December 27, 2022

A Word is Not a Sparrow


A Word is Not a Sparrow
Rain is the only thing that should fall from the sky. Ffchw (September 2022)

On the evening of December 24, police officers in Perm detained the street artist Ffchw, who became famous in August after creating the graffiti "Summary" (Итоги), which listed what can and cannot be done in Russia.

The human rights organization OVD-Info was the first to report his detention. Ffchw said he was detained when creating the work “See you...” (Свидимся…) – a work that translates "farewell" into different languages, including Ukrainian.

Ffchw said that this was his first detention. At the police station, OVD-Info reported, the artist was asked about his attitude toward the war and Ukraine, and was also threatened with a search, but was then released without a protocol.

Ffchw said in a recent interview with Meduza that, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, graffiti became his way to support others. “I draw, because at the moment no one has the right to be silent. I continue to do this because this is my way to speak out, to be heard, and to hear the answer,” he said. Look at the street art that Ffchw created in 2022 and just before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Samples of the artist's work are shared below.

Translated from Meduza article 12/25/22.

Things you can't do in Russia
don't go there, don't stay there,
don't sing this,
don't sit here, don't sit there,
don't eat this, don't listen that ♪
don't turn this on, don't buy this,
don't say this, don't sleep with that,
don't watch this, don't wear that,
don't desecrate, worship,
don't draw this, don't vote for that one,
don't support this,
don't write this, don't sign that,
don't disagree, respect that one,
be humble, pray, adore,
bow down lower,
don't spread this, don't defend that,
don't argue, don't push that,
don't think, don't dare,
give birth, don't disturb,
pay your bills, roll that up,
and don't rock.
- August 2022
Voice is not violene
October 2021
Cheap alcohol graffiti.
I drink cheap alcohol, but the news is making me sick. - August 2022
Not safe graffiti.
"There are fewer and fewer places in the world where you can feel safe," the artist writes.
.
UNSAFE
DANGEROUS
THERE
HERE
KNOCK-KNOCK
SOUND

SOMEWHERE
NOT HERE
HERE
TO WEIGH
STRESS

UNSAFE
DANGEROUS
HERE
THERE
HALFWAY
/
- November 2022
Museums graffiti
We used to dream of building museums. Now we can barely put two words together. - December 2022

 

You Might Also Like

With Mouths Sewn Shut
  • July 15, 2022

With Mouths Sewn Shut

Art is a powerful realm for protest. The Ukraine War has inspired a new wave of brave works.
  • July 01, 2020

"Painting Jesus Isn't Dangerous"

Moscow is seeing religious symbolism crop up in unexpected places. It’s not the first time, but there is something different about what is going on now.
The Museum of Freedom
  • July 01, 2017

The Museum of Freedom

On St. Petersburg’s Revolution Highway there is a museum devoted to collecting and preserving the elusive and controversial art forms of graffiti and street art.
Poetic Graffiti, Self-Isolation, and Skyrocketing Views
  • May 27, 2020

Poetic Graffiti, Self-Isolation, and Skyrocketing Views

“On the day of his 80th birthday, Brodsky returned to Pestel Street—he is looking directly at his balcony in the house where he lived, those same one and a half rooms from where he left forever. But poets always return.” – Creators of a large graffiti display depicting the poet Joseph Brodsky
Iconic Tagging
  • January 04, 2020

Iconic Tagging

Artist Aleksandr Tsypkov and a handful of other artists feel everyone, not just church-goers, should be able to see religious art. So naturally they are tagging bridges and underpasses with "iconic" images.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

22 Russian Crosswords

22 Russian Crosswords

Test your knowledge of the Russian language, Russian history and society with these 22 challenging puzzles taken from the pages of Russian Life magazine. Most all the clues are in English, but you must fill in the answers in Russian. If you get stumped, of course all the puzzles have answers printed at the back of the book.
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
93 Untranslatable Russian Words

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
Driving Down Russia's Spine

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 
The Moscow Eccentric

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.
At the Circus

At the Circus

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.
The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar

The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar

The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955