A monstration is a public performance similar to a
demonstration but intended as creative
performance art
Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...
, often parodying a serious demonstration. The term was coined by Russian artist Ivan Dyrkin in 2004, and the phenomenon has been most popular in Russia.
History
Soviet Union and Russia
In the 1920s and 1930s, similar processions took place in the Soviet Union. For example, there was a carnival demonstration in defense of beneficial birds. The participants of this procession carried banners like "The
tit exterminates 6500 caterpillars a year". But basically these actions were of anti-religious content.
Novosibirsk
In 1933, an anti-religious demonstration took place in Novosibirsk on Christmas Eve. Costumed
Komsomol members marched around the city with
effigies
An effigy is an often life-size sculptural representation of a specific person, or a prototypical figure. The term is mostly used for the makeshift dummies used for symbolic punishment in political protests and for the figures burned in certai ...
of priests and crosses and completed the action by burning a Christmas tree near the
Lenin House.
In the 1960s and 1980s, absurdist demonstrations were held by the youth of
Novosibirsk Akademgorodok. In the 1960s, these actions were organized by the ''Integral Club''.
In November 1995, a march of artists and poets was held, also known as the ''Styobius Strip'' (''Лента стёбиуса'').
In 2004,
Artyom Loskutov and members of the ''Contemporary Art Terrorism'' group in
Novosibirsk joined the annual
May Day demonstration. They were carrying posters with deliberately absurd slogans in an attempt to shake up a boring political procession and to make fun.
Fellow Siberian artist Ivan Dyrkin named the march "Monstration," a demonstration without the prefix ''de,'' which he considered a negative connotation as in
deconstruction or
degradation
Degradation may refer to:
Science
* Degradation (geology), lowering of a fluvial surface by erosion
* Degradation (telecommunications), of an electronic signal
* Biodegradation of organic substances by living organisms
* Environmental degradatio ...
.
Other cities
The modern monstration incorporates signs and messages that are deliberately absurd, nonsensical and apolitical that indirectly defy the government and express a conceptual paradox. Although monstrations are apolitical, participants have been arrested for
political agitation. In 2010, Monstrations took place in 20 cities like Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and Vladivostok.
The first monstration in Kursk took place on 1 May 2014.
About 30 people went with the main slogan "For the rights of
butterflies in the stomach
Butterflies in the stomach is the physical sensation in humans of a "fluttery" feeling in the stomach, caused by a reduction of blood flow to the organ. This is as a result of the release of adrenaline in the fight-or-flight response, which causes ...
".
Za prava babochek v zhivote.JPG, "For the rights of butterflies in the stomach
Butterflies in the stomach is the physical sensation in humans of a "fluttery" feeling in the stomach, caused by a reduction of blood flow to the organ. This is as a result of the release of adrenaline in the fight-or-flight response, which causes ...
"
Ulibni svoi ulibalnik.JPG, "Smile your smiler!"
Na temnoi storone.JPG, "Death Star
The Death Star is a fictional space station and superweapon featured in the '' Star Wars'' space-opera franchise. Constructed by the autocratic Galactic Empire, the Death Star is capable of annihilating entire planets into rubble, and serves t ...
for rent" and "Dark side has no cookies"
Zhigulam litie diski.JPG, "Alloy wheel
In the automotive industry, alloy wheels are wheels that are made from an alloy of aluminium or magnesium. Alloys are mixtures of a metal and other elements. They generally provide greater strength over pure metals, which are usually much soft ...
s to Zhiguli".
In 2015, the main slogan was "We did not watch ''
Fifty Shades''".
Poland
Orange Alternative
The Orange Alternative (Polish language, Polish: ''Pomarańczowa Alternatywa'') is a Polish far-left anti-communist underground movement, started in Wrocław, a city in south-west Poland and led by Waldemar Fydrych (sometimes misspelled as Frydr ...
( pl, link=no, Pomarańczowa Alternatywa) was a Polish
anti-communist underground movement, started in
Wrocław
Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...
, a city in south-west Poland, in the 1980s. Its main purpose was to offer a wider group of citizens an alternative way of opposition against the
authoritarian regime by means of peaceful street protests that used absurd and nonsensical elements.
Alytus, Lithiania
From 2009 to 2017 a series of
Art strike Biennales were held at the
Alytus art school. Organised by
Redas Diržys and the
psychic workers union.
Alytus Biennial 2009 Monstration - Artist United Will Never Be Divided.png, "Alytus Biennial 2009 Monstration - Artist United Will Never Be Divided"
Alytus Biennial 2011 Monstration q.jpg, "Alytus Biennial 2011 Monstration"
Alytus Psychic Strike 2011 Monstration.jpg, "Alytus Psychic Strike 2013 Monstration"
ALYTAUS 6-OJI PSICHO-MENO-STREIKO BIENALE KJHNLKJB.jpg, "Alytus Psychic Strike 2015 Monstration"
Recognition
In 2011 Monstration was recognized for "Innovation" by a government agency of
modern art and selected as "Best in the Region."
Government outrage
In 2014, Artyom Loskutov attempted to organize a routine monstration for August 17, when he ran into trouble. "We were talking about having a march, which is absolutely allowed under law," Loskutov says. "But in writing about it, we wrote about creating a
Siberian Republic
A Siberian Republic (russian: Сибирская Республика, translit=Sibirskaya Respublika) is an idea of making Siberia an independent republic.
The argument for an independent republic is that Siberia makes up 77% of Russian territ ...
within the Russian Federation. There was no talk about separatism or anything, it's just that Moscow doesn't govern the regions very effectively."
The purpose of the protest was to ridicule Kremlin's hypocrisy in the
Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation and to raise awareness about politics in Siberia. "They decided to tell us how great it is when some republic moves for
self-determination. Okay, well let's apply this to other regions. Can Siberia allow itself this same rhetoric? It turns out it can't."
Russian telecommunications regulator
Roskomnadzor
The Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, abbreviated as ''Roskomnadzor'' (RKN) (russian: Роскомнадзор КН, is the Russian federal executive agency responsible for monitoring, co ...
launched a
media blackout
Media blackout is the censorship of news related to a certain topic, particularly in mass media, for any reason. A media blackout may be voluntary, or may in some countries be enforced by the government or state. The latter case is controversial in ...
of the event, issued warnings to 14 media outlets that ran the story and threatened to close
BBC Russian Service for reporting the announcement.
Roskomnadzor also launched an official investigation against BBC to confirm "an apparent violation of the law." In response, BBC added a description of the event as a “parody” that in no way promoted Siberia's independence from Moscow.
Russian authorities compared the potential monstration protest to
Euromaidan that led to the
2014 Ukrainian revolution.
Nikolai Valuyev called it the "first attempt of global efforts to promote separatism in Russia."
According to Dmitry Zhuravlyov, director of
Institute for Regional Problems based in Moscow, "I can understand the position of these people
rganizers of the marchon a psychological level," Zhuravlyov said. "They want to have more control over the riches of Siberia, and that is understandable. But what is unacceptable to Russia is that this whole idea goes against the Constitution. You cannot change the status of your region just like that." President
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
recently signed legislation that introduced prison sentences for violations of
territorial integrity
Territorial integrity is the principle under international law that gives the right to sovereign states to defend their borders and all territory in them of another state. It is enshrined in Article 2(4) of the UN Charter and has been recognized ...
in Russia.
See also
*
Internet censorship in Russia
Internet censorship in the Russian Federation is enforced on the basis of several laws and through several mechanisms. Since 2012, Russia maintains a centralized internet blacklist (known as the "single register") maintained by the Federal Service ...
*
Demonstration (acting) 'Demonstration' is a monstration that serves as proof in storytelling.
Demonstration is a central part of the Brechtian approach to acting. It implies a definite distance built into the actor's manner of playing a character (in contrast to th ...
References
{{reflist
External links
MonstrationMonstration 2004-2008Monstration 2012
Popular culture neologisms
Russian youth culture
Political controversies in Europe
Street theatre
Culture in Novosibirsk