Krisis

6/12/2023

Gleb Napreenko for Documenta 14 Dimitri Venkov’s Krisis is based on a Facebook discussion on December 8, 2013, the day that “Leninopad,” the widespread demolition of monuments to Vladimir Lenin, kicked off in Ukraine. The first monument to be dismantled in Kyiv was made by Soviet sculptor Sergei Merkurov and was erected in 1946, while Stalin was still in power. The Ukrainian ultra-nationalist party Svoboda (Freedom) claimed responsibility. The monument was demolished during the Euromaidan, popular protests against the regime of President Viktor Yanukovych. Yanukovych had rejected EU integration and thrown his lot in with Vladimir Putin, thus maintaining his country’s dependence on the Russian Federation. Police loyal to Yanukovych attempted to disperse the Euromaidan—made up of lib