NEIN. DIE AUSSTELLUNG

In the organizer's words:

In 2014, a team of independent journalists left Russia to escape repression and censorship. In exile, they founded Meduza - today one of the most important independent Russian-language media outlets. The years that followed were marked by frustration and turmoil: the war in Europe, a pandemic, the ongoing climate crisis, the rise of authoritarianism, the collapse of democracy and growing polarization in all societies.

With the exhibition "No", the Meduza team is realizing an interdisciplinary project that interweaves contemporary art with documentary evidence. The exhibition takes the audience into the reality of the lives of people who have learned to live and work under extreme conditions.

The title "No " - Russian "Нет" - is understood as a sign of resistance. It is a word that has become dangerous in today's Russia; a word that can lead to prison or even death. The exhibition brings together the voices of people who continue to say "no" - to dictatorship, censorship, fear and war. It is a tribute to independent journalists, political activists and all those who have the courage to speak out.

"This exhibition tells of a turning point - but above all of the people who are confronted with these serious events. Such confrontations always lead to tragic consequences. This project shows us people who talk about it - about life under a dictatorship, in exile, about the experience of war. These are conversations that raise more questions than answers. But it is no coincidence that the exhibition is called "No": "It is also our no - to fear and silence, censorship and self-censorship. " say the curators of the exhibition.

DOCUMENTARY STORYTELLING

The narrative structure of the exhibition is based on two elements: the works of 13 international artists and a documentary project developed especially for the exhibition, in which close-ups of journalists and Meduza contributors are shown, conceived by playwright Mikhail Durnenkov. Among those portrayed are the reporters Taisia Bekbulatova, Elena Kostyuchenko, Svetlana Reiter and Lilia Yapparova, the author Zhenia Berezhna, the film critic Anton Dolin, the photographer Alexander Gronsky and the Meduza founders Ivan Kolpakov and Galina Timchenko.

NO TOPICS

Based on the analysis of Meduza headlines from the last ten years, the exhibition examines

exhibition explores key themes of the past decade: dictatorship, resilience, censorship, war, exile, fear, polarization, loneliness and exaltation. These themes are reflected in both the artworks and the journalistic testimonies.

The last room - Hoffnung - leaves visitors without easy answers. Instead, it poses a simple but profound question: why do those who report, create and contradict continue to do so? The answers are complex, but one thing is clear: artists and journalists are sounding the alarm. Like the canaries in the mines that once warned of toxic gas, their voices remind us of our shared humanity - and our shared responsibility to protect it.

ARTISTS:INSIDE

Anonymous:r Artist:in (Russia): Time of War - an ongoing project now featuring 150 variations of the phrase "I want the war to end" in different languages. An act of self-healing and at the same time a peace manifesto that calls on visitors to contribute their voices.

Aleksey Dubinsky (Russia) shows a series of paintings about the long queues that formed at the Borisovskoye cemetery for Alexei Navalny's funeral - an event that is remembered as the "funeral of hope". The works reflect both the loss and the strength that comes with communal mourning.

Alexander Gronsky (Russia) explores the theme of loneliness with photographs taken throughout Russia in recent years. As "the last one in the store", as he calls himself, Gronsky deals with the feeling of isolation in a society characterized by propaganda.

Semyon Khanin (Latvia) addresses social polarization in a new installation that literally turns black into white and white into black - a haunting metaphor for the profound distortion of reality caused by manipulation in divided societies.

Gülsün Karamustafa (Turkey) shows Where Continents Meet, a work that displays military uniforms in children's sizes from an Istanbul store - a symbol of the devastating sacrifices that wars make, especially of mothers and children.

Stine Marie Jacobsen (Denmark) and Teobaldo Lagos Preller (Chile) present Quantum No, a participatory installation that invites visitors to formulate political statements for the Law Shifters project. The project is dedicated to long-term work on democracy and has been traveling from Greenland and Ukraine to Lebanon since 2015, motivating citizens to imagine new legal frameworks.

Cristina Lucas (Spain) contributes Unending Lightning - an eerie, embroidered world map of air attacks. The work has recently been expanded to include the destruction caused by Russian bombs in the Ukraine war, offering a visual archive of aerial annihilation.

Pavel Otdelnov (Russia) is showing Primer, a series of large-format works inspired by a Soviet alphabet book from his childhood. Each letter - such as "R" for "Radiation" or "G" for "Grave" - becomes a symbol of an upbringing characterized by fear and threat.

Sergei Prokofiev (Russia) presents works from his project HELL, including fragile 3D pencil reconstructions of the destroyed Donetsk International Airport and the Mariupol Theater as well as graphic works made with the ashes of burnt plastic - an impressive reminder of the permanence of loss.

Fernando Sánchez Castillo (Spain) presents a monument that would be unthinkable in today's Russia: a figure of Alexei Navalny, who was murdered in prison in 2024. Visitors can take a small statue with them - in exchange for a personal note on the subject of resistance - and thus transform memory into action.

SUPERFLEX (Denmark) shows All Data To The People, a mural provocatively captioned in Russian ("Данные народу"). The work refers to state censorship, digital manipulation and the appropriation of radical slogans by authoritarian systems.

Pilvi Takala (Finland) presents a new video based on her participation in Finland's secret, invitation-only "National Defense Course". The work sheds light on how military institutions shape public consciousness and contribute to militarization under the guise of unity and security.

Alisa Yoffe (France/Russia) documents her own experiences as an emigrant in a series of digital black and white sketches - including scenes from queues in front of French migration offices. Later transferred to canvas and walls, her expressive, analog-looking brushstrokes bring humanity to an otherwise sterile bureaucratic space.

PARTNER

Helsingin Sanomat Foundation, Fritt Ord Foundation, Stichting Editors Choice, JX Fund, Committee to Protect Journalists, Network of Exiled Media Outlets