We Built Communism, Got Capitalism (2010–2017)

Installation, Soviet Objects: Busts of Communist Leaders Lenin and Stalin, Various Challenge Red Banner 'USSR. Workers of the World, Unite!', State Emblem of the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic. Video

Soviet objects — busts of Lenin and Stalin, red banners reading “USSR. Workers of the World, Unite!”, and the state emblem of the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic — are combined with video works to explore the shifting dynamics of power and artistic freedom. Under the Soviet system, art was strictly controlled and subordinated to ideology: artists had to follow government directives, limiting creativity and personal expression, turning art into a tool of state propaganda. After the USSR’s collapse, ideological censorship ended, but new economic realities constrained freedom. Access to exhibition spaces and resources now depends on financial means; where the Soviet state once controlled ideas, capitalism now controls the ability to act on them. Archival footage of Soviet parades emphasizes this shift: once a spectacle that masked daily hardships, it has now been replaced by the marketplace, where financial power determines whose voices are seen and whose are silenced. Video works depict contemporary artists navigating these constraints, symbolizing the ongoing struggle for artistic and personal autonomy. By juxtaposing Soviet objects and contemporary video, the installation asks what freedom truly means — the freedom to create, or freedom that can only be bought. Despite ideological transformations, the core challenge remains: achieving authentic artistic, personal, and social freedom remains an elusive goal.