During that time, old Moscow wooden houses located in the center of Moscow continued to be demolished, and the inhabitants of those houses settled along the outskirts in new remote areas, thus continuing the program of the party and government for the liberation of the center, that began under the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Nikita Khrushchev in the late 1950s.

Multistorey houses, made of concrete panels were built on the liberated territories and were filled with the party lists of proved communist workers, military staff, chekists and party officials.

There were reasons for that. One of the goals of resettlements was the destruction of traditional ties and traditional way of life of Moscow yards residents, alienation of the native Moscow residents from one another, that lived side by side for decades, and often starting new families and becoming relatives.

In post-war years Moscow yards turned into a kind of commune with its own unspoken rules, becoming more close-knit in their amazing cohesiveness, with its own unspoken leaders, participants of the World War II most of the time, annoyed by the results of the 20th Congress of the Communist party of the USSR and the report by Nikita Khrushchev on Stalin’s cult of personality.

Current situation did not suit the communist government. The resettlement of the population from the Moscow center campaign was declared as a fight against crime, that according to them was entrenched among the residents of Moscow yards. People were not given a choice, they were not supposed to understand decision made by the party, let alone criticize its decisions.

In winder, must be the end of January of 1974, bypassing the yard and passing by the ready to remove black frameworks of the wooden houses with the dark holes, broken down doors and windows, I accidentally through the peripheral vision I noticed a drawing album in a pile of garbage and household junk.

I picked up the album and shoved it in my bag and only in the institute, listening to a lecture of the department of scientific communism and barely staying awake from the boring lecture I remembered my find, - a drawing album turned out to be filled with drawings, sewing patterns, made by the unknown home-based dressmaker (It is important to mention that boredom from the lecture was amplified by the obligatory rule to take notes after the professor Serafim Prokopyevich Kotlyarov’s (the father of famous socialist realist artist Lev Serafimovich Kotlyarov) verbal signal – “dialectical moralism” (diomat).

On each page of the found album, drawings with the accurate sewing patterns, dimensions and labeling were made by the hand of the dressmaker. The range was wide – from underpants, pantalohns, bras, dresses, sundresses to men’s shirts, pants and children’s clothes. Those were not fashionable clothing patterns. Perhaps, they were made in the 50s, when the entire USSR industry, including light industry was still oriented towards the military products. Drawings like these were passed from one dressmaker to another, they were copied from album to album. Behind every sewing pattern were people, who ordered a particular style from one of the home-based dressmakers, who back then embodied the idea of “individual tailoring”, in the minds of people.

Carefully studying and looking at these drawings, I was embraced by a burning desire to do something with them, to draw something, in some way to define, to express where I stand on that era of ideological mass obedience, where these sewing patterns were created for the everyday wear, intended for both mass and individual consumers, the difference back then was slight and not explicit.

I thought: “If the communist ideology, seeping through all spheres of existence of the soviet man became a part of their everyday life, into a sort of propaganda clothing, in which the whole population of the USSR was forcibly dressed, all citizens from birth till death, then, perhaps it is possible to convey this state though mumble, pronouncing (mantrazation) or by fixing them on paper and other media in one way or another, the ideological stamps that became an element of the everyday wear... Ideologists and the state party propaganda machine workers create their product lines based on the certain sewing patterns, blueprints... To combine these ideological stamps with the sewing patterns for everyday wear from the unknown homebased dressmaker’s album, is to show the full scale of the ideological hypnotizing and its ingrowth into the blood, the flesh and the minds of the people, because even the cut and the tailoring of everyday clothes, not to mention the behavioral rules and way of thinking were regulated by the party... Yes! To depict the uniformity of clothing, the solidity and indistinguishability of the individual in the mass.”

Using someone else’s drawings (sewing patterns) from the found album of the unknown dressmaker for my own purposes I put down (wrote down) the ideological stamps said by the diomat professor inside the sewing patterns.

There was a shortcut from the metro station Taganskaya to Surikov Art Institute, all you had to do is to pass by Marxistskaya street through Moscow dvori (yards) to Comradely Lane (not so long ago Marxistskaya street was renamed to Alexander Solzhenitsyn street).

During that time, old Moscow wooden houses located in the center of Moscow continued to be demolished, and the inhabitants of those houses settled along the outskirts in new remote areas, thus continuing the program of the party and government for the liberation of the center, that began under the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Nikita Khrushchev in the late 1950s.

Multistorey houses, made of concrete panels were built on the liberated territories and were filled with the party lists of proved communist workers, military staff, chekists and party officials.

There were reasons for that. One of the goals of resettlements was the destruction of traditional ties and traditional way of life of Moscow yards residents, alienation of the native Moscow residents from one another, that lived side by side for decades, and often starting new families and becoming relatives.

In post-war years Moscow yards turned into a kind of commune with its own unspoken rules, becoming more close-knit in their amazing cohesiveness, with its own unspoken leaders, participants of the World War II most of the time, annoyed by the results of the 20th Congress of the Communist party of the USSR and the report by Nikita Khrushchev on Stalin’s cult of personality.

Current situation did not suit the communist government. The resettlement of the population from the Moscow center campaign was declared as a fight against crime, that according to them was entrenched among the residents of Moscow yards. People were not given a choice, they were not supposed to understand decision made by the party, let alone criticize its decisions.

In winder, must be the end of January of 1974, bypassing the yard and passing by the ready to remove black frameworks of the wooden houses with the dark holes, broken down doors and windows, I accidentally through the peripheral vision I noticed a drawing album in a pile of garbage and household junk.

I picked up the album and shoved it in my bag and only in the institute, listening to a lecture of the department of scientific communism and barely staying awake from the boring lecture I remembered my find, - a drawing album turned out to be filled with drawings, sewing patterns, made by the unknown home-based dressmaker (It is important to mention that boredom from the lecture was amplified by the obligatory rule to take notes after the professor Serafim Prokopyevich Kotlyarov’s (the father of famous socialist realist artist Lev Serafimovich Kotlyarov) verbal signal – “dialectical moralism” (diomat).

On each page of the found album, drawings with the accurate sewing patterns, dimensions and labeling were made by the hand of the dressmaker. The range was wide – from underpants, pantalohns, bras, dresses, sundresses to men’s shirts, pants and children’s clothes. Those were not fashionable clothing patterns. Perhaps, they were made in the 50s, when the entire USSR industry, including light industry was still oriented towards the military products. Drawings like these were passed from one dressmaker to another, they were copied from album to album. Behind every sewing pattern were people, who ordered a particular style from one of the home-based dressmakers, who back then embodied the idea of “individual tailoring”, in the minds of people.

Carefully studying and looking at these drawings, I was embraced by a burning desire to do something with them, to draw something, in some way to define, to express where I stand on that era of ideological mass obedience, where these sewing patterns were created for the everyday wear, intended for both mass and individual consumers, the difference back then was slight and not explicit.

I thought: “If the communist ideology, seeping through all spheres of existence of the soviet man became a part of their everyday life, into a sort of propaganda clothing, in which the whole population of the USSR was forcibly dressed, all citizens from birth till death, then, perhaps it is possible to convey this state though mumble, pronouncing (mantrazation) or by fixing them on paper and other media in one way or another, the ideological stamps that became an element of the everyday wear... Ideologists and the state party propaganda machine workers create their product lines based on the certain sewing patterns, blueprints... To combine these ideological stamps with the sewing patterns for everyday wear from the unknown homebased dressmaker’s album, is to show the full scale of the ideological hypnotizing and its ingrowth into the blood, the flesh and the minds of the people, because even the cut and the tailoring of everyday clothes, not to mention the behavioral rules and way of thinking were regulated by the party... Yes! To depict the uniformity of clothing, the solidity and indistinguishability of the individual in the mass.”

Using someone else’s drawings (sewing patterns) from the found album of the unknown dressmaker for my own purposes I put down (wrote down) the ideological stamps said by the diomat professor inside the sewing patterns.

In the 1970s Akhunov started a series of drawings in his diaries “Art-Cheology of the USSR”. Interest in archeology started in childhood. Akhunov dreamed of becoming an archaeologist; as a child, he conducted "excavations" of an old garbage dump near his house. At some point the family lived in a flat within a museum complex inside a 15th century medrese, surrounded by ancient exhibits. Vyacheslav Akhunov also often accompanied his father on archeological expeditions in Uzbekistan.

“What is Art-Cheology?
On the one hand, it is science, and art, on the other. It is the art of turning the present into the past, research in the not-coming future of the historical past, a certain era or a society through monuments of material culture ‘found during the archeological expedition and field works’. The material evidence of past eras found during “excavations” is transferred to the so-called “Artchive”… Art-cheological documentation is neutral with science-like descriptions, reports, abstracts, texts, maps, tables, drawings, sketches from nature, photo and video documentation… The combination of "science" (an imitation of science), in this case archeology with art, is art-cheology."

Vyacheslav Akhunov

In the 1970s Akhunov started a series of drawings in his diaries “Art-Cheology of the USSR”. Interest in archeology started in childhood. Akhunov dreamed of becoming an archaeologist; as a child, he conducted "excavations" of an old garbage dump near his house. At some point the family lived in a flat within a museum complex inside a 15th century medrese, surrounded by ancient exhibits. Vyacheslav Akhunov also often accompanied his father on archeological expeditions in Uzbekistan.

“What is Art-Cheology?
On the one hand, it is science, and art, on the other. It is the art of turning the present into the past, research in the not-coming future of the historical past, a certain era or a society through monuments of material culture ‘found during the archeological expedition and field works’. The material evidence of past eras found during “excavations” is transferred to the so-called “Artchive”… Art-cheological documentation is neutral with science-like descriptions, reports, abstracts, texts, maps, tables, drawings, sketches from nature, photo and video documentation… The combination of "science" (an imitation of science), in this case archeology with art, is art-cheology."

Vyacheslav Akhunov

In the 1970s Akhunov started a series of drawings in his diaries “Art-Cheology of the USSR”. Interest in archeology started in childhood. Akhunov dreamed of becoming an archaeologist; as a child, he conducted "excavations" of an old garbage dump near his house. At some point the family lived in a flat within a museum complex inside a 15th century medrese, surrounded by ancient exhibits. Vyacheslav Akhunov also often accompanied his father on archeological expeditions in Uzbekistan.

“What is Art-Cheology?
On the one hand, it is science, and art, on the other. It is the art of turning the present into the past, research in the not-coming future of the historical past, a certain era or a society through monuments of material culture ‘found during the archeological expedition and field works’. The material evidence of past eras found during “excavations” is transferred to the so-called “Artchive”… Art-cheological documentation is neutral with science-like descriptions, reports, abstracts, texts, maps, tables, drawings, sketches from nature, photo and video documentation… The combination of "science" (an imitation of science), in this case archeology with art, is art-cheology."

Vyacheslav Akhunov

In the 1970s Akhunov started a series of drawings in his diaries “Art-Cheology of the USSR”. Interest in archeology started in childhood. Akhunov dreamed of becoming an archaeologist; as a child, he conducted "excavations" of an old garbage dump near his house. At some point the family lived in a flat within a museum complex inside a 15th century medrese, surrounded by ancient exhibits. Vyacheslav Akhunov also often accompanied his father on archeological expeditions in Uzbekistan.

“What is Art-Cheology?
On the one hand, it is science, and art, on the other. It is the art of turning the present into the past, research in the not-coming future of the historical past, a certain era or a society through monuments of material culture ‘found during the archeological expedition and field works’. The material evidence of past eras found during “excavations” is transferred to the so-called “Artchive”… Art-cheological documentation is neutral with science-like descriptions, reports, abstracts, texts, maps, tables, drawings, sketches from nature, photo and video documentation… The combination of "science" (an imitation of science), in this case archeology with art, is art-cheology."

Vyacheslav Akhunov

The basis of the 1m² project was a drawing in a diary, that was made in September 1978, labeled as “Pocket Exhibition of Kazemir Malevich and Vasily Kandinsky”. The drawing shows 8 empty matchboxes, on the bottom of which illustrations of the works of K. Malevich and V. Kandinsky, measuring 4.8 x 3.5 cm. were supposed to be taped. Such a representation was explained at that time by the ban on showing the work of avant-garde artists on one hand, and on the other hand, by my enthusiasm for Western and Moscow conceptualism of the 70s, which I “contracted” as a student of the V.I. Surikov, bearing the thought of the Dadaist Marcel Duchamp about the sacralization of domestic, everyday object, in this case matchboxes. So in those years the purely conceptual idea of a traveling, pocket-sized exhibition of banned Russian avant-garde artists of the beginning of the century arose.

Now that the restrictions on showing art have been removed, I represent my creative archive in 400 matchboxes by pasting on their bottom drawings taken from diaries and albums from 1976 to 1991 - the year the USSR collapsed. Open matchboxes, according to my calculations, will occupy 1m² - the most compact exhibition in the world, which claims to be included in the Guinness Book of Records.

Nevertheless, above the re-presentation platform, 1m² in size, I plan to place a large monitor or to project the archive - more than 1800 pages (diaries and albums), having previously digitized them. This will allow to examine in detail and close-up drawings for more than 200 projects in the field of contemporary art, as well as to get acquainted with their description and diary entries of those years, after a period of time arousing great interest as historical documentation, as a look at the artistic events of those times with the position of the nonconformist artist as a single, not a typical example of conceptual art and artistic underground in Uzbekistan.

Now, when time has stopped, froze, and maybe disappeared, there was a desire to feel for at least some signs of movement, but for this you have to move to your past, understanding perfectly well that the art system in its entirety was completed in the first quarter of the 20th century (it is no coincidence that starting in 1923, Marcel Duchamp almost completely departs into the area of "silence"). Art did not die, but completed as a whole system. Is it because of this that we are forced to go back, backward, each in its own history and in a common past for everyone, which is importunate looming on the horizon from the opposite side of a dubious future. To regain the starting position? Feel the pulse of time and modernity?

The basis of the 1m² project was a drawing in a diary, that was made in September 1978, labeled as “Pocket Exhibition of Kazemir Malevich and Vasily Kandinsky”. The drawing shows 8 empty matchboxes, on the bottom of which illustrations of the works of K. Malevich and V. Kandinsky, measuring 4.8 x 3.5 cm. were supposed to be taped. Such a representation was explained at that time by the ban on showing the work of avant-garde artists on one hand, and on the other hand, by my enthusiasm for Western and Moscow conceptualism of the 70s, which I “contracted” as a student of the V.I. Surikov, bearing the thought of the Dadaist Marcel Duchamp about the sacralization of domestic, everyday object, in this case matchboxes. So in those years the purely conceptual idea of a traveling, pocket-sized exhibition of banned Russian avant-garde artists of the beginning of the century arose.

Now that the restrictions on showing art have been removed, I represent my creative archive in 400 matchboxes by pasting on their bottom drawings taken from diaries and albums from 1976 to 1991 - the year the USSR collapsed. Open matchboxes, according to my calculations, will occupy 1m² - the most compact exhibition in the world, which claims to be included in the Guinness Book of Records.

Nevertheless, above the re-presentation platform, 1m² in size, I plan to place a large monitor or to project the archive - more than 1800 pages (diaries and albums), having previously digitized them. This will allow to examine in detail and close-up drawings for more than 200 projects in the field of contemporary art, as well as to get acquainted with their description and diary entries of those years, after a period of time arousing great interest as historical documentation, as a look at the artistic events of those times with the position of the nonconformist artist as a single, not a typical example of conceptual art and artistic underground in Uzbekistan.

Now, when time has stopped, froze, and maybe disappeared, there was a desire to feel for at least some signs of movement, but for this you have to move to your past, understanding perfectly well that the art system in its entirety was completed in the first quarter of the 20th century (it is no coincidence that starting in 1923, Marcel Duchamp almost completely departs into the area of "silence"). Art did not die, but completed as a whole system. Is it because of this that we are forced to go back, backward, each in its own history and in a common past for everyone, which is importunate looming on the horizon from the opposite side of a dubious future. To regain the starting position? Feel the pulse of time and modernity?

The basis of the 1m² project was a drawing in a diary, that was made in September 1978, labeled as “Pocket Exhibition of Kazemir Malevich and Vasily Kandinsky”. The drawing shows 8 empty matchboxes, on the bottom of which illustrations of the works of K. Malevich and V. Kandinsky, measuring 4.8 x 3.5 cm. were supposed to be taped. Such a representation was explained at that time by the ban on showing the work of avant-garde artists on one hand, and on the other hand, by my enthusiasm for Western and Moscow conceptualism of the 70s, which I “contracted” as a student of the V.I. Surikov, bearing the thought of the Dadaist Marcel Duchamp about the sacralization of domestic, everyday object, in this case matchboxes. So in those years the purely conceptual idea of a traveling, pocket-sized exhibition of banned Russian avant-garde artists of the beginning of the century arose.

Now that the restrictions on showing art have been removed, I represent my creative archive in 400 matchboxes by pasting on their bottom drawings taken from diaries and albums from 1976 to 1991 - the year the USSR collapsed. Open matchboxes, according to my calculations, will occupy 1m² - the most compact exhibition in the world, which claims to be included in the Guinness Book of Records.

Nevertheless, above the re-presentation platform, 1m² in size, I plan to place a large monitor or to project the archive - more than 1800 pages (diaries and albums), having previously digitized them. This will allow to examine in detail and close-up drawings for more than 200 projects in the field of contemporary art, as well as to get acquainted with their description and diary entries of those years, after a period of time arousing great interest as historical documentation, as a look at the artistic events of those times with the position of the nonconformist artist as a single, not a typical example of conceptual art and artistic underground in Uzbekistan.

Now, when time has stopped, froze, and maybe disappeared, there was a desire to feel for at least some signs of movement, but for this you have to move to your past, understanding perfectly well that the art system in its entirety was completed in the first quarter of the 20th century (it is no coincidence that starting in 1923, Marcel Duchamp almost completely departs into the area of "silence"). Art did not die, but completed as a whole system. Is it because of this that we are forced to go back, backward, each in its own history and in a common past for everyone, which is importunate looming on the horizon from the opposite side of a dubious future. To regain the starting position? Feel the pulse of time and modernity?

Already in the 1970s Akhunov realised the potential of new technologies for art, declaring that “electronic computing engine” “does not endanger art, but would stem a formation of new art system”. Akhunov started to experiment with video and even took part in several feature films projects.

In his own videos Akhunov is exploring the contemporary society. The “Blind Alley" shows a man walking in an old town trying to find the escape from labyrinth-like streets, but each time he faces a dead-end. With time more and more people start to join him in a column, following his fruitless attempts to escape.

Akhunov is exploring the contemporary society in his video works. In “Grain for a Canary” we see a group of blind people singing and playing musical instruments at the bazaar to earn money. The song they perform is of Sufi origin, saying "You, my love, took my eyes."

Akhunov is exploring the contemporary society in his video works. In “Grain for a Canary” we see a group of blind people singing and playing musical instruments at the bazaar to earn money. The song they perform is of Sufi origin, saying "You, my love, took my eyes."

Akhunov began his "Total Inventory. Roster of Infinity" project in 1976. The artist wrote inventory number on stones, doors, columns and buildings, and recorded it in the register, as it was customary in Soviet institutions. The book entitled “Image of Time. Total Inventory. Part of Infinite Roster” consists of 100 pages, each covered with columns of inventory numbers. Here Akhunov focuses on the useless inventory process, as a practice, and brings it to the point of absurdity by assigning numbers to objects of nature, and random objects and structures that do not belong to anyone.

Akhunov began his "Total Inventory. Roster of Infinity" project in 1976. The artist wrote inventory number on stones, doors, columns and buildings, and recorded it in the register, as it was customary in Soviet institutions. The book entitled “Image of Time. Total Inventory. Part of Infinite Roster” consists of 100 pages, each covered with columns of inventory numbers. Here Akhunov focuses on the useless inventory process, as a practice, and brings it to the point of absurdity by assigning numbers to objects of nature, and random objects and structures that do not belong to anyone.

Akhunov began his "Total Inventory. Roster of Infinity" project in 1976. The artist wrote inventory number on stones, doors, columns and buildings, and recorded it in the register, as it was customary in Soviet institutions. The book entitled “Image of Time. Total Inventory. Part of Infinite Roster” consists of 100 pages, each covered with columns of inventory numbers. Here Akhunov focuses on the useless inventory process, as a practice, and brings it to the point of absurdity by assigning numbers to objects of nature, and random objects and structures that do not belong to anyone.

Akhunov began his "Total Inventory. Roster of Infinity" project in 1976. The artist wrote inventory number on stones, doors, columns and buildings, and recorded it in the register, as it was customary in Soviet institutions. The book entitled “Image of Time. Total Inventory. Part of Infinite Roster” consists of 100 pages, each covered with columns of inventory numbers. Here Akhunov focuses on the useless inventory process, as a practice, and brings it to the point of absurdity by assigning numbers to objects of nature, and random objects and structures that do not belong to anyone.

Akhunov began his "Total Inventory. Roster of Infinity" project in 1976. The artist wrote inventory number on stones, doors, columns and buildings, and recorded it in the register, as it was customary in Soviet institutions. The book entitled “Image of Time. Total Inventory. Part of Infinite Roster” consists of 100 pages, each covered with columns of inventory numbers. Here Akhunov focuses on the useless inventory process, as a practice, and brings it to the point of absurdity by assigning numbers to objects of nature, and random objects and structures that do not belong to anyone.

Akhunov began his "Total Inventory. Roster of Infinity" project in 1976. The artist wrote inventory number on stones, doors, columns and buildings, and recorded it in the register, as it was customary in Soviet institutions. The book entitled “Image of Time. Total Inventory. Part of Infinite Roster” consists of 100 pages, each covered with columns of inventory numbers. Here Akhunov focuses on the useless inventory process, as a practice, and brings it to the point of absurdity by assigning numbers to objects of nature, and random objects and structures that do not belong to anyone.

Vyacheslav Akhunov’s video performance “Pilgrimage to Kingdom U: Cleaner” was created as part of the international project UK + CA (United Kingdom + Central Asia), organized by three galleries: "Space" (London), "Cornerhouse" (Manchester) and "Asia Art +" ( Almaty). The idea of the project was to immerse artists in an unusual new environment for the exchange of life positions and artistic ideas, by sending 3-4 artists from Central Asia to London, and artists from London to the cities of Central Asia. In his project, Vyacheslav Akhunov touches on emigration issues. During video performance, the artist cleans the streets, facades of the Tate Gallery, the National Museum, the Royal Academy and monuments with the toothbrush. Thus, revealing the problem of emigrants of the post-Soviet space, who are prepared in advance for the fate of garbage men, cleaners, they are treated as third-rate people. The same principle is applied and transferred to Central Asian art and artists, "And if you are from the post-Soviet space, then you are third-rate artists, and you are entitled to third-rate conditions, galleries..." Akhunov’s film is a protest of this view of the artistic world of Central Asia.

Vyacheslav Akhunov’s video performance “Pilgrimage to Kingdom U: Cleaner” was created as part of the international project UK + CA (United Kingdom + Central Asia), organized by three galleries: "Space" (London), "Cornerhouse" (Manchester) and "Asia Art +" ( Almaty). The idea of the project was to immerse artists in an unusual new environment for the exchange of life positions and artistic ideas, by sending 3-4 artists from Central Asia to London, and artists from London to the cities of Central Asia. In his project, Vyacheslav Akhunov touches on emigration issues. During video performance, the artist cleans the streets, facades of the Tate Gallery, the National Museum, the Royal Academy and monuments with the toothbrush. Thus, revealing the problem of emigrants of the post-Soviet space, who are prepared in advance for the fate of garbage men, cleaners, they are treated as third-rate people. The same principle is applied and transferred to Central Asian art and artists, "And if you are from the post-Soviet space, then you are third-rate artists, and you are entitled to third-rate conditions, galleries..." Akhunov’s film is a protest of this view of the artistic world of Central Asia.

Vyacheslav Akhunov’s video performance “Pilgrimage to Kingdom U: Cleaner” was created as part of the international project UK + CA (United Kingdom + Central Asia), organized by three galleries: "Space" (London), "Cornerhouse" (Manchester) and "Asia Art +" ( Almaty). The idea of the project was to immerse artists in an unusual new environment for the exchange of life positions and artistic ideas, by sending 3-4 artists from Central Asia to London, and artists from London to the cities of Central Asia. In his project, Vyacheslav Akhunov touches on emigration issues. During video performance, the artist cleans the streets, facades of the Tate Gallery, the National Museum, the Royal Academy and monuments with the toothbrush. Thus, revealing the problem of emigrants of the post-Soviet space, who are prepared in advance for the fate of garbage men, cleaners, they are treated as third-rate people. The same principle is applied and transferred to Central Asian art and artists, "And if you are from the post-Soviet space, then you are third-rate artists, and you are entitled to third-rate conditions, galleries..." Akhunov’s film is a protest of this view of the artistic world of Central Asia.

In Akhunov’s project the words “Breathe Quietly” function as text, but also become part of the viewer’s environment. The sketch for the project dates back to 1976. Like many of the artist’s works, the installation is a reflection on the infringements on private life of an average Soviet citizen by the government. Only a small fraction of Akhunov’s conceptual projects have been realized in real life and this is one of the few. The first version of the monumental 20 meters-long 3D installation appeared at Central Asia Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2013. Later it has also been exhibited in China, Canada, twice in Italy and Israel.

In Akhunov’s project the words “Breathe Quietly” function as text, but also become part of the viewer’s environment. The sketch for the project dates back to 1976. Like many of the artist’s works, the installation is a reflection on the infringements on private life of an average Soviet citizen by the government. Only a small fraction of Akhunov’s conceptual projects have been realized in real life and this is one of the few. The first version of the monumental 20 meters-long 3D installation appeared at Central Asia Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2013. Later it has also been exhibited in China, Canada, twice in Italy and Israel.

Many Akhunov’s works contain text and or consist entirely of text. "I was struck by constructions in parks, along railways and highways, in cities on the roofs of houses - voluminous concrete slogans "Glory to the CPSU", "We Will Achieve the Victory of Communism", etc. In Asia, they laid out meters-high letters of stone in the mountains and painted them with lime. It was Soviet Land Art, although no one understood it. It was not in the discourse of modernism, but it existed. In addition, I was interested in Buddhism, and monks came to visit me and buy spices. They brought burkhan icons with them and once even brought a bronze altar to try to save it. They prayed, and I was struck by their mantras: I realized that mantras surround us from all sides - ideological, Soviet mantras. I tied it all together and called it "Soviet Mantrism." (From Akhunov’s interview “The Sole Ranger of Contemporary Art” to Andrey Fomenko)

Many Akhunov’s works contain text and or consist entirely of text. "I was struck by constructions in parks, along railways and highways, in cities on the roofs of houses - voluminous concrete slogans "Glory to the CPSU", "We Will Achieve the Victory of Communism", etc. In Asia, they laid out meters-high letters of stone in the mountains and painted them with lime. It was Soviet Land Art, although no one understood it. It was not in the discourse of modernism, but it existed. In addition, I was interested in Buddhism, and monks came to visit me and buy spices. They brought burkhan icons with them and once even brought a bronze altar to try to save it. They prayed, and I was struck by their mantras: I realized that mantras surround us from all sides - ideological, Soviet mantras. I tied it all together and called it "Soviet Mantrism." (From Akhunov’s interview “The Sole Ranger of Contemporary Art” to Andrey Fomenko)

Many Akhunov’s works contain text and or consist entirely of text. "I was struck by constructions in parks, along railways and highways, in cities on the roofs of houses - voluminous concrete slogans "Glory to the CPSU", "We Will Achieve the Victory of Communism", etc. In Asia, they laid out meters-high letters of stone in the mountains and painted them with lime. It was Soviet Land Art, although no one understood it. It was not in the discourse of modernism, but it existed. In addition, I was interested in Buddhism, and monks came to visit me and buy spices. They brought burkhan icons with them and once even brought a bronze altar to try to save it. They prayed, and I was struck by their mantras: I realized that mantras surround us from all sides - ideological, Soviet mantras. I tied it all together and called it "Soviet Mantrism." (From Akhunov’s interview “The Sole Ranger of Contemporary Art” to Andrey Fomenko)

Many Akhunov’s works contain text and or consist entirely of text. "I was struck by constructions in parks, along railways and highways, in cities on the roofs of houses - voluminous concrete slogans "Glory to the CPSU", "We Will Achieve the Victory of Communism", etc. In Asia, they laid out meters-high letters of stone in the mountains and painted them with lime. It was Soviet Land Art, although no one understood it. It was not in the discourse of modernism, but it existed. In addition, I was interested in Buddhism, and monks came to visit me and buy spices. They brought burkhan icons with them and once even brought a bronze altar to try to save it. They prayed, and I was struck by their mantras: I realized that mantras surround us from all sides - ideological, Soviet mantras. I tied it all together and called it "Soviet Mantrism." (From Akhunov’s interview “The Sole Ranger of Contemporary Art” to Andrey Fomenko)

Many Akhunov’s works contain text and or consist entirely of text. "I was struck by constructions in parks, along railways and highways, in cities on the roofs of houses - voluminous concrete slogans "Glory to the CPSU", "We Will Achieve the Victory of Communism", etc. In Asia, they laid out meters-high letters of stone in the mountains and painted them with lime. It was Soviet Land Art, although no one understood it. It was not in the discourse of modernism, but it existed. In addition, I was interested in Buddhism, and monks came to visit me and buy spices. They brought burkhan icons with them and once even brought a bronze altar to try to save it. They prayed, and I was struck by their mantras: I realized that mantras surround us from all sides - ideological, Soviet mantras. I tied it all together and called it "Soviet Mantrism." (From Akhunov’s interview “The Sole Ranger of Contemporary Art” to Andrey Fomenko)

Many Akhunov’s works contain text and or consist entirely of text. "I was struck by constructions in parks, along railways and highways, in cities on the roofs of houses - voluminous concrete slogans "Glory to the CPSU", "We Will Achieve the Victory of Communism", etc. In Asia, they laid out meters-high letters of stone in the mountains and painted them with lime. It was Soviet Land Art, although no one understood it. It was not in the discourse of modernism, but it existed. In addition, I was interested in Buddhism, and monks came to visit me and buy spices. They brought burkhan icons with them and once even brought a bronze altar to try to save it. They prayed, and I was struck by their mantras: I realized that mantras surround us from all sides - ideological, Soviet mantras. I tied it all together and called it "Soviet Mantrism." (From Akhunov’s interview “The Sole Ranger of Contemporary Art” to Andrey Fomenko)

Many Akhunov’s works contain text and or consist entirely of text. "I was struck by constructions in parks, along railways and highways, in cities on the roofs of houses - voluminous concrete slogans "Glory to the CPSU", "We Will Achieve the Victory of Communism", etc. In Asia, they laid out meters-high letters of stone in the mountains and painted them with lime. It was Soviet Land Art, although no one understood it. It was not in the discourse of modernism, but it existed. In addition, I was interested in Buddhism, and monks came to visit me and buy spices. They brought burkhan icons with them and once even brought a bronze altar to try to save it. They prayed, and I was struck by their mantras: I realized that mantras surround us from all sides - ideological, Soviet mantras. I tied it all together and called it "Soviet Mantrism." (From Akhunov’s interview “The Sole Ranger of Contemporary Art” to Andrey Fomenko)

Many Akhunov’s works contain text and or consist entirely of text. "I was struck by constructions in parks, along railways and highways, in cities on the roofs of houses - voluminous concrete slogans "Glory to the CPSU", "We Will Achieve the Victory of Communism", etc. In Asia, they laid out meters-high letters of stone in the mountains and painted them with lime. It was Soviet Land Art, although no one understood it. It was not in the discourse of modernism, but it existed. In addition, I was interested in Buddhism, and monks came to visit me and buy spices. They brought burkhan icons with them and once even brought a bronze altar to try to save it. They prayed, and I was struck by their mantras: I realized that mantras surround us from all sides - ideological, Soviet mantras. I tied it all together and called it "Soviet Mantrism." (From Akhunov’s interview “The Sole Ranger of Contemporary Art” to Andrey Fomenko)

Many Akhunov’s works contain text and or consist entirely of text. "I was struck by constructions in parks, along railways and highways, in cities on the roofs of houses - voluminous concrete slogans "Glory to the CPSU", "We Will Achieve the Victory of Communism", etc. In Asia, they laid out meters-high letters of stone in the mountains and painted them with lime. It was Soviet Land Art, although no one understood it. It was not in the discourse of modernism, but it existed. In addition, I was interested in Buddhism, and monks came to visit me and buy spices. They brought burkhan icons with them and once even brought a bronze altar to try to save it. They prayed, and I was struck by their mantras: I realized that mantras surround us from all sides - ideological, Soviet mantras. I tied it all together and called it "Soviet Mantrism." (From Akhunov’s interview “The Sole Ranger of Contemporary Art” to Andrey Fomenko)

Many Akhunov’s works contain text and or consist entirely of text. "I was struck by constructions in parks, along railways and highways, in cities on the roofs of houses - voluminous concrete slogans "Glory to the CPSU", "We Will Achieve the Victory of Communism", etc. In Asia, they laid out meters-high letters of stone in the mountains and painted them with lime. It was Soviet Land Art, although no one understood it. It was not in the discourse of modernism, but it existed. In addition, I was interested in Buddhism, and monks came to visit me and buy spices. They brought burkhan icons with them and once even brought a bronze altar to try to save it. They prayed, and I was struck by their mantras: I realized that mantras surround us from all sides - ideological, Soviet mantras. I tied it all together and called it "Soviet Mantrism." (From Akhunov’s interview “The Sole Ranger of Contemporary Art” to Andrey Fomenko)