February 12, 2024

A Criminal Doll


A Criminal Doll
Doll with prison tattoos, artwork by Vasily Slonov. Mediazona, Telegram.

On February 9, it was reported that artist Vacily Slonov was detained at Krasnoyarsk airport while heading to Kazakhstan after police opened an investigation into his artwork for the use of prison tattoos.

This is not the first run-in with the law for Slonov, who identifies himself as a member of the "Siberian ironic conceptualism" artistic movement. In 2013, Slonov's exhibition "Welcome! Sochi 2014" at the White Nights Festival captured international attention. The exhibit included satirical cartoons, including the animated character Cheburashka chasing athletes and Olympic rings made with nooses. The gallerist in charge of the festival, Magat Gelman, was subsequently fired from his job.

In 2018, the pro-Kremlin group SERB vandalized his Moscow exhibit "Celestial Jerusalem" for featuring a painting of President Vladimir Putin combined with a skull and a quote from the Old Testament.

Most recently, in October 2023, the 54-year-old exhibited a doll covered in prison tattoos in the Krasnoyarsk Novotel. In response, a tribunal fined him and ordered the destruction of his piece for the use of the forbidden symbology of the AUE, an underground youth criminal network that is classified as an extremist organization.

On February 8, police opened a criminal case against the artist for uploading a picture of his tattooed doll exhibit on his VKontakte. The post was quickly taken down and his VKontakte account was deleted. On that same day, security forces raided his house and workshop and confiscated all his electronic devices. On February 9, Slonov's wife announced her husband's arrest on his Instagram account, Gulag ToysThe artist was stopped by police while "about to fly to Kazakhstan," according to Mediazona. 

On February 10, Slonov told the court he was going to Almaty to visit museums. The artist denounced the investigators for causing psychological duress during his detention. The court sentenced him to two months of house arrest.

You Might Also Like

  • February 06, 2024

"I'm Alive" a Harrowing Escape

A gay Chechen man forced to out himself on camera vanished after the video went viral in 2022. Now, he tells his story.
A Very Famous Terrorist
  • December 25, 2023

A Very Famous Terrorist

Popular writer Boris Akunin has been added to the Kremlin's list of terrorists and extremists.
A QR Crackdown
  • December 14, 2023

A QR Crackdown

Moscow bans QR codes on billboards in response to the Russian political opposition.
Integration through Education?
  • October 08, 2023

Integration through Education?

Russian President Putin stressed the importance of education in regions newly annexed from Ukraine. But is there a more sinister motive at play?
Dance Floor Dissent
  • May 26, 2023

Dance Floor Dissent

A video of people singing pro-Ukraine lyrics prompted government intervention.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.
Driving Down Russia's Spine

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 
The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.  
Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955