Monstration — the self-designation of a collective artistic action, expressed through a group of citizens — mainly, but not exclusively, young people — joining a festive procession of demonstrators on International Workers' Solidarity Day, May 1.
The Monstration began on May 1, 2004, as an artistic event with no purpose other than aesthetic and, specifically, artistic ones, in keeping with the meaning of a Russian folk saying: "Show yourself off and take a look at others!"
Monstration. A Cultural Studies Rationale for the Phenomenon.
Four cultural-historical sources of the Monstration as a cultural-traditional phenomenon can be identified:
- The first source — folk festivities: Maslenitsa celebrations, kolyada (caroling), round dances, skomorokhi (skomorokh performance), and holy fools (holy foolishness). This is the most ancient cultural stratum, connected to the concept of art originating from play, revelry, and the spirit of the game.
- The second source — the tradition of celebrating International Workers' Solidarity Day on May 1 under the motto: "Peace! Labor! May!" The day of remembrance for the victims of the tragic events of early May 1886 in Chicago was transformed, in the late Soviet era, into a day of "welcoming spring" — a joyful holiday cherished by a significant portion of the population. In the Soviet period, the seriousness of the holiday's slogans — bound up with the need to strengthen workers' solidarity in the struggle for their rights — was devalued and thereby discredited by bureaucratic methods that turned May 1 into a formality, annihilating its lofty meaning: namely, international workers' solidarity.
- The third source — the diverse forms of collective artistic and quasi-artistic actions within the sphere of contemporary international artistic culture (contemporary art), such as: "collective actions" proper, happening, performance, flash mob, public art, and life art. Collective actions as artistic events aim to give participants and spectators an aesthetic impression of what is taking place.
- The fourth source — the initiative of Novosibirsk youth, rooted in a need for active recreation and communication — not confined within "interest circles," but open, fostering mutual acquaintance among young people.
The meaning and significance of the Monstration lie in open, public communication initiated "from below" — by independent, artistically gifted young people expressing the tendency of intellectuals: "We are perfectly capable of throwing our own celebration!"
Associate Professor, Department of Drawing, Painting, and Sculpture Novosibirsk State Academy of Architecture and Arts, member of the ATOOO "Union of Artists of Russia" Skotnikov Konstantin Arnoldovich