Case Review: RF and Bulatov v. Tsvetkova and other charges against an artist

By Irina Strelkovskaya

Background

Yulia Tsvetkova is an artist and LGBTQ+ and women’s rights activist from Komsomolsk-on-Amur, in the Far East of the Russian Federation. [1] In 2018, Tsvetkova began her activism and opened a city community center for civic initiatives, where she hosted weekly lectures, called “Living Library” sessions, to support groups for schoolchildren and mothers. [2] Also, in 2018, Yulia and her mother, Anna Khodyreva, organized a theater studio for teenagers (6-16 years old) called “Merak”. The Serbian word “merak” translates to “joy” or “pleasure in the little things of life”. [3] This word was introduced into the Serbian language from Turkish, where “merak etmek” means “to care about” or “to be interested in”. [4] During its one-year existence, the theater studio staged nine performances which were focused on different social issues, such as gender stereotypes, bullying, critiques of aggression, and military propaganda. In addition to these projects, Yulia administrated a feminist blog called “Vagina Monologues” on VK, a Russian analogue of Facebook. [5] In 2020, she became one of the Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards Arts Fellows. [6]

In February 2019, the Merak theater was preparing four performances for the activist art festival called “Color of Saffron:” a dance about the Prague Spring, a performance on prosecution titled “The Untouchables,” a satirical anti-war performance named “Bless the Lord and His Ammunition,” and a humorous performance titled “Pink and Blue” about the dangers of gender stereotypes. [7]