Earlier this year funds raised by Banksy went toward bail for two jailed members of the Russian art collective Voina (WAR). Leonid Nikolayev and Oleg Vorotnikov were charged with 'aggravated hooliganism' following a Voina action named "Palace Revolution." In the course of the action some police cars were overturned. The pair were incarcerated in St Petersburg's notorious Kresty prison pending trial.
Leonid Nikolayev and Oleg Vorotnikov
In letters to his wife Vorotnikov wrote of the horrendous prison conditions. The eight-square-meter cell he shared with five others was crawling with bedbugs. An overhead light remained on night and day. He wrote that many of the prisoners in the jail were ill, some with HIV and hepatitis.
Guardian:
Members of Voina (the war) – two of whom are awaiting trial on hooliganism charges – whitewashed the decoration on a bridge in St Petersburg last June. When the bridge was raised the erect phallus faced the local headquarters of the FSB, the successor to the KGB.
The work, entitled A Dick Held Prisoner at the FSB, was awarded the 400,000 rouble (£8,700) 2010 Innovation prize by the National Centre for Contemporary Arts in Moscow on Thursday evening.
Perhaps this is the state attempting to buy good publicity after the coverage given to the arrests of Nikolayev and Verotnikov. In any case Voina won't be pocketing the cash. The collective has issued a statement saying that the money will go to help political prisoners.
Voina uses performance statements to point a symbolic finger at corruption. A Voina action "In Memory of the Decembrists" featured the staged hanging of two homosexuals and three Asian guest workers - a symbolic indictment of Moscow mayor Luzkov's homophobic and racist attitudes. Luzkov once described the Moscow gay pride parade as "satanic."
In Memory of the Decembrists
Another action - "Fuck for the heir Puppy Bear" in 2008, targeted the election... or perhaps ascension might be the better term... of Russian president Dmitry Medvedev. The Russian name Medvedev derives from medved, "bear." The action which included nudity and sex sparked controversy and a lot of media coverage.
Some Voina actions aren't without a humorous side. Check out the video beneath - "The Art of Kissing a Cop":
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