Sovietland: Transnistria, a live museum
Julien Goldstein
L’œil Public
Eleven years ago, at the furthermost bounds of the Republic of Moldova, along the border with Ukraine, a new country was born: Transnistria. It was a painful birth: over thousand of people died during the 1991-1992 war of secession with Moldova. Russia the “peacemaker” sent in its troops in 1992, and has not withdrawn them since.
80% of all of Moldova’s industrial output is produced by Transnistria, with the result that Russia has declared it a “special strategic zone”. Under pressure from the OSCE, the Russian Army has started to evacuate all unusable ammunition.
Preview
The Republic of Transnistria is not recognized by the international community and lies within the territory of the former USSR; it has in fact preserved many old habits from Soviet times. War, poverty, hardship – for us, these are hackneyed terms, but over here, they must not be spoken out in the open. Transnistria is populated by the victims of an inconspicuous form of terrorism: totalitarianism.
Still-erect statues of Lenin seem to watch over all sorts of trafficking. Not only does the State have monopolistic control of the economy, it also has the monopoly of thought. Human rights are not upheld. Minorities are taught that Russians are a "modern people". What began as an ethnic war is now a cultural war, as the use of the Cyrillic alphabet has become compulsory. Children continue to draw pictures of Lenin and tanks.
There is a famous painting of a pipe by Magritte, titled "This is not a pipe". The picture of Transnistria could bear the title: "This is not a dictatorship".
Proof that reality can sometimes be surreal.
Julien Goldstein
Commission : Centre National des Arts Plastiques
