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Dzerzinski’s monument, Moscow, 2000

 

The Great Purge

Oleg performed a "great purge" of Dzerzinski’s monument, Moscow. He washed the abandoned sculputre with household washing chemicals and metal brishes. This was a reaction to the discussions in the Russian Duma (parliament) to return the monument to its previous (before 1990s) place. The Great Purge (Russian: Большая чистка, transliterated Bolshaya chistka) is the name given to campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union orchestrated by Joseph Stalin during the late 1930s. It involved the purge of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the persecution of unaffiliated persons, both occurring within a period characterized by omnipresent police surveillance, widespread suspicion of "saboteurs", imprisonment, and killings.

Перформанс заключался в чистке памятника моющими средствами и железной щеткой. Он является
реакция на обсуждение в Думе возможности возвращения памятника на прежнее
место. "Большая чистка" - термин Сталинского времени, означающий
радикальное сокращение кадров, вплоть до физического уничтижения.

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