Artist Statement for 1000 Stalinistische Opfer auf einer Seite:

On one page are printed 1,000 portraits (one on top of the other) of Stalin's victims. Around it are 1,000 names of these people.

The work is based on materials collected by "Immortal Barracks". Thank you to everyone who is trying to restore the memory of people who innocently 
suffered during Stalinist repressions. This memory is more important than ever today, at a time when Russia bombs Ukrainian homes and kills Ukrainian women and children... Consciously amnesia is a crime!

(The proceeds from this work, in case of sale, will be transferred to the “Immortal Barracks” and will help the people of Ukraine.)

Artist Statement for BAFF BAFF! What Are The Politicians Talking About:

“In the film, more than 1000 non-verbal words are read aloud, most of which have been found in the magazines "Mickey Mouse" (German editions) and also taken from the books "Tintin The Mysterious Star" and "Asterix & Obelix The Laurels of Caesar”. The words collected in the non-verbal vocabulary have no meaning, but only phonetically reflect certain events:
someone has fainted (BLIEP!), a glass has broken (CRACK! CLIRR!), a helicopter has crashed into a cupola (KAROMMS!), a museum has collapsed (CRACK! THUNDER! CRIME!).

The Reader (Vadim Zakharov), wearing a white shirt and a tie, recites these words seriously and forcefully. The image of a politician is created, a public figure who professionally and convincingly is ready to say something on any occasion. At the same time, we see that these are just empty words - bubbles that float away as soon as they reach our ears. The film highlights the absurdity of what we see and hear every day on television and the internet.

At the same time, reading non-verbal words can be perceived as reading poetry... “

Vadim Zakharov’s works shown in POINTS of RESISTANCE IV: Skills for Peace present an all too fitting commentary on our current state of affairs where politicians spout nonsense at one another while remaining unable to stop the atrocities of war. BAFF BAFF! What Are The Politicians Talking About invokes the talking heads we see on news programs every day, recounting an equally incomprehensible reality which would be surreal were it not so tragic. While the 1000 Stalinist Victims are no longer a relic of a repressive history, but harbingers of what is to come – with the Russian regime resorting once again to the repression of all those opposed to its regressive policies, turning back to a time when the power of the state was wielded through ubiquitous terror and control. Stalinism may have changed names for a new millennium, but its tactics remain the same and its victims grow by the day.

About the Artist

Vadim Zakharov (born in UdSSR in 1959) is an artist, editor, archivist of the Moscow Conceptual art scene, and collector, living and working in Berlin. Since 1979 he has participated in exhibitions of unofficial art and collaborated with such artists as: V. Skersis, S. Anufriev, I. Chuikov, A. Monastyrski, Y. Leiderman. In 1982–1983 he participated in the AptArt Gallery, Moscow. Since 1992-2001 he has published the “Pastor” magazine and founded the Pastor Zond Edition. In 2006 he edited book “Moscow Conceptualism”. His retrospective was held at the Tretyakov Gallery in 2006, and he has exhibited at Guggenheim Museum, New York (2005), Guggenheim Museum Bilbao (2005), State Historical Museum Moscow (2003), amongst many others. Zalharov represented Russia at the Venice Biennale in 2013 with the project “DANAE”. In 2016-2020 Zakharov organized the exhibition space “FREEHOME-Artist to Artist” in Berlin. 

Selected honors and awards include: Griffelkunst-Preis, Hamburg (1995); Renta-Preis, Kunsthalle Nürnberg (1995); Soratnik Prize, Moscow (2006); Innovation Prize, Moscow (2006); Joseph Brodsky Memorial Fellowship Fund, American Academy in Rome (2007); Kandinsky Prize – Best Work of Year, Moscow (2009).