Damian Siqueiros's "To Russia with Love" crowd-funding project portrays
iconic queer figures from Russia's history, tracing a line from 19th
century to the present.
Just in time for Valentine's Day this beautifully produced
Kickstarter project landed on our laptops. Damian Siqueiros art-directed
and photographed this imaginative series of famous Russian couples and
some completely imagined ones as well.
Stephan Rabimov, publisher of DEPESHA, writes on
Kickstarter:
"Throughout
history some of the greatest Russian artists and influential figures
have been homosexual. We set up on a journey to show some of them, their
love and their vision for a better world. This project is as much about
the past as it is about the future. Many queer artists are being
silenced in modern Russia and with your help we can change that!
"The
purpose of the campaign is to help cover the costs of the prints,
transportation, gallery fees and other exhibition-related expenses.
During each exhibition stop (Montreal, New York, Los Angeles) will
feature a live-video-link with queer artists residing living in Russia,
thus creating a dialogue with the creative forces of this country and
their experiences."
(Captions with each photo from "To Russia with Love.")
Piotr Tchaikovsy and Akeksey Sofronov
Tchaikovsky is without a doubt one of the most important composers of all times. His music, including the scores for
The Nutcracker and
Swan Lake,
is embedded in our minds and our culture. The composer was from the
beginning a cornerstone of the projects, since even after more than a
century of his death his sexuality is controversial. Even by his own
account it is clear he was gay, it is well documented in his letter to
his brother Modest, who was also gay. Nonetheless, Russian authorities
seem to ignore this and deny his sexual orientation.
Russian
society during Tchaikovsky's life was not as lenient as its counterparts
in the rest of Europe. Homosexuality was a sin and crime punishable by
exile and banning from the Czarist court, which in the case of the
composer meant the end of his career.
Tchaikovsky's attempts to
lead a "morally sound" life made his homosexuality even more evident. He
had many male lovers, and his botched marriage lasted no more than a
few months. At the end, he seemed to have made peace with his sexuality.
His servant, lover, and longtime companion Akeksey Sofronov stayed with
him until his death. Even though he died of cholera, it has been
suspected that he was bullied into committing suicide by drinking
contaminated water. Tens of thousands of people attended his funeral; he
was both a loved genius and a pariah.
Anna Yereinova and Maria Feodorva
Little
information available on this late-19th-century lesbian couple was to
be found. Nonetheless, they seemed highly inspirational on several
accounts. Anna Yevreinova was the first Russian woman to obtain a law
degree (University of Leipzig). She and her lover, Maria Feodorova (an
author), founded and ran the journal
The Northern Herald. They
both fought for the women's rights and they lived together as a couple,
an arrangement that defied the customs of the time.
The image is
inspired by real lesbian couples of the times, in which is was common to
see one of the women using men's garb, in this case Feodorova.
Yevreinova is dressed in a way that reminds us of the suffragist
movement in England in the beginning of the 20th century.
With
these images and the project in general we intended on the intimacy of
the couple, from a subtle touch to a kiss. We wanted to minimize the
sexual innuendos without effacing it. Since a lot of the homophobic
policies are based on the idea of traditional family values and
reproduction and fertility, it was important to show that gay couples
are like any other, and they as well can be the nucleus from which a
family is formed.
Sergei Diaghilev and Vaslav Nijinsky
Les
Ballets Russes dance company of Paris was unparalleled in its capacity
to host so many of the outstanding talented artists that defined the
20th century. The company founded by the visionary Sergei Diaghilev in
1909 hosted artists like Picasso, Matisse, Stravinsky, Fokine, and Coco
Chanel.
For dancer Nijinsky it was a turning point to meet
Diaghilev, as they became lovers and he became the male star of Les
Ballets Russes. With his exceptional talent and the help of his lover he
became the most influential ballet dancer of the first half of the 20th
century. The love affair was ended by Nijinsky's attempt to lead a
traditional life and marry a woman. Though this created a major rift
between the two men, Diaghilev never ceased to help Nijinsky on his life
and career.
The scene depicted in "To Russia with Love" imagines them as they speak about one of Nijinsky's most famous roles, in
L'après-midi d'un Faune.
In the back, on the chest we see Nijinsky's day-to-day clothes as a
reminder that this is only a private performance for the man he loves.
The
images represent the passionate, sexual, and loving nature of their
relationship. It was important to highlight that both Diaghilev and
Nijinsky were involved in the performing arts by showing the histrionic
and erotic qualities in their personalities.
Police Woman and Olympic Athlete
The
figure of the athlete is meant to be symbolic too, even though it makes
reference to real events. The most evident is a reminder of the
upcoming Olympic games, putting Russia and the problems around human
rights center stage. The athlete also echoes the same feeling than
Tchaikovsky, both a symbol of pride and shame for her country.
Irony
is a powerful tool against oppressive regimes. We had noticed that the
signs on the back of the jackets of the police force, when seen trough
the reflection of a mirror would say HOMO, a common derogatory
colloquialism or slang word to refer to homosexual people. We wanted to
make it obvious by spelling it from left to right. It was a happy
coincidence that the sign of the policewoman and that of the athlete put
together read "Homo 'R' Us," we are the homos, we are the dissenters,
and we are taking control of our lives.
Joseph Stalin and Vladimir Putin
Just
before Stalin came into power, the Communist Party, under the
leadership of Lenin changed the tight laws of the Russian civil code to
accept less traditional family values. Homosexuality was decriminalized
in Russia. Unfortunately that didn't last long, Stalin and his
dysfunctional rule reinstated the penalty for homosexual acts, mainly
for political reasons. Male homosexuality was regarded as a sign of
fascism and dissidence from the regime. Thousands of men were imprisoned
under this law.
History seems to repeat itself with the current
president, Vladimir Putin. After the end of the Stalinist era, toward
the 1970s a period of relative freedom and acceptance seemed to
establish in Russia. Under President Boris Yeltsin homosexuality was
decriminalized again in the early '90s. Putin seems to have found in
persecuting the LGBT community a powerful weapon to validate his power
in the eyes of the public opinion, as 90 percent of Russians support the
anti-gay propaganda law.
This tableau
represents a paradox by representing a loving gay couple in distress
under the new laws, portraying the two Russian rulers that have been the
most abrasive towards the LGBT community.
Above: Contributors to the project.
fot. Jacek Kurnikowski/AKPA 
While both actors say the response to their characters’ inclusion on Days
has mostly been positive, they also admit they’ve each had a taste of
the homophobic hatred LGBT people experience since stepping into the
roles. “No one has approached me on the street or anything, but I’ve
gotten hateful antigay messages though social media and it makes me
sad,” says Wilson. “Not because someone is being mean to me, but because
there are some people out there who still have such vitriol for this
kind of story. That’s part of why I try on a daily basis to be an
example through my acting that love is love. I’ve been a longtime
supporter of the LGBT community and when I hear things like that it only
makes me appreciate the work that’s being done in the battle for
equality that much more.”
