When deciding on the theme for the third edition of the Artists Against the Kremlin art exhibition, curator Vladimir Shalamov turned toward the past — or, rather, the Kremlin’s present-day manipulation of it.
As his Berlin-based team, the Prometheus cultural project, brainstormed ideas, Russian authorities were taking aim at institutions dedicated to preserving some of the country’s darkest, most painful memories. The Gulag History Museum in Moscow was shut down, while Memorial, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning rights group that has documented Soviet repressions for decades, was blacklisted as “extremist.”
“We're witnessing an active attempt to erase inconvenient memories and replace them with new ones that legitimize everything the Kremlin does while providing it with an ideological foundation,” Shalamov said. “We decided to say, ‘No, guys, that's unacceptable’.”
Prometheus' response was “Memory Remains,” the third and final edition of Artists Against the Kremlin that runs from Aug. 14-Sept. 6 at Amsterdam’s De Balie cultural center.
“If the Kremlin can cleanse the information space inside Russia and construct a version of history that suits its interests, then at least we, working in relative safety and with the freedom to speak openly, have a responsibility to preserve the evidence,” he said.
