This summer, Artists Against the Kremlin returns for the third time to De Balie. An ongoing art project by Prometheus Art, The Moscow Times, and De Balie. The exhibition brings together contemporary Russian-speaking artists from across the world whose practices confront the Russian invasion of Ukraine, repression, and censorship.
Over the past two years, Artists Against the Kremlin has presented more than 300 artworks, welcomed over 5,000 visitors, and attracted significant international media attention. This year’s exhibition features more than 70 artworks by, among others, Pussy Riot, Yuliy Rybakov, Linor Goralik, Masha Trebukova, Artem Loskutov, Pavel Krisevich, Sasha Skochilenko, Aya Demina, Milada Kopeliovich, Vladlena Sandu, Ivan Dubyaga, Anita Turadzhanova, Nika Nikulshina and many others.
Beyond presenting contemporary art, the project safeguards cultural memory in a context where memory itself has become a political battleground. Under Russia’s authoritarian regime, historical narratives are rewritten, archives suppressed and acts of remembrance criminalised. The exhibition documents the human consequences of war and authoritarianism while creating space for dialogue across borders, generations and political realities.
An important part of this year’s exhibition is The Other Russia. MEMORIAL: 35 Years of Struggle for Historical Truth and Democracy, which is being shown in the Netherlands for the first time. The presentation draws on decades of archival research into the Gulag, political repression, state violence, and forms of social resistance. The exhibition was developed by Memorial, one of Russia’s oldest human rights organisations. In 2022, Memorial was one of the three recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize, recognising its longstanding work in defending human rights and documenting political repression. During a closed hearing on 9 April 2026, the Russian Supreme Court granted the Ministry of Justice’s request to ban the “International Public Movement Memorial”.
Artists Against the Kremlin seeks to preserve truth when truth is under attack, protect memory when memory is being erased, and remind us that behind every headline are individual lives, choices and acts of courage.
Big Bang(2), Milada KopeliovichPavel Krisevich x Lisaveta NikulichevaUnbroken, Galya Titova
Why memory remains
This year’s exhibition focuses on the theme of memory and the importance of preserving it.
The systematic erasure of memory has become a defining feature of contemporary Russia. Histories are rewritten, archives are suppressed and individual voices disappear from the public record.
The Gulag History Museum in Moscow, one of the country’s foremost institutions documenting Soviet political repression, was forced to close. Memorial, one of Russia’s oldest organisations dedicated to documenting state violence and preserving historical memory, was designated an extremist organisation. Neither institution was punished for promoting violence, but for remembering it.
Yet erasing memory is not a new tactic. It is as old as the Soviet Union itself: the silenced massacre in Novocherkassk, the countless victims of Stalinist terror and forced displacement, rewritten histories, renamed cities, retouched photographs and names deliberately erased from public memory. What has changed is the speed, scale and brazenness with which this erasure is taking place today.
Artists Against the Kremlin III: Memory Remains is an artistic response to this reality. Through the work of artists living in exile, under persecution or continuing to create despite repression, the exhibition preserves the memory of resistance and insists that it remains part of our shared history.
Support Artist Against the Kremlin
This year’s edition has been the most ambitious—and the most challenging—to realise. If you value independent art and believe that preserving memory is essential in resisting authoritarianism, please consider supporting our crowdfunding campaign.
Your contribution helps us present the exhibition, publish new work, support participating artists and preserve the histories that the Kremlin seeks to erase.
About Prometheus Amplifying Values & The Moscow Times
Prometheus Amplifying Values (ex All Rights Reversed) is a cultural initiative operating at the intersection of contemporary art and civil society. Our ecosystem includes an archive of political art, a research and educational program, a gallery, an exhibition project, a production team, and a community of artists united by human values and a strong anti-war stance.
Since September 2023, they have organized over 25 exhibitions of anti-war and critical art worldwide, welcoming more than 10,000 visitors and reaching over 10 million through media coverage. These exhibitions provide a dynamic platform for diverse voices and perspectives on pressing societal issues.
The Moscow Times is the oldest independent Russian media outlet, informing the world about what happens in and around Russia since 1992. The Moscow Times is not just a media outlet in English and Russian, but also a platform for exchanging opinions and acting as a bridge between the East and the West. Since 2022, The Moscow Times has been based in Amsterdam.
Video impression Artists against The Kremlin 2024
Five thematic sections during Memory Remains
Erasing Memory
Centred around the exhibition The Other Russia. MEMORIAL: 35 Years of Struggle for Historical Truth and Democracy, this section presents the work of one of Russia’s oldest human rights organisations dedicated to preserving the memory of political repression. It showcases decades of archival research documenting state violence and resistance.
Archive
This section examines the history and contemporary use of punitive psychiatry in Russia—from its role as an instrument of political repression during the Soviet period to its continued use against political opponents today.
Tribute
Slection of artworks exploring active memory through portraits of dissidents, monuments to resistance, works commemorating events the Kremlin seeks to erase, and reflections on memory itself. Featured artists include Pussy Riot, Yuliy Rybakov, Slava Ptrk, Linor Goralik, Masha Trebukova, Artem Loskutov, Pavel Krisevich, Sasha Skochilenko, Aya Demina, Milada Kopeliovich, Vladlena Sandu, Ivan Dubyaga, Anita Turadzhanova, Nika Nikulshina and many others.
Feminist Anti-War Resistance
Dedicated to women political prisoners in Russia, this section presents their stories of resistance, imprisonment and resilience through contemporary artistic responses.
Hard Times Café
A homage to the iconic Hard Rock Cafe, this installation transforms De Balie’s café into a space displaying artefacts donated by musicians who oppose the Kremlin. Borrowing the familiar visual language of the Hard Rock Cafe, the installation invites visitors to reflect on the lives, sacrifices and resistance embodied by these objects.
Expositie
Vernissage of Artists Against the Kremlin III: Memory Remains
On 13 August 2026, De Balie welcomes Memory Remains, the third edition of the major critical art project Artists Against the Kremlin. Since 2024, the exhibition has brought together artists who oppose the Kremlin’s authoritarianism, war and political repression. This year, we focus on the theme of memory and the importance of preserving it. In
