In 2017, InLiberty, a Russian non-governmental public policy think-tank dedicated to promoting values of freedom and individual liberties, came up with an unusual collective memory project called 7 Dates: a proposal of seven alternative holidays for Russia that commemorated specific moments in history when Russian society chose freedom over tyranny, autocracy, or violence.
Later that year, in collaboration with MARCH Architecture School, Inliberty held a week-long workshop New Monuments for the New History. Seven groups, each curated by a celebrity expert (architects, artists, composers, journalists, etc.) were tasked to create a monument to their chosen date from the set.
JANUARY 29, 1992
The Day When Commerce Went Free
Headed by a renowned Russian artist, Irina Korina, our group was creating a monument dedicated to the freedom of commerce.
Historical Perspective
In Soviet Union, prices were regulated and only state-owned stores were allowed to sell goods (with very rare and specific exceptions). Any sale by a private person was considered criminal offense punishable by imprisonment.
In January of 1992, roughly a month after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country was going into demise: no food, no money, queues everywhere. The Soviet ways were no more. It was only logical that after more than 70 years of socialist tyranny, the new government’s first steps were to give people freedom. On January 29, 1992, a special presidential decree proclaimed the freedom of commerce: anyone could buy or sell (almost) anything.
The next day, crowds of people went out in the streets to buy or sell whatever they could. That was a start of a free commerce in Russia.
Our monument is an annex to a shopping mall. First, a visitor needs to climb quite a long, uneasy stairway. Then, at the top, there’s a large window with a view to the shopping mall’s interior with all its abundance. Right by the window, there’s a text of the presidential decree proclaiming the freedom of commerce.
Rather than just a stairway or a window with a view, our monument is an experience of the journey that the Russian society has made since 1992.
One of the first sketches.
The stairway is supposed to be talking, with dozens of hidden speakers creating a sound landscape of the 1990s.
The shopping mall’s interior becomes an exhibit beyond a glass wall.
Creative Team
Irina Korina (curator)
Daria Alakhverdy
Andrey Babitsky
Denis Esakov
Arkady Ioselevich
Victor Lander
Maria Sakirko
