SOCIETY
The latest SlovoNovo forum of Russian language and culture, which took place in Montenegro, hosted a display of the artist and cartoonist Andrey Bilzho’s newest cycle: Azbuka 2022 (The 2022 Alphabet), a manifest against the war and tyranny that spells out today's harsh reality – letter by letter. The Insider presents the third and final installment.
Ф [f] Femida. Themis
Х [kh] Kher Voyne. F*ck War
Wordplay: kher is both the old name of the Cyrillic letter Х and the Russian for “dick”, one of the many euphemisms for the swearword khuy.
Ц [ts] Tsar. Tsar
“Remember! I am the tsar!” Peter I tells Putin.
Ц [ts] (2) Tsel. Purpose
“Purpose of visit?” An allusion to Russian artist Vasily Surikov's Boyarina Morozova, one of the leaders of the Old Believer movement (religious opposition in 17th-century Russia), who was arrested and died in prison.
Ц [ts] (3) Tserkov. Church
Ч [ch] Chelovek. Human
Ш [sh] Shkola, Shok. School, Shock
An allusion to Soviet artist Fyodor Reshetnikov’s painting Low Marks Again in which Putin is depicted as the underachieving pupil.
Щ [shch] Shchedraya. Generous
“Russia is a generous soul!” A slogan-cum-brand of a popular Russian chocolate manufacturer.
Ъ [-] Ot-yavlenny. Hardened
Ь ['] Neft'. Oil
Ы [glottal i] PokhoronY. Funeral
Э [e] Emigratsiya. Emigration
“Where are you from, son?”
“Russia.”
Ю [yu] Yudif. Judith
“Thank you, Judith!”
Я [ya] Ya. I
The ball and chain read “we”.