Alexander Kutovoy. Soldier. 2015. Plaster. 220 * 70 * 45 cm Dmitry Zhiltsov. The old man. 2014. Acrylic on canvas. 228 * 206 cm Elena Zubtsova. Wallpaper. 2014-2015. Paper, black liner. 29 * 42 cm

Moscow Museum of Modern Art presents the War Museum project. It is a reflection of young St-Petersburg and Moscow artists on the image of war, which soaks into people’s everyday lives and their minds. The image of war implies not only an open armed conflict, but also a political and ideological confrontation.

The exhibition comprises two zones. In the first one, artists explore military symbols, which due to the wide spread lose their meaning and go into the category of images that are easy to operate independently. Authors research their link with the everyday life. Elena Zubtsova copies Soviet wallpapers from the walls of abandoned buildings in the destroyed War station and adds images of War weapons. Ekaterina Isaeva compares missile drawings with embroidery schemes or engineering projects of skyscrapers. In her photos, Marianna Mangileva investigates toy store window displays, which remind of military warehouses due to the amount of weapons. Vadim Leukhin and Dmitri Zhiltsov turn to the topic of children’s drawings on war and create videos and paintings on their basis. Artists also reinterpret military symbols. Angelina Merenkova makes pillow cases of the flags. Denis Makarov demonstrates the map of Europe as an eye chart to estimate visual acuity. Other artists explore the possibility of neutralizing the threat using simple rituals. Elena Zubtsova wraps potentially dangerous items in the foam, Ekaterina Isaeva freezes toy soldiers, seeking to prevent the armed conflict, Pavel Otdelnov shows the penetration of aggression in everyday life.

The second zone of the exhibition - is the space of dreams and fears, where Anna Rotaenko, Maria Zaikina, Dmitry Zhiltsov, Elena Kholkina, Evhenia Kosushkina, Ilya Fedotov-Fedorov, Vik Laschenov and Janna Nagoryanskaya present their reflection on the sense of the potential threat. Curators show artworks by Natalia Tikhonova and Alexander Kutovoy as a final point in thoughts about the war and the surrounding reality. Natalia Tikhonova removes images of people and War weapons from photos of the First World War using a filter. Thus, she helps the viewers to cope with the traumatic memories of war and drive them from their memory. A soldier in Alexander Kutovoy’s work is completely impersonal, so he feels neither fear nor anxiety, and is always ready to do his duty.