March 28, 2024

Russian Artists Crash the Pompidou


Russian Artists Crash the Pompidou
The Georges Pompidou Center in Paris, France, where the guerrilla exhibit took place.  DiscoA340, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

When the Pompidou Center in Paris opened on the morning of March 17, staff and visitors were not aware they were about to witness a guerrilla exhibition put on by Russian artists.

Their exhibit, or, in Russian, "action" (deistviya), took place in the museum cloakroom (to prevent allegations of trespassing), beginning at the museum's opening at 11. The exhibit, entitled "Cellule" or "cell," was organized by a Moscow artist who goes only by Maxim, and who sent out instructions to the artists on Telegram. 

Maxim's plan was for artists to place their work in one of the cloakroom's clear plastic lockers and to affix an exhibition-style label to the locker. These labels explained that all the artists were currently living in exile to protest the war in Ukraine. He had planned the exhibit for the day when polls closed in the Russian presidential election.

The artists who participated in the action, including Alisa GorsheninaFedora Akimova, and Andrei Kuzkin, chose to present works that ranged from straightforwardly political protest art to more abstract pieces. Kuzkin exhibited a diminutive figure crafted from bread, in reference to both Christian tradition and Russian prison culture. Akimova, who also helped organize the action, showed her invalid Ukrainian passport alongside her domestic Russian passport, which, as an exile, she no longer needs. 

While the cloakroom exhibit was quickly discovered and shut down by museum staff, the artists simply covered their works with coats and bags and uncovered them later that evening, when they organized for journalists to be present.

You Might Also Like

All the Village Is a Stage
  • February 12, 2022

All the Village Is a Stage

Performance art, adventure, and psychedelia in a Russian village. What more could you want?
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

Little Golden Calf
February 01, 2010

Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.

A Taste of Chekhov
December 24, 2022

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.

The Samovar Murders
November 01, 2019

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.

Steppe
July 15, 2022

Steppe

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.

Russian Rules
November 16, 2011

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.

Woe From Wit (bilingual)
June 20, 2017

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.

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