MAYANA NASYBULLOVA

The new series of works represents the next step in the process of integrating Lenin into basic cultural codes: not only does the coloration of the leader change, but also his form. Soviet 'totems' begin to coexist with religious ones: Buddha, Madonna. Transforming into a unified whole, they give rise to monsters like Lenin-Shiva, Lenin-Matryoshka. It seems that the faces of these mutants are the faces of the modern information flow, where individuals bring religion and mass culture together under a common denominator. The 'Lenins' in the Crisis of Faith are trophies brought from the past, adapted to the present, and sent into the future in souvenir packaging.

The series of works was specifically prepared for the centenary of the revolution and was first exhibited as an intervention in the Shushenskoye Museum-Reserve, where Lenin lived in exile at the end of the 19th century and wrote his 'Development of Capitalism in Russia.' During a tour of the village, the figurines were hidden in the space of memory. Thus, ironic distance was introduced into the architecture of the cult.
Following Lenin’s hunting trails, we reached the confluence of the Shush and Yenisei rivers, where the gypsum mutants gathered together. Later, the works were presented at the Vladey Gallery.