Abroad, art and protest take separate paths
Originally published in Global Voices in Spanish
Urban art "The War is Now," by Philippenzo. Image by Daria Dergacheva, used with permission.
This article is part of the September 2026 Global Voices Spotlight series, "Protest in democracy. "With this series, we seek to explore the various forms of protest, the tactics that States use to de-legitimize and eliminate them, and the complex relationship between protest and democracy. You can support this coverage with a donationHere..
Editorial note: This article is based on an exhibition and interview with the Russian street artist Slava PTRK, originating in Ekaterimburgwho currently lives in exile abroad. Through his account, Global Voices indaga whether the street artists of Russia, who began their protests in 2022, were expelled from the country or whether they were persecuted and arrested. How did immigration change the art of protest? What work can those who are abroad continue to do? And those who stayed in Russia, are they silent or working for the state? What's left is small acts of protest..
The first appearance of street art took place in Russia within the framework of the Soviet Union era. During the 1980sthe opposition culture was at its peak and included music, samizdat (self-published texts) and a street art subculture. Since then, the gender has grown thanks to the frequent organization of international urban art festivals in various regions of Russia and the participation of hundreds of street artists, some recognized even in the foreign.
In February 2022, when started the invasion and subsequent war with Ukraine, street artists, like many others in Russia, were divided. Some wished to express their dissatisfaction with the regime and the war, but were forced to leave the country; others wished to remain in Russia but remain silent; and others, after a while, chose to support the Government.
Few street artists and activists - like Sasha Skochilenko, convicted seven years in a prison for exchanging the labels of a store for anti-war slogans - they have been arrested. In the long run, on 1 August 2024, Sasha was released in Ankara within the framework of a international exchange of prisonersand currently lives in exile in a foreign country.
Currently, there are artists in Russia who are paid to do great works of art with war theme in high buildings in various cities of the country. However, small forms of protest continue to survive thanks to ordinary people who use street art to manifest in a country where this can be dangerous.
The war brought protests on the streets and repression that grew rapidly
In the first month after the massive Russian invasion of Ukraine, public places in Russia became sites of spontaneous protests against the war. Among the participants were professional artists and ordinary citizens without knowledge of art. They painted anti-war slogans, glued self-adhesive, created small facilities and intervened in official advertising materials:
Today I painted on my street work "Youth." Because, instead of youth, war came.
During this period, the distinction between art and activism was blurred by as many direct interventions as the "No to War" slogans, anti-war graphitis, altered official emblems, supermarket labels and urban objects:
War is shame.
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"The walls are screaming"Since the early days of the war, an alternative front has been opened on the walls of many Russian cities. They appear everywhere - although they inevitably put paint on them - anti-war signs, graffiti and drawings. But they appear again and again, they take the protest beyond the traditional demonstrations and picket, actively repressed by the Government. Today, the whole country is a great square. Today, every brave and committed person is a manifestation.
You can download the sign in high resolution on my Telegram channel. The link is at the head of my profile.
At the same time, the repression of the State increased in an accelerated manner. Administrative and criminal proceedings were initiated, censor the term "war" and direct political declarations became increasingly dangerous.
The artists stopped manifesting their protests explicitly and chose to send out metaphorical and encrypted messages:
I'm sorry, daughter.
Our
with Beznadega.
Emigration brings Russian street art abroad
After military recruitment In the second half of 2022, many Russian artists moved to countries such as Georgia, Armenia, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey, Germany, the United Kingdom and Israel, and continued to work even though their purpose began to change gradually.
At first, much of his work continued to deal directly with the issue of war and its departure from Russia. The issues then expanded to include the loss of home, identity, displacement and solitude:
"I keep thinking about my own language.. "
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I haven't been home for over a year, and today it's been exactly a year since I temporarily settled in Georgia. Tiflis is a wonderful city that has received me with open arms. Here I work a lot with canvases, and also on new research projects. All this will be presented later. I have hardly painted on the street, although there are many places here with textures that I love. But there are many ethical doubts about the possibility of engaging in street art as a visitor in this country. It is also a country with a complex historical and social context, linked to Russia.I also understand that it is probably necessary to give up works with Russian texts made abroad, or to transform my perspective in some way. But if I change my perspective, how can I not lose the sincerity, the game of words and the meanings that are generated precisely in my native language? How to be relevant and understandable? Who's the audience? Or are these works just a "personal diary"? It would seem that, after a year, we should generally start thinking differently. But I keep thinking about my native language. It's my base, even (or especially) away from home.
After much reflection, I allowed myself to go out into the urban environment. As always, I try to be responsible when choosing the place. Internally, I just convinced myself to choose a straight, abandoned place so as not to bother anyone. As I went out on the street with my work in my native language, I "hid" the text and chose to write it transliterate. It's an attempt to mimic me, but I keep being myself.
At the same time, much of the visual art against the conflict went on to spread online through digital posters, compositions, files and applications of social networks, which become increasingly relevant. Some of the artists had the opportunity to sell their creations abroad, to make posters and to collaborate in advertising:
Ekaterimburg. I miss you..
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The new impressions are finally ready!Almost three years after the previous edition work, I finally found the opportunity to print a new edition of impressions, which includes a new work. "I miss you" from Ekaterimburg, now you can hang it on your wall and, of course, you also support the author. The printing quality was excellent; the technique used for reproductions really helped us in that. So this simple but sincere and personal work has found a worthy incarnation in editing format.
So, "Ekaterimburg, I miss you" - impressions.
Printing technique: giclée (high quality color printing)
Paper: matt paper Hahnemühle William Turner, 310 g.
Size: A2, 420 × 594 mm.
Edition: 47 copies + 3 A / P.
All copies are signed and numbered, and also come with a certificate of authenticity.
I send everyone.
The payment methods are discussed and agreed individually with each buyer.The first ten copies of the work have a price of 200 euros each plus shipping costs. From there, the price will increase by 50 euros for every 10 subsequent copies of the edition.
To order, write here by direct message or email to: ptrkteam @ gmail.com
Thank you.
Those who stayed
Meanwhile, within Russia, the situation changed dramatically. On the public road, anti-war street art is close to disappearing because the artists who decided to stay do not have a wide range of possibilities:
Signature and labels.
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"Wait and have hope. I'm fucking tired."
The language used by artists has become confusing.
I understand everything. I just can't say anything. Image by Daria Dergacheva, used with permission.
Some began to work in official festivals, on-demand commercials or in projects promoted by the State. Many murals of patriotic and pro-war character appeared: soldiers, the military symbol Z, heroic figures, portraits and images that refer to the monumental propaganda Soviet:
Russian street art. Image by Daria Dergacheva, used with permission.
For example, in 2023, artists who participated in the popular festival Stenography than previously independent created an eight-story mural of Saint Catherine, traditional saint of the Orthodox Church:
Photo of the mural of Saint Catherine in Ekaterimburg. Author: organizers of the festival Stenography (CC BY 4.0).
Currently, some artists seem to consider your creations as mere paid decorative pieces and not a personal ideological manifestation, while others choose to maintain a publicly apolitical position.
Mural in Russia. Image by Daria Dergacheva, used with permission.
They continue to participate in activities and produce abstract, decorative, folklore, religious or historical works, while avoiding making explicit statements about war.
Daily protest demonstrations continue
Despite the repression and mass disappearance of anti-war activities, the protest has not ceased completely, but has decreased and become anonymous.
The anthropologist Alexandra Archipova conserves these artifacts in a digital file. The self-adhesive, short inscriptions, small drawings, flowers, symbolic gestures and encoded anti-war messages continue to appear in public spaces, as the sample in the file.
When he concluded his presentation, the exiled artist, Slava PTRK"I don't have any good news. The art was strengthened by the war? No. If someone was hoping that artistic manifestations would intensify or that war would somehow generate more shocking images, I doubt that this has happened. It seems that it has become impossible to make any manifestation of any kind within Russia. However, force has nothing to do with being direct and it is not about being visually striking. Has art become stronger in itself? No, I don't think so."
