Δημόσιες τουαλέτες στο Μουσείο Λένιν

Fiks, Yevgeniy (1972) · 2008

The series of artworks "Moscow" consists of a series of 31 photographs depicting places and squares that served as meeting points for homosexuals in Moscow from the 1920s to the collapse of the Soviet Union. The artist captured these places in a straightforward but documentary style in 2008. These locations were significant in the construction of the homosexual identity of the city's residents and are portrayed by the photographer as a part of mourning for the lives of oppressed citizens. As the artist himself states in the introduction of the eponymous publication accompanying this body of work, "The Moscow project deals with the historical promise of the October Revolution to the homosexual community and reflects the homosexual experience in Soviet Russia". The photographs do not depict homosexuals, nor even imply their presence there. In fact, there are no human figures in the images; the spaces appear empty and sterile. The eponymous publication also includes a letter from 1934 written by Harry Whyte, a British homosexual communist journalist, with questions for Joseph Stalin regarding the compatibility of homosexuality with Communism and other related topics for discussion. Public toilets at the Lenin Museum: a meeting place in the period 1950-1980.