Russia is a country of fences. If I were asked to choose one important symbol for the country, I would choose a fence. Living in Russia, we stop noticing them and often start justifying them.
Indeed, the Fence is an element of security, an object denoting territory, delineating the boundaries of personal space, the space of freedom. But every year there is less and less space for freedom in the country, but the number of fences only increases.
If you think about it, the main tourist symbol of Russia is the Kremlin wall. A fence. But unlike the Great Wall of China, which protected the country’s borders from raids, this one protects… what?
A fence is a symbol of insecurity. It is a symbol of the paranoia that has engulfed Russia, a symbol of the closedness and intransigence of society. It is a symbol of control and submission. And, unfortunately, this is the symbol of modern Russia.
Russia, different cities and regions, 2011-2022