With metaphors, pseudonyms, or from exile, dissenting artists are finding ways to resist their government’s actions:
In order to avoid prosecution, many Russian artists who disagree with their government have been working under pseudonyms or aliases. One such group is The Party of the Dead, an activist art group founded in 2017 that pushes for free speech in the country. Its members are often pictured dressed in black, wearing paper skull masks and carrying protest signs near iconic monuments in their native Saint Petersburg.
Likewise, Yekaterinburg-based digital artist BFMTH is considering leaving Russia, although the new wave of repression doesn’t stop him from producing biting satirical images—some of which have been printed as protest signs at demonstrations in solidarity with Ukraine in London. “Of course, I am afraid. But I can’t stop. It would be a lot worse if I stayed quiet,” he told Artnet News. The artist has been producing collages that criticize Putin’s authoritarian rule for several years. Recent collages depict Putin looking through binoculars as he hides behind overflowing bins by a Soviet tower block. “I have long been interested in this [Russian imperialism] issue, since the 2014 annexation of Crimea,” he said.
Despite being one of the few voices in the art world drawing attention to Russia’s colonial history, she said she “felt complicity and shame” when she heard the news of the war. “We didn’t manage to prevent this from happening,” she said. “But I tried to repurpose this shame into productive activity.” She has been active since the outbreak of war, helping relatives in Ukraine flee.
Like many Russians, Engelhardt’s family has been politically divided—yet, in her case, the war in Ukraine actually brought them together. “My grandparents have always been great Putin supporters,” she said. “But my grandmother is from Ukraine, so a significant part of my family is there.
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