6 artifacts
Ekho Moskvy - 20 August 1991
Live coverage of the GKChP putsch in August 1991 from the Echo of Moscow radio station. Demonstrates the chaos of the moment, the putschists' failure to control their message, and the power of the newly independent media.
"A Way Out of the Dead End"
The open letter that became known as the Letter of the 13, signed by thirteen of post-Soviet Russia’s most powerful businessmen ahead of the 1996 election, was as much as anything a manifesto of the power of capital in post-Soviet politics.
"First Glove" by Alexander Brener
Alexander Brener, "First Glove" 1995: a performance where Brener challenged Yeltsin to a fist-fight on the Red Square.
Vladimir Putin's 1999 Vision for Russia
Just before assuming the presidency, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin published an essay that outlined his vision for Russia. He saw it as a post-industrial society that could successfully integrate into the new world order only with a strong central government.
The Future of Crimea
Campaign documents surrounding the 1991–92 referenda on the independence of Crimea.
The First (Home-Made) Post-Soviet Independent TV
The Saint Petersburg “New Artists” stage a meeting of the committee “anti-state of emergency” on their “Pirate Television,” declaring their support of Yeltsin against the group of communist hardliners who led the coup d’etat against Gorbachev on August 19, 1991.