Red Square", as well as participation in the exhibition "We Win", which was defeated by the Russian intelligence services.

The artist herself- the daughter of the Finn-Inermanlander, who passed the blockade of Leningrad and a link to Siberia -does not regret the loss of work at the Russian State University, intends to continue to cooperate with former colleagues in the university and devote more time to other projects.

The employee of the RSUSU, who opposed the lecture of Nikolai Starikov, was forced to resign from the university

- You write that the administration of the RSU “urgently asked you to evacuate”, because of all the participants in the scandal you were a “most convenient figure” for playing the role of “switchman”. What does this mean - "urgently asked to evacuate"?

- The administration of the RSU, in the person of the rector and vice -rector, asked my direct boss, Galina Ivanovna Zvereva, just "evacuate". Such a word was directly said by them. Galina Ivanovna (head of the Department of History and Culture theory of the RSU-RS) invited me all this to be “quietly” so that I still stayed to work, because I am a fairly valuable employee, I am ready to do a lot for very little money. Then I went to the vice-rector and apologized, said that on my part it was not very correct to speak in an academic community with some protests and posters. This was one incorrect moment: I launched this poster in the Internet cafe in the walls of the RSU, where I was photographed with him. This photograph also hit the Radio Liberty, it was on Navalny’s blog, in general, it was replicated. This was my mistake. Outside the walls of the RSU, I can do what I want, at least stand on my head. It was not worth doing this inside the RSU, and I apologized for this, for the fact that my art action got into the walls of the university. I had never allowed myself before, I have never demonstrated any provocative materials at the university, there I am a small employee who is doing his job.

What did the old people do at this time? He and his assistants looked at my old archives, found performances of 2013, with a provocative rubber pink crown. I turned out to be a very comfortable figure to make me a switchman, the organizer of everything and the whole, this student action, I was called a teacher, although I am not them, I am a methodologist. I am not even familiar with the students who arranged obstruction from Starikov in the first 20 minutes, they are from other faculties. I am well acquainted with Konstantin Jerusalem (professor at the RSU, who entered into a discussion with Nikolai Starikov during his speech - RS) , he told me that there would be old people at the RSU, but until the last day he hesitated, go to me or not to go. And I drew the poster 10 minutes before leaving the house.

At the RSU, I was an “external part-time”, for half a time, this is a rather shaky position in the Labor Code, but it can be easily fixed towards the full rate and a full-time employee, that is, if you take someone in my place, you could easily get rid of me. I had several options for strategy, how to behave in this situation, you could start resisting, suing the court, for Starikov, his trolls, and the university administration. But then I thought carefully and decided that it would be best for me to get out of this situation with honor, not to provoke further scandals and not substitute my colleagues in the department. But since I am an artist and I just can’t leave quietly, I arranged a performance, came to the university in a wreath of barbed wire and in a dress "Sack of potatoes". And right to the rector, I say, they say, I am the enemy of the people, the daughter of the enemy of the people, I have the right to express my opinion and consider the presence of Starikov in the walls of the university unacceptable. But, since everything is as it is, I say, I quit, at your request.

I went straight to the rector, I say, they say, I am the enemy of the people, the daughter of the enemy of the people, I have the right to express my opinion and consider Starikov’s presence in the walls of the university unacceptable

- The rector did not deny that this is the requirement of the administration, did not persuade him to stay?

- No, he began to comment on the barbed wire that we have many former political and political prisoners at our university, that he knows everything and understands everything, but he did not ask me to stay. I offered to be friends on a parity basis, I get great freedom and will develop in the field of "semi -scientific journalism" and, of course, in the field of modern art.

- That is, with the separation of sociocultural studies of the Russian State University, your relationship is terminated on this?

- No, I will help them, but already informally. Without me, it will not be so comfortable there, I at one time made repairs there, painted the walls, hanged the paintings, I can do a lot with my hands, I will help, but officially, according to documents, I will no longer work there.

-The remaining participants in the action against Nikolai Starikov’s speech at the RSUSU had a problem because of her, the same Konstantin Jerusalem, for example?

-Konstantin had a senction of his professorship on the scientific council, this is some kind of administrative feature, I definitely do not know all these things. He was dispersed, although there were “black balls” and several people were against it, but it remains to work. Everyone managed to save, some students reprimanded, as far as I know, but no one was expelled, there are no serious consequences.

- How did it become known that Nikolai Starikov began to look for compromising evidence on people who arranged for him an obstruction at the RSUS?

After this obstruction, the elderly himself said: "I will not leave it like that"

-Firstly , after this obstruction, he himself said: "I will not leave it like that." We began to wait, we were interested in the moment, how these people generally construct a mediadiscourse, our department is just this, including specializing in. With regard to everyone else, the matter somehow hesitated, and as for me, everyone, apparently, insulted my "pink crown", especially that it was on Red Square. All this was on my site, now I temporarily removed all these posts from there, the administration asked me, I agreed, because I hoped that we would be able to agree that I would still stay. But then I decided that I was not ready to cling to 7,000 rubles, because it takes me a lot of time, but does not bring moral satisfaction, I mean methodological work. I will better deal with more interesting and important things, although I will help as much as possible.

- What did you end up for you as an employee of the case of sociocultural research "Case Starikov"?

-Firstly , in Facebook by Starikov, his trolls, there, slander, there were some completely unpleasant and indecent things, the context of my performance with the crown was completely transferred. One of these bloggers , a certain “old Zergulio soldier”, is presented as a member of the TOP-10 bloggers of Russia, although I learned from friends that this person lives in Yekaterinburg and never went to the federal level. He just used this to fuss himself, the motivation is quite understandable.

-Do you regret something, do you think that then you have achieved this action of the goals that you set for yourself? After all, the story of Nikolai Starikov at the RSUSU received a big resonance from the performance of Nikolai Starikov at the RSUSU.

There are no place for people like old people at the RSUSU and generally in serious academic universities

- Did I set goals ... a difficult question. This was my comment, my answer to the fact that Starikova was invited to the Russian State University. I believe that people like old people at the RSUS and generally in serious academic universities have no place for people. This is blogs, the Internet, some strange anti-Maidan conferences and so on. Do I regret? No, I do not regret anything and even grateful to my enemies, they made me a wonderful "black PR". The only thing that is shook and washing is not very pleasant, but I am a cobblestone, it does not stick to me. I will take care of my art practitioners, I will write a book, I already have a large amount of material, it will be something between cultural studies, history and journalism. Let it be not an academic study (I planned to do this as a dissertation), but now I will probably slow down with this matter, as in general with an academic career. This is a huge amount of pon, papers, we need to walk around the offices for a year, collect pieces of paper, I, again, are sorry to spend time on this. Now the name of Lisa Savolineen, albeit in a fairly negative light, is lit, it works, and then the question is how I will build my art strategy.