Thursday, November 25, 2010

Barricades of Hamburgers Divide the Nation


Voina protests the dull routine of menial labour by whipping cats into a McDonalds in Moscow, May Day, 2007

Last week two members of Voina (meaning "War") were arrested for overturning police cars as part of an action back in September. In the piece Royal Overturn, a child kicked a ball under a police car and Voina overturned the car to free the ball. What choice did they have?! The charges of "aggravated hooliganism" against Leonid Nikolayev and Oleg Vorotnikov carries a sentence of up to seven years in prison. Likely harsher than the level of punishment that would be meted out to apolitical soccer hooligans for the same actions. Voina routinely takes aim at government and police authority, so it is not surprising that one of their organizers would be targeted in selective arrests two months after the group carried out the work.

A recent English language interview with Voina is available at rebel:art and for more info, photos and videos of Voina actions, check out the tag on Animal New York.

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