Yulia Tsvetkova

Yulia Vladimirovna Tsvetkova (born May 23, 1993 in Komsomolsk-on-Amur , Russia ) is a Russian artist and activist from Komsomolsk-on-Amur.

biography

Tsvetkova's mother, Anna Leonidovna Khodyrewa, was born and raised in the city of Kirov . She was trained as a teacher, studied stage design and worked for many years as an assistant director in a popular theater. In 1996 Anna founded the first early childhood education center in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. From early childhood, Yulia Tsvetkova was engaged in art. At the age of 13, her first solo exhibition took place in the local city gallery for modern art. For several years she worked for city television as a presenter of the youth program "Amur Stars". She was considered one of the gifted children of the Khabarovsk Territory . At 15, she left school and dreamed of becoming a choreographer. At the age of 17 she moved to Moscow, where she trained at various dance schools, learned modern dance styles and then engaged in martial arts and parkour . She passed the ADAPT trainer qualification in the London organization Parkour Generations, but had to end her sports career after an injury. Subsequently, Tsvetkova began to study as a film director and screenwriter at the London Film School , but had to drop out of training for personal reasons and return to her hometown. Between 2013 and 2017 she directed English, theater and dance courses for children.

activism

In 2018, Tsvetkova's activist career began. She wrote and lectured on topics such as feminism , LGBT rights , anti-militarism and ecology .

On September 9, 2018, she founded the municipal community center for citizens' initiatives. The center organized weekly lectures, meetings of the “The Living Library”, self-help groups for schoolchildren and mothers, an inclusive craft fair and events on the subject of the environment.

In 2018 she founded the Merak Theater Company, which until recently only staged her own plays. The theater association was not hierarchical because the actors were actively involved in the production process. The productions contained elements of improvisation, dance and forum theater. In the same year the association staged three performances: a dance based on Stravinsky's Holy Spring, a poetic performance about growing up called "Evolution" and an English-language production called "The History of the English Language". Subsequently, the association entered the largest venues in the city and "The History of the English Language" was chosen as one of the ten largest productions in the city.

In the second half of 2018, the theater association prepared four productions for the “Color of Saffron” art festival: a dance about the Prague Spring, a dance on the subject of law enforcement entitled “The Untouchables”, a satirical anti-war play “Praise the Lord and his ammunition ”and a humorous production called“ Pink and Blue ”about the disadvantages of gender stereotypes .

At the beginning of February 2019, the board of the theater association received a call from an official of the city administration. The official inquired about the themes of the plays, the content of the “Color of Saffron” festival and the anti-war postcards that the theater association had self-printed. The next day they were denied access to the urban premises that the association had used and where they were preparing the upcoming “Color of Saffron” festival.

Tsvetkova turned to the media with a request to report on the illegal entry ban. After the article was published in the media, Tsvetkova and the board of directors of the theater association were called to the city administration. The officials asked that the theater association not publish any negative news about the city and not organize any events of its own, particularly on topics such as bullying or anti-militarism.

The theater association found a new space and preparations for the festival continued.

In the second week of March 2019, the police arrived at the local school and interrogated the underage members of the theater club, without their parents being present, on the subject of extremism and " propaganda on homosexuality " in the plays. The next day, the owner of the premises in which the festival is to take place was informed that her property would be confiscated if this “ LGBT festival” (interpretation of the Russian officials) take place there. After that, Tsvetkova decided that the performances should still be shown, but as a closed event, exclusively for the parents of the actors and a small part of the press. The productions took place for fifteen spectators and were recorded on video.

In June 2019 the theater association published the play "Fairy Tales - Real Tales" about Russian fairy tales in English.

In November 2019 a recording of the piece “Pink and Blue” took place in St. Petersburg at the feminist festival “Evas Rippen”. The show was also attended by the police.

On December 3, the Theater Critics Association published an open letter in support of Tsvetkova and her artistic, educational and social activities.

Criminal case

According to human rights defenders , the prosecution is related to the public position and feminist views of the defendants. Organizer of the festival for activist art “Color of Saffron”, founder of the body-positive project “Woman is not a doll”, director of the theater studio “Merak”.

Tsvetkova was charged with illegally producing and posting pornographic material on the Internet. Prosecutors requested a 2 to 6 year sentence for her for running a feminist website called "Vagina Monologues" which had been compared to pornography .

She has been under house arrest since November 22, 2019. The investigation against her began on October 24, 2019, according to a report by the well-known activist Timur Bulatov and his organization "Jihadist Moral".

On December 13, 2019, Tsvetkova, who was under house arrest, was found guilty under the homophobic " homosexual propaganda " law for having committed an offense under that law by engaging in non-traditional sexual relations between minors over the internet promoted. A fine of 50,000 rubles was imposed on them for publishing this content.

On January 17, 2020, Tsvetkova was charged again with a picture titled “Family is where love is. Supports LGTB + families! ”.

On February 11, 2020, she was classified as a political prisoner by the human rights organization Memorial .

On February 24, 2020, Tsvetkova informed her friends and followers in social networks about the threats and extortion by the extremist homophobic group "The Saw" ("Пила").

On February 26, 2020, Tsvetkova filed a complaint with the investigative committee about illegally restricting her right to medical care while she was under house arrest.

On March 2, 2020, the police published a new complaint from Timur Bulatov against Tsvetkova's mother accusing her of promoting unconventional values.

On April 16, 2020, Tsvetkova received the international "Index on Censorship" award in the "Art" category, making her the second Russian woman to receive this award after Anna Politkovskaya .

In June , Anna Plyusnina, lawyer at the LGBT Resource Center in Yekaterinburg , lodged a complaint with the UN Committee on Cultural Rights and the UN Human Rights Council in the case of Yulia Tswetkova .

On June 27, more than 50 media, cultural and educational projects joined the joint declaration “Media Strike #ForJulia” (# ЗаЮлю).

Eve Ensler also spoke out in support of Tsvetkova .

In support of Tsvetkova, a Moscow cultural center (Voznesensky Center) organized a marathon entitled "Poetry Readings and Conversations on Freedom".

Strikes took place in the name of Tsvetkovas in the following cities: Moscow , St. Petersburg Kemerovo, Kirov, Volgograd, Novosibirsk, Kazan, Voronezh, Izhevsk, Smolensk, Yekaterinburg, Tomsk, Kaliningrad, Rostov-on-Don, Ufa, Ivanovo, Chelyabinsk, Kazan, Vladivostok, Ottawa, Berlin, Cologne, London, Madrid.

On June 29, Tatiana Moskalkova , the human rights commissioner of the Russian Federation, announced that she would take control of the Tsvetkova case. She said the decision of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, and a great public outcry led to the decision.

On July 10, a meeting was held on administrative offenses for "propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations between minors". The theme of the session was the picture entitled "Family is where love is. Support LGBT + families". Tsvetkova was found guilty of a fine of 75,000 rubles. On July 7, a third trial on the matter was opened against her .

Web links

• https://www.freetsvet.net/
• Queer.de: "Homo-Propaganda": Russian LGBTI activist condemned again
• Siegessäule : LGBTI * activist Yulia Tsvetkova: "I am not a criminal"

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "Я не последняя политзаключенная в истории этой страны". Retrieved July 15, 2020 (Russian). 
2. ↑ Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty: 'Craziest Persecution': Feminist Activist In Russia Faces Six Years In Prison On Pornography Charge. December 5, 2019, accessed on July 15, 2020 . 
3. ↑ Support the LGBTI activist and feminist Yulia Tsvetkova !: Queeramnesty. Retrieved July 15, 2020 . 
4. ↑ Anastasiia Fedorova, Yulia Tsvetkova: Activists speak out about Russian artist Yulia Tsvetkova's prosecution for feminist drawings. Retrieved July 15, 2020 . 
5. ↑ Отдел по борьбе с «нетрадиционными отношениями». Хроника преследования художницы Юлии Цветковой. Retrieved July 15, 2020 (Russian). 
6. ↑ Журнал Театр. • АТК выступила в защиту режиссера Юлии Цветковой, подозреваемой в распространении порнографии. December 3, 2019, accessed on July 15, 2020 . 
7. ^ The Kremlin's Political Prisoners: The Case of Yulia Tsvetkova. February 21, 2020, accessed on July 16, 2020 . 
8. ↑ LGBTI and women's rights activist under arrest - Amnesty Urgent Actions. Retrieved July 15, 2020 . 
9. ↑ Activists turn tolerant St. Petersburg into homophobic city. Retrieved July 20, 2020 . 
10. ↑ Support the LGBTI activist and feminist Yulia Tsvetkova !: Queeramnesty. Retrieved July 15, 2020 . 
11. ↑ RUSSIA: LGBTI + activist indicted for the third time in a year. Retrieved July 15, 2020 . 
12. ↑ Feminist artist Yulia Tsvetkova is a political prisoner, Memorial says | Human Rights Center MEMORIAL. Retrieved July 15, 2020 . 
13. ↑ Yulia Tsvetkova. Retrieved July 15, 2020 . 
14. ↑ Yulia Tsvetkova campaigns for LGBTI and women's rights. Retrieved July 15, 2020 . 
15. ^ Index on Censorship: Arts 2020. In: Index on Censorship. April 16, 2020, accessed July 15, 2020 (UK English). 
16. ↑ Медиастрайк # ЗаЮлю. Как активисты из разных регионов объединились в защиту художницы Юлии Цветковой. Retrieved July 18, 2020 (American English). 
17. ↑ V on Instagram: “RISE FOR YULIA TSVETKOVA. Russian Activist #YuliaTsvetkova Faces Up to Six Year Sentence For Body Positive Drawings and Pro-LGBTQI Rights… “ Retrieved July 15, 2020 . 
18. ↑ Moscow: 20 days imprisonment for queer solos protest. Retrieved on July 15, 2020 (German). 
19. ↑ Russia: Over 40 people arrested during queer protests. Retrieved on July 15, 2020 (German). 
20. ↑ Anna Laletina: Protest at Russian Embassy in Berlin: Feminism is not magic . In: The daily newspaper: taz . July 2, 2020, ISSN  0931-9085 ( taz.de [accessed July 15, 2020]).
21. ↑ Reuters: Over 30 protesters arrested in Moscow for supporting LGBT activist - rights group . In: The Guardian . June 27, 2020, ISSN  0261-3077 ( theguardian.com [accessed July 15, 2020]).
22. ↑ Samantha Berkhead: Russian Women Rally Behind Feminist 'Political Prisoner'. July 6, 2020, accessed on July 15, 2020 . 
23. ↑ Russian LGBT activist condemned - images of children are said to be "gay propaganda". Retrieved July 15, 2020 . 
24. ↑ Privacy settings. Retrieved July 15, 2020 .