Upcoming events
Expanded Memorial for Alexey Navalny: Activation with the Artist
Expanded Memorial for Alexey Navalny is a special commission by Spanish artist Fernando Sánchez Castillo for the exhibition “No.” The work is part of his ongoing Expanded Memorial project, which honors freedom fighters around the world. For this edition, Sánchez Castillo transforms the iconic image of Alexey Navalny forming a heart with his hand into a series of pocket-sized figurines. After the activation of the artwork, visitors will be invited to take one home in exchange for a personal note on the theme of resilience. Special guest: Ilya Yashin. The event will be held in English. Attendance is free — please register using the button below.
Public talk with Galina Timchenko and Polina Aronson
Sociologist and journalist Polina Aronson joins Meduza publisher and co-founder Galina Timchenko for a conversation about how we experience personal and political emotions in times of war and authoritarian pressure — and how our emotions become part of the stories we tell about them. The discussion also touches on loneliness, polarization, and hope — key themes of the exhibition “No.” The event is in Russian. Admission is free, but seats are limited. Please register using the button below.
Book Day: Meet the authors of the books published by Meduza
Meduza is now a full-fledged book publisher. On June 22, right next to Kunstraum/Kreuzberg in Berlin — where our exhibition “No” is currently on view — we’re hosting a Book Day: our own little open air book fair. There will be meet-the-author sessions with writers published by our imprint, delicious food, good music — and, of course, the chance to pick up Meduza books and merch. Full program coming soon — stay tuned for updates. This event will be held in Russian and is free of charge. To attend, please register using the button below.
What is this exhibition about?
(1) Dictatorship
Stine Marie Jacobsen and Teobaldo Lagos Preller invite visitors to the exhibition to exercise their freedom of speech and write their own bills and political statements using a special machine. Journalist Svetlana Reiter reflects on the ethical questions that a person living under a dictatorship must resolve.
(2) Censorship
The art group SUPERFLEX creates a Russian-language version of their mural "All Data to The People" using self-censorship as an open technique. Meduza’s publisher Galina Timchenko explains how censorship in the Russian media has evolved and how the boundaries of what is permissible have gradually narrowed.
(3) Exile
Alisa Yoffe created a mural based on her sketch in a French immigration center where she waited with other asylum seekers. Film critic Anton Dolin explains how he gave up a successful career in Russia and left the country when a full-scale war broke out.
(4) War
In the largest and most tragic section of the exhibition, we give voice to people who have witnessed the war firsthand and ask what art can offer in the face of catastrophe.
(5) Resilience
Fernando Sánchez Castillo created a public monument to Alexey Navalny, Vladimir Putin's main opponent, who was killed in prison. Meduza's Chief Technical Officer Alex explains how the publication reaches readers in Russia despite blocking and DDoS attacks.
(6) Fear
Gülsün Karamustafa rethinks the Turkish tradition of dressing children in military uniforms: an outfit meant to instill patriotism becomes a symbol of the fear adults feel for their children. Ivan Kolpakov, Meduza’s editor-in-chief, reflects on the fear that accompanies the work of journalists in exile — for their colleagues and loved ones who remain in home country.
(7) Loneliness
Photographer Alexander Gronsky, who continues to work in Russia, documenting the changes in the capital of a country at war, tells what it is like to be "the last one in the shop" and presents his photographs from the series "Moscow 2022-". Pavel Otdelnov presents a series of paintings inspired by the Soviet ABC book, expressing the world of a child left alone with his fears.
(8) Polarization
Ukrainian writer Zhenia Berezhna, who continues to write in Russian, reflects on the polarization through the language. Semyon Khanin demonstrates how polarization works with an object that literally makes the viewer see black as white.
(9) Hope
In the last section of the exhibition, Aleksey Dubinsky shows a series of paintings about the "burial of hope", as the mass farewell of Alexey Navalny at the Borisovskoye cemetery in Moscow is often called.