МИР – МИРУ – FRIEDE Performance for Peace, Red Square, Moscow, 2018 FXXXi̶s̶m̶ TOSHAIN / CEEH
МИР – МИРУ – FRIEDE
Performance for Peace
Red Square Moscow, 2018
FXXXi̶s̶m̶ TOSHAIN/ CEEH
Ten volunteers stand in a row, dressed in civilian clothes and armored vests, moments before being arrested at Red Square in Moscow. Each vest bears a message for peace right on the chest, conceived by an international artist from a conflict zone and from nations influential in global politics.
The slogans are invisible to the naked eye. They are painted over with a special black military paint used exclusively in the U.S. and can be revealed only through an infrared device.
Among the hidden slogans are: “GO BOMB YOURSELF” by Afghan artist Amanullah Mojadidi; “HE KILLS ME, HE KILLS ME NOT” by Iranian artist Parastou Forouhar, whose parents were murdered by the regime; “LOST BOYS” by Russian-born artist and activist Slava Mogutin; “KEINE HEIMAT (I Have No Homeland)” by German artist Olaf Nicolai; and “HERE TODAY, HERE TOMORROW” by American artist Lawrence Weiner.
МИР – МИРУ – FRIEDE is an ongoing peace performance conceived by the art-label FXXXi̶s̶m̶ Toshain/Ceeh. It is based on the site-specific installation TerminARTor, which XXXXi̶s̶m̶ TMC staged in 2014 in the Hall of Honour at the Burgtor in Vienna and which was dedicated to the 100th anniversary of World War I. The installation featured 28 internationally renowned artists, including VALIE EXPORT, Marina Abramović, Peter Weibel, and Lawrence Weiner. Each artist conceived a slogan for peace specifically for the project, which could be read by the public only with an IR device.
In 2015, the МИР – МИРУ – FRIEDE performance was presented for the first time in Vienna, with performers wearing military uniforms, in multiple public locations such as Stephansdom, Karlsplatz, and Hauptbahnhof. Later, in 2017, it was realized as guerrilla performances at the 57th Venice Biennale — at the Arsenale, Giardini, the official opening of the Austrian Biennale Pavilion, and at Piazza San Marco, as an act of transnational solidarity. As a call for peace, the guerrilla performance took place in 2018 at Red Square in Moscow, this time with performers dressed in civilian clothes. It lasted for five minutes, after which half of the performers were arrested and later released.
Artist statements by:
Burak Delier (Turkey): “FREEDOM HAS NO SCRIPT”
Kendell Geers (South Africa/ Belgium): „STEELING FIRE FROM HEAVEN“
Parastou Forouhar (Iran):” HE KILLS ME, HE KILLS ME NOT”
Olaf Nicolai (Germany): “KEINE HEIMAT”s
Matthias Makowsky (Austria): “BANG“
Slava Mogutin (Russia/ U.S.): “LOST BOYS”
Ammanullah Mojadidi (Afghanistan): “GO BOMB YOURSELF!”
Iv Toshain (Bulgaria/ Austria): „WE ARE THE KNIFE”
Lawrence Weiner (U.S.): „HERE TODAY HERE TOMORROW”
Anna Ceeh (Austria/Russia): „WOMAN IN LOVE – ARTIST IN WAR“
The FXXXi̶s̶m̶TC Art-Label was founded by Iv Toshain and Anna Ceeh in 2012 (*Vienna – Sofia – St. Petersburg).
The collective operates under multiple brand names that change continually according to the concepts and issues they focus on (including, among others, FUCKi̶s̶m̶TC, FEMINi̶s̶m̶TC, FXXXi̶s̶m̶TC, XXXXi̶s̶m̶TC, XXXXi̶s̶m̶TMC).
It takes a critical stance toward ideologies and is a base for meta and transpolitical art activities.
