An exhibition dedicated to the execution site in Sandarmokh, Russia, and its discoverer Yuri Dmitriev is headed to Pardubice
May 29, 2025 | Exhibitions | Current Russia , Public events, Sandarmokh – Where the Trees Have Faces
The exhibition, entitled "Sandarmoch - Where Stomachs Have Faces", presents the tragic history of the place where thousands of people were executed during the Stalinist purges. It also presents the story of the Russian historian Yuri Dmitriev, who is now relentlessly persecuted and imprisoned by the Russian regime. The exhibition also translates this difficult topic into an artistic level, which brings a completely new dimension to historical facts. The information panels are complemented by a number of artworks by various artists, each of whom individually and creatively reflects this turbulent past and its implications for the present.
Sandarmoch is a remote place in Russian Karelia, near the Finnish border, where a massacre that was supposed to be forgotten took place. In 1937–1938, when Stalin’s repressions were at their peak, over 6,000 people of 56 nationalities were executed here. In addition to many Russians, Karelians, Finns, Ukrainians, and other European and Soviet nationalities, six Czechs also died there.
Sandarmoch was not forgotten mainly thanks to historian Yuri Dmitriyev of the Memorial association. Dmitriyev, together with colleagues from the St. Petersburg Memorial, discovered the exact location of Sandarmoch in 1997 and in the following years they managed to document and trace the names of most of the executed. Dmitriyev fell out of favor with the Russian authorities, and after he openly opposed Russian aggression in Ukraine in 2014, a targeted persecution was launched against him on fabricated grounds.
Yuri Dmitriev has been under investigation and trial since December 2016 on the basis of a baseless accusation of sexual crimes allegedly committed against his adopted daughter. In December 2021, the Petrozavodsk City Court found Dmitriev guilty and sentenced him to 15 years in a maximum-security colony. The course of the persecution of Yuri Dmitriev and the details of his case eloquently testify to the artificially fabricated accusation and Dmitriev’s innocence.
In 2017, the Memorial Human Rights Center recognized Yuri Dmitriev as a political prisoner. After the Memorial Human Rights Center was liquidated by the Russian courts, the Memorial Project for Support of Political Prisoners declared Dmitriev a political prisoner. You can read more about his case HERE.
The exhibition also includes artworks by mostly Russian artists reflecting the tragic consequences of Russia's unresolved past. Artists from Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Poland, Germany, Slovakia, the Netherlands and the USA also applied for the call for artworks to accompany the exhibition. Some of these works were auctioned off in a public auction and the proceeds were donated to humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
Date: June 3 – July 20, 2025, Mon-Sun: 10 am-1 pm and 2 pm-6 pm.
Location: Mázhaus Exhibition Space, Pernštýnské náměstí 3, Pardubice
The opening with a guided tour took place on June 5, 2025 from 5 p.m. in Mázhaus.
Speakers at the opening: Viktor Janák (director of the Zámeček Memorial), Štěpán Černoušek (Gulag.cz), Boris Bělenkin (Memorial Russia).
Admission to the opening and the exhibition is free.
ACCOMPANYING PROGRAM:
On June 24 and July 18 at 5 p.m., a guided tour of the exhibition led by Alexandra Skorvid from Gulag.cz will take place. After the tours, you and our lecturer will be able to move to the café and write a letter of support to Yuri Dmitriyev. He really needs it right now!
More information about the exhibition can be found HERE.
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