Brodskij, Lenin e "The April Theses"

"Tutto questo aveva ben poco a che fare con Lenin, per il quale, suppongo, il mio disprezzo cominciò fin da quando ero in prima elementare – non tanto a causa della sua filosofia politica o della sua prassi, di cui a sette anni sapevo ben poco, ma per via delle sue immagini onnipresenti che infestavano quasi ogni libro di testo, ogni parete della scuola, francobolli, monete e quant’altro, raffigurando l’uomo in varie età e fasi della sua vita. C’era baby Lenin, che con i suoi boccoli biondi somigliava a un cherubino. Poi Lenin ventenne e trentenne, calvo e impettito, con la faccia atteggiata a un’espressione che non significava niente e poteva essere scambiata per tutto, preferibilmente un senso di determinazione. Quella faccia perseguita in un modo o nell’altro ogni russo e propone una sorta di modello umano per la sua assoluta mancanza di carattere. (Forse, non essendovi in essa nulla di specifico, quella faccia suggerisce molte possibilità). Poi c’era un Lenin attempato, più calvo, con la sua barba a cuneo, nel suo completo scuro, a volte sorridente ma più spesso nell’atto di parlare alle «masse» dall’alto di un’autoblindo o dal podio di qualche congresso del partito, con una mano protesa nell’aria. Non mancavano le varianti: Lenin col suo berretto da operaio, con un garofano infilato nell’occhiello; in panciotto, seduto nel suo studio, a scrivere o a leggere; su un ceppo in riva al lago, a scribacchiare le sue Tesi d’aprile, o qualche altra sciocchezza, al fresco." 

Fuga da Bisanzio - Iosif Brodskij. 

From: "The April Theses", iLENIN#5 ©davide Monteleone

From: "The April Theses", iLENIN#5 ©davide Monteleone

The April Theses #1

In March 1917 Vladimir Ilych Ulyanov (LENIN) was leaving exiled and in poverty in Zurich. Within eight months he assumed the leadership on 16000000 people occupying one-sixth of inhabited surface of the world. On April 9th 1917, with the support of German authorities, at that time in war with Russia, he travelled back to his own country on a train across Germany, Sweden and Finland to reach Finland Station in St. Petersburg on April 16th.  By the time he was back in St Petersburg he wrote a ten points program known as “The April Theses”. 

Lenin's Statue at "RGASPI" - Moscow. ©Davide Monteleone.

Lenin's Statue at "RGASPI" - Moscow. ©Davide Monteleone.

Part of the documents concerning Lenin's life between March 27th and April 22nd 1917 which I reviewed to research about the trip and "The April Theses".

Part of the documents concerning Lenin's life between March 27th and April 22nd 1917 which I reviewed to research about the trip and "The April Theses".


100 year later I created a chronology of that 2 weeks of Lenin’s life just before the events that changed Russia and the entire world. In search of the original draft of “The April Theses” I recreated and sometime reacted on a real non-invented trip Lenin’s epic journey on the base of archival documents found it at the R.G.A.S.P.I (Political History Russian State Archive of Political History ) and historical books including “To Finland Station” by Edmund Wilson and “The sealed train” by Michael Pearson. 

 

In the Russian East #2

On my way back from China to Moscow I stopped a couple of days in Chita (Russia) and around. I dedicated the day before my flight to Moscow to continue my project " In the Russian Est",  a specular homage to "In the America West" by master of photography and portraiture Richard Avedon.

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One of...

From the series "One of..." - Liliana Uiao, China. One of 18523. ©Davide Monteleone.

From the series "One of..." - Liliana Uiao, China. One of 18523. ©Davide Monteleone.

From the series "One of..." - Jekaterina Pressmann, Estonia. One of 47. ©Davide Monteleone.

From the series "One of..." - Jekaterina Pressmann, Estonia. One of 47. ©Davide Monteleone.

From the series "One of..." - Niang Abdou, Senegal. One of 1731 ©Davide Monteleone.

From the series "One of..." - Niang Abdou, Senegal. One of 1731 ©Davide Monteleone.

Few weeks ago I found this article by Roman historian Ursula Rothe in Newsweek where she describe the policy on immigration at the time of the Roman Empire as a model that could be applied nowadays to deal and reconsider the migration's issue in Europe.

Italy hosts officially  3.874.726 foreign citizens and is properly considered one of the main gate to Europe because of its geographical position. I also just recently discovered Rome accomodate 181 different foreign community ( almost the entire nationalities of the word) living in the city. Last month I decided I want to try to make one portrait for each nationality inviting them to my studio in Rome.

"My ancestors…encourage me to govern by the same policy of transferring to this city all conspicuous merit, wherever found. And indeed I know, as facts, that the Julii came from Alba, the Coruncanii from Camerium, the Porcii from Tusculum, and not to inquire too minutely into the past, that new members have been brought into the Senate from Etruria and Lucania and the whole of Italy, that Italy itself was at last extended to the Alps, to the end that not only single persons but entire countries and tribes might be united under our name.
We had unshaken peace at home; we prospered in all our foreign relations, in the days when Italy beyond the Po was admitted to share our citizenship…. Are we sorry that the Balbi came to us from Spain, and other men not less illustrious from Narbon Gaul? Their descendants are still among us, and do not yield to us in patriotism.
Everything, Senators, which we now hold to be of the highest antiquity, was once new."
Emperor Claudius 41 to 54 AD

IF YOU WANT TO HELP ME TO COMPLETE THIS PROJECT AND YOU ARE OR YOU KNOW FOREIGNERS LIVING IN ROME  PLEASE WRITE TO: STUDIO@DAVIDEMONTELEONE.COM TO FIX AN APPOINTMENT TO DO THE PORTRAIT.

Source: http://www.newsweek.com/immigration-what-r...

Imperium - Chapter 1/a: "Rendering the empire's capital"

From The Guardian - May 2015:  "In 2012, as the Russian government announced the formation of a new “greater Moscow”, Marat Khusnullin, the deputy mayor, headed up an international competition that invited plans for the newly expanded city region. There is talk of a grand urban vision: new jobs, homes, infrastructure and city-wide improvements. In the meantime, Moscow is already transforming. From plans for Zaryadye Park – Moscow’s first new park in 50 years – to burgeoning creative industries, rapid gentrification and a food revolution, the fabric of the city is being reworked. Plans involve pedestrianised embankments along a transformed riverfront, high-speed water transport and brand-new cycling infrastructure. But how much has life really changed for Moscow’s residents? Has the transformation been for the benefit of everyone or just a select few? And what of the future of this new Moscow?"  

Rendering Moscow - imperium, ©Davide Monteleone, 2015

Rendering Moscow - imperium, ©Davide Monteleone, 2015



Source: http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/may...