July 14, 2025

The "No" Exhibition


The "No" Exhibition
Flowers raised at the funeral of Alexey Navalny | Прикли Wikimedia Commons

Sunday, July 9, marked the end of the over two-month display of the “No” exhibition at Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien in Berlin. The exhibition’s title, “Нет” in Russian, succinctly reflects the project’s mission: resilience in the face of modern crises. The exhibition is a joint effort by a team of artists and Meduza, the online publication founded by Russian journalists in exile.

The exhibition featured nine sections: Dictatorship, Censorship, Exile, War, Resilience, Fear, Loneliness, Polarization, and Hope. Each housed three interrelated narratives: an essay, a piece of visual artwork, and a video interview related to the title subject.

A vast range of voices were represented across the project, all speaking to resistance. The category “Censorship,” for example, hosted a video narration from Galina Timochenko, the CEO of Meduza, in which Timochenko highlighted her journey with colleagues after leaving Russia in 2014, foreseeing a crisis of censorship, and their subsequent mission to deliver information to Russian speakers despite the repression of media outlets and the targeted arrests of journalists.

In the category “Hope,” a painting by artist Aleksey Dubinsky called “The First Day of Spring” depicts the crowd at the funeral of Alexey Navalny, the anti-corruption activist who died in 2024 in a Russian prison under suspicious circumstances. The funeral drew a crowd of tens of thousands. To reflect this, Dubinsky’s painting circles the length of the walls in its room, showing an extensive procession and highlighting hope in unity despite the profound loss.

Though the “No” exhibition has completed its run in Berlin, the artworks and interviews displayed are still featured online at the exhibition website. Meduza continues to report on Russia, and the many artists who collaborated on the exhibition continue their projects highlighting modern resistance.

You Might Also Like

Russia's War on Books
  • May 22, 2025

Russia's War on Books

Police in arrested 10 current and former employees of Russia's largest publishing house on charges of "LGBT propaganda."
Artists in Custody
  • March 25, 2025

Artists in Custody

Russia currently has 42 "cultural" figures who are political prisoners and another 176 on their way to becoming the same.
Fines for Navalny Nods
  • February 17, 2025

Fines for Navalny Nods

More than 150 Russians have been fined or arrested for using symbols associated with Alexei Navalny.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

White Magic
June 01, 2021

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas
October 01, 2013

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.

 
The Moscow Eccentric
December 01, 2016

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.

Survival Russian
February 01, 2009

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.

A Taste of Chekhov
December 24, 2022

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.

Russian Rules
November 16, 2011

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.

Little Golden Calf
February 01, 2010

Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.

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