Children Are the Victims of Adult Vices
Children Are the Victims of Adult Vices was a sculpture project consisting of an assortment of bronze statues created by Mihail Chemaikin in 2001. The scultpures are in a park south of the Kremlin, within 1000 meters of the British Embassy. The statues being made in the 21st century is reflective of Moscow itself in the 21st century. THe 2000s brought on a wave of change that was never truly expected by both the city and the country itself. Russia became swallowed by waves of Western influence, and among that the freedom that comes from interacting with different cultures and political systems.
However, as much good as it comes with more urbanization and globilization, there comes evil with the wealth of everything. Moscow's identity was unsteady, it was unsure of whether it should stay in its traditional Russian role, or embrace and change with the new wave of Westernization. The statues themselves depict the evils of this new society clearly. The title of Children Are the Victimes of Adult Vices explains the idea that the children of Russia are the ones who suffer when the depraved adults go crazy with drinking and prositution and gluttonous wealth that comes with the new age of the 2000s. Moscow must remain true to its values of goodness all while trying to conjure up a new image for the milennium, and that is where its identity crisis continued into.
"Moscow to Raise Monument to People's Sins, THE MOSCOW TIMES." - The Moscow Times (Russia). N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2016.
"BBC News | MEDIA REPORTS | Moscow Divided over Vices Statue." BBC News. BBC, 06 July 2001. Web. 23 Oct. 2016.