Page 32 - aruba-today-20191125

A32 FEATURE
Monday 25 noveMber 2019
Art show seeks the 'real Moscow' in grim suburbs

By KATE de PURY abuse in Russia. Accord-
Associated Press ing to the advocacy group
MOSCOW (AP) — As sleet "You Are Not Alone," an es-
falls on a cold November timated 16 million Russian
day, communist-era apart- women suffer domestic vio-
ment blocks dominating lence each year.
Moscow's suburban sky- A residential complex
line look bleak and forbid- called Novo-Molokovo, just
ding. But it's precisely these outside Moscow and still
sprawling city outskirts that under construction, houses
are the focus of a major in- the newest generation of
ternational art exhibition. Muscovites. A studio apart-
"Beyond the Center" is stag- ment here costs $95,500.
ing art events across Mos- Curator Elena Ishchenko
cow's vast urban space set art installations inside an
starting this fall and culmi- "odnushka," or studio apart-
nating in March 2020. With ment.
the participation of the "We got used to viewing
Museum of Vienna and the the suburbs as strange, re-
Austrian Cultural Forum, the mote areas we don't want
exhibit uses contemporary to visit," she said. "But when
art to explore the many This photo taken on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019, shows an air view of buildings in Novo-Molokovo you get out here, thanks
hidden facets of life out- suburb in Moscow, Russia. to the artist, you see some-
side the Russian capital's Associated Press thing you wouldn't expect."
nucleus. ZIP Group constructed a
Simon Mraz, Austria's cul- modern Russia are reflect- ing in Russia today, scroll- dence of Moscow's rapid mesh tower to store domes-
tural attache to Russia and ed in the capital's complex ing through my Facebook post-communist expansion. tic objects owned by mid-
director of the Austrian Cul- socio-economic layers and feed, I see these symbols all "Success is the story of how dle class households. Artist
tural Forum in Russia, says ethnic mix from the entire around me," said Rachuiko, you came to Moscow, Stefan Shubutin imagines
the "real" Moscow, where former Soviet Union. whose exhibit is at the Go- found work, got a mort- breaking down the walls
most of the city's 12.6 mil- Hailing from southern Rus- gol Center in central Mos- gage and became a real that isolate people living in
lion people live, is outside sia, self-taught painter cow. person," says sociologist tiny, high-rise apartments,
the center. Pasmur Rachuiko offers an The paintings sparked dis- Natalia Zubarevich. "It's a their goods stored on over-
"They all come to Moscow extreme outsider's view of approval from Moscow's tough city, totally intolerant flowing balconies.
with some dreams, facing Moscow reality. culture department, but and very selfish." "The flats are closed, peo-
struggles, hoping for a bet- Burka-clad figures, police- Rachuiko found support In "Polly wants a cracker," ple don't often meet their
ter future. They won't find it men and wolves pose in the from the arts establishment, Austrian artist Michele Pa- neighbors," Shubutin said.
in Red Square and definite- suburbs, gangsters have including theater director gel sees a darker side of "But here you can see your
ly not in the Kremlin," Mraz, angels' wings and young Kirill Serebrennikov, himself Moscow – domestic abuse. neighbor's stuff and ask to
curator of the exhibition, women carrying AK-47 rifles still under threat from the Her visceral sculptures, on borrow a sled, skis, even a
told The Associated Press. stare out of his canvases. authorities after a long term show in Mraz's apartment, washing machine."
Despite a steep decline in Rachuiko depicts himself of house arrest. located opposite the Krem- Zubarevich, the sociologist,
Russia's population, Mos- as "everyman" among this The urban renewal project lin, seek to bring violence hopes a grassroots civil so-
cow is growing — fueled by cast of new Russian arche- aimed at impressing World against women back from ciety will grow in Moscow's
a steady influx of people in types. Cup visitors to Moscow in the peripheral vision of Rus- residential districts, but it's
search of jobs and a better "These characters are from 2018 didn't reach Liublino, a sian society to its central a social trend the Kremlin
life. The challenges facing my personal world, but liv- working-class suburb. In this focus. watches carefully and any
dilapidated industrial zone, Attending the opening, political activism brings re-
the "Museum of Industrial lawyer Alyona Popova pression.
Culture" houses a private campaigns to reverse a "This city shows what Russia
collection of discarded ob- 2017 law decriminalizing could be," she said. "It's our
jects, amassed by former certain types of domestic hope of modernization."q
auto engineer Lev Zhe-
leznyov. It's a social history
of more than 70 years of
communism, told though
ordinary things people rec-
ognize from a shared past.
"It's a museum of memory.
We are not so interested in
how a lamp works, more
that it was in someone's
home," Zheleznyov said.
The Soviet legacy is palpa-
ble here, Mraz said.
"It's where the broken em-
pire has become the reality
of life," he said.
In this photo taken on Sunday, Nov. 3, 2019, mannequins in So- Russia's young, urban mid- In this photo taken on Sunday, Nov. 3, 2019, Soviet-era soda
viet style uniforms displayed in the 'Museum of Industrial Culture' dle class lives further out, vending machines are on display in the 'Museum of Industrial
in a dilapidated industrial zone of Moscow, Russia. Culture' in a dilapidated industrial zone of Moscow, Russia.
Associated Press where high-rise blocks jos- Associated Press
tle with vast highways, evi-