Russia’s limitless expanse is home to art, freedom, history and many, many trees
|IRKUTSK, KRASNOYARSK, NOVOSIBIRSK AND TOMSK|16 min read
HALFWAY BETWEEN Moscow and the Pacific Ocean sits the city of Krasnoyarsk. At its heart, on the banks of the mighty Yenisei, stands a brutalist building encased in granite. Built in 1987, it was the last of the Lenin Museums that the Soviet Union bestowed on deserving provincial cities to showcase the achievements of socialism. It is now an art museum. And when night falls, giant letters are projected onto one of its stark walls: SVOBODA.
This article appeared in the Christmas Specials section of the print edition under the headline “The ironies of freedom”
From the December 21st 2019 edition
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