Political symbols in contemporary Russia

February 29, 2020 6:22 PM

I'm writing a short story in which there is a Russian artist who makes an installation about the protests of Putin's most recent inauguration. I'm trying to find out about symbols/imagery that Russians might use in their political art. More below.

I've been thinking about how political artists like Ai WeiWei use symbols and wordplay to code art that might be censored in an oppressive regime.

My character is making an installation about Putin protests in Russia. I'm trying to think what kinds of symbols (maybe animals? certain plants?) would represent the corrupt government, Putin in particular, the police, and the protesters themselves.

Is there anything used in street art or comics or slang that I could incorporate? I'd rather stay away from Russia-as-bear, but I have an open mind otherwise.

posted by mermaidcafe to Media & Arts (2 answers total)

How Pussy Riot turned to protest art (BBC, Dec. 2, 2017)

Pussy Riot’s Maria Alyokhina is behind the Saatchi Gallery’s latest exhibition.

It features work by artists who supported the feminist Russian punk band when they were arrested, detained and sent to prison following a protest in 2012.

Art of dissent: Protesting Russia's Putin with Pussy Riot (USA Today, Nov. 8, 2017)

Back in London, Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina will also both appear alongside Pavlensky, 33, and Kulik, 56, in "Art Riot: Post-Soviet Actionism," an exhibition — also at the Saatchi Gallery in Chelsea — devoted to Russian protest art of the past 25 years. The exhibit runs from Nov. 16 to Dec. 31. [...]

Russian conceptual artists Ilya and Emilia Kabakov's "Not Everyone Will Make it Into the Future," which opened in October and closes in January, confronts viewers with large-scale installations and imaginary characters to depict a Soviet utopia that never was.

posted by katra at 7:17 PM on February 29, 2020

Best answer: Я/Мы - the Russian for “I/We are...” - has become a protest meme that frees prisoners
posted by ryanbryan at 3:55 AM on March 1, 2020