BROTHERS
For the multi-ethnic Soviet Union compulsory military service was a mandatory requirement of citizenship and the army played an important role to try fostering a sense of common identity and loyalty towards the Soviet state.
During their assignment in bases abroad, the soldiers shared a remarkable collective habit, engraving their hometowns and years of duty into specific brick walls of the barracks, setting up a distinctly visible ‘band of brothers’.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, with the newly gained independence of it’s union republics and the ambition for sovereignty in many smaller autonomous regions on one side but Moscow’s continued hold on power over the whole region on the contrary, these brothers were turned into enemies – leading into war, casualties, devastation, sorrow and anger even two decades later.
Bricks from the remains of such a barracks wall outside of Berlin – a wall now vanished like the former bond – send a message to the people to stand up and stop the madness of war: from Ukraine to Caucasus and beyond.
Dimensions: 93 x 272 cm
Material: brick, mortar
Year: 2017
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