LOOKING FOR LENIN by Nils Ackermann
“Lenin lives! Lenin is with you!” Since the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, this hymn has been more than an ever-present slogan. Throughout the 20th century, the figure of the revolutionary leader was omnipresent. But as Russia prepares to celebrate the centennial of the October Revolution, Ukraine, the other pillar of the Soviet Empire, will have none of him. Summum of decommunization: as of late 2016, none of the 5,500 statues that formerly dotted the territory is still standing.
Lenin has left the square. His face no longer overlooks the metro station. His name has disappeared from the topography of the city. This sudden eclipse evokes more questions than answers. What is the meaning of this decommunization? How does it relate to the war in the east of the country? How should we look at Lenin and the history he shaped?
To visualize these questions, the photographer Niels Ackermann and the journalist Sébastien Gobert went insearch of Lenin. In the summer of 2015, they set off, traveling through Ukraine in search of crumbled stone and fragments of metal. What began as a simple journey of curious friends became a fascinating investigation, an astonishing adventure through Ukraine in upheaval.
Every statue, whether found in a garbage dump, the locker room of nuclear plant, a private collection, or transformed into Darth Vader, tells a story. Through a collection of photographs, halfway between documentary and symbolism, the authors create a catalog and typology of this decommunization, capturing the issues of memory for this country that is seeking itself. Lenin is dead; Lenin is no longer with the Ukrainians. But his name still weighs heavily on the present and future of Ukraine.
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- Artist Leonid Kanter owns a number of Lenin busts. He has deliberately placed them in open spaces on his land, in order to expose them to nature.They are occasionally modified by visiting artists and his children, who paint or damage them. Obyrok, Chernihiv Region. 12 September 2016
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- This nose belonged to the Kharkiv statue of Lenin, which at 8.5 metres, was once the largest in Ukraine. When this picture was taken, it was on display at the Pinchuk Art Centre in Kyiv as part ofYevgenia Belorusetss installation Lets Put Lenins Head Back Together! (2015). Kyiv. 5 February 2016
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- This Lenin has been transformed into a Cossack. He wears a vyshyvanka shirt, carries a bulava club and has been given a chupryna haircut. He welcomes visitors at the entrance to a leisure club on the Dnieper River. The Cossacks were a diverse group of warriors who once ruled the steppes of what is now Central and Eastern Ukraine.Their autonomy, coupled with a hostile relationship towards the Russian empire, has made them symbols of freedom and independence to modern Ukrainians. Cherkasy. 30 March 2016
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- The village of Korzhi is attempting to sell their statue for 15,000 dollars to fund repairs to the local kindergarten and school.The price is high and they have had no offers.The local mechanic in charge of the sale expects he will eventually have to trade it for scrap metal for less than 3,000 dollars. Korzhi. 3 June 2016
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- Ukrainian artist Alexander Milov has transformed this Lenin statue into the Star Wars character Darth Vader. It stands in a factory courtyard on the outskirts of Odessa. Odessa. 21 November 2015
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- Shabo, Odessa region. 21 November 2015
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- This bronze Lenin was photographed at the same location as the stone monuments on the following page. It has been placed on the entranceway roof of this nearby building to prevent it from being stolen and melted down for scrap. Dniprodzerzhinsk (now Kamianske). 26 July 2016
NIELS ACKERMANN
Born, 1987 à Geneva, Switzerland.
Lives and works between Geneva, Switzerland, and Kiev, Ukraine.
While studying political science at the University of Geneva, Niels Ackermann began working for the Swiss and international press in 2007. L’Ange Blanc, his report on post-Chernobyl youth, brought him many awards including the Prix Rémi Ochlik-Ville de Perpignan and the Swiss Press Photo Award. His work has been shown in festivals and exhibitions in China, France, Netherlands, and Switzerland.
www.nack.ch