Portrait of 19 million is an open project, organized by artist Yevgeniy Fiks, who will be presented in the exhibition “Impossible community” (curated by Viktor Misiano) at the Moscow Museum of Modern Art in fall 2011 (September-October).

According to official statistics, during perestroika 19 million people belong to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

Those people joined the party at different times and under different circumstances.

CPSU was not a homogeneous structure either socially or ideologically. Who were the members of the party then?

What united them, and what could alienate them? Who are they now?

Portrait of 19 million refers to the fate of specific individuals, using purely artistic and sociological tools in their attempt to understand the Soviet and post-Soviet subjectivity.

Everyone is invited to participate in the project: professional artists, amateur artists, as well as representatives of other professions.

Participants are invited to send a portrait (or self-portrait) of any person who was in the Communist Party in the last years of the Soviet Union.

Age, profession and social status of the hero of the portrait are not important.

Work can be done in any style and technique: amateur photography, studio photograph, video, painting, drawing, collage, etc.

Conditions of participation:

The author must confirm his decision to participate in the project until July 15, 2011 at: portraitof19million@gmail.com, after which he will need to fill out a questionnaire with biographical portrait of his hero (the questionnaire will be sent after confirmation of participation).

The materials sent for the participation in the exhibition will be exhibited in the form of installation in the Moscow Museum of Modern Art in September-October 2011.

The names of all participants in the project will be listed in the museum’s explication.

The participants will also retain the copyrights on the material provided, after the exhibition, the museum returns the works to the authors.

Finished portraits and completed questionnaires will be sent at e-mail address portraitof19million@gmail.com or at the address Moscow Museum of Modern Art, if you need transportation (delivery is paid by the museum):

107031 Moscow, Russia, 25 Petrovka

Moscow Museum of Modern Art, the exhibition section, marked with “Portrait of 19 million”.

The museum should get ready portraits and completed questionnaires by 31 August 2011. Any technical and organizational issues can be set at portraitof19million@gmail.com.