Hi, my name is Katya Guschina! I’m an artist and a friend of Memorial, and in the cold winter of 2020 – 2021, I spent my time drawing the Memorial liquidation trials. Photography was forbidden during the trial, so quick sketches were very useful: that way we could broadcast live in pictures. I was not alone — so many different fascinating people of art came to support Memorial. We even ended up curating an exhibition.
In 2023, I, like many others, was in a place where I could not attend a “Returning the Names” action. Then I had an idea: why don’t we, artists scattered around the world, draw live from the “Returning the Names” broadcast? Those who participated in the action would enjoy seeing themselves in the drawings, and we would also reach as large an audience as possible. I suggested dividing the entire 12-hour broadcast into one-hour slots, and the artists who responded chose a slot for themselves, drew, and posted the resulting series on their social networks.
The drawings turned out very bright and very varied. After a while, I asked everyone who had participated to answer a few questions. Here you can see the illustrations and find out where the artists were, what materials they used, and what surprised them the most.
— Where were you when you were drawing, what was happening around you?
I was at home, at my work table, in front of my computer.
— Which materials did you use?
I was drawing on my tablet in Procreate.
— What did you find difficult?
People were reading two or three names and disappearing. I had to draw the person and their surroundings in that short time. I had to make quick decisions about the composition of my drawing.
— What was easier than you thought?
I could easily concentrate on the process of drawing and not think about whether the picture would turn out right or not.
— Which moment touched you the most?
I cannot think of a particular moment. But it was unexpected and very important for me to feel the connection that I found with people who I did not know, but felt a sort of closeness with.
— Where were you when you were drawing, what was happening around you?
I was in Tbilisi, in my workshop.
— Which materials did you use?
Colored and watercolor pencils.
— What did you find difficult?
I prepared really well and had all sorts of fantasies about how everything would happen, but it didn’t go to plan) I’m not used to drawing from a broadcast.
— What was easier than you thought?
The hour went by so quickly.
— Which moment touched you the most?
I was struck by two monuments. One was a small copy of the monument to the victims of the “Polish operation”, and the other was the monument to the Ukrainian victims of political repressions at the Levashovo cemetery, covered in black plastic wrap. The copy of the monument to the Polish victims, just like its original, had disappeared from the cemetery. Both these images make me feel desperately sad and bitter.
— Where were you when you were drawing, what was happening around you?
I was alone in my workshop, immersed in a very productive atmosphere, surrounded by my unfinished works. But I managed to fully connect to the process of reading the names — I felt like a participant in the readings.
— Which materials did you use?
My tablet.
— What did you find difficult?
It’s always difficult for me to draw fast, and I needed to draw super-fast. I had to spend a long time finishing up my drawings after my drawing slot)
— What was easier than you thought?
As time passed, I thought less and less about what and how to draw, and it became easier to do it.
— Which moment touched you the most?
One young woman from Heidelberg read the names of her relatives one after the other: “my great-grandfather,” “my great-grandmother,” “my other great-grandfather,” “my grandmother,” and so on. There were so, so many of them. The entire large family suffered under repressions — they all were executed.
— Where were you when you were drawing, what was happening around you?
In the morning, after I came back from a Halloween party, I went to the Solovetsky Stone, and after that I dashed home to draw. I was finishing up my drawings at Maly Karetny (ed. Memorial’s office) with my colleagues. We all were sitting together, someone was answering messages in chats, and someone was posting on social media. The “Returning the Names” broadcast kept going in the background.
— Which materials did you use?
I drew on my iPad in Procreate.
— What did you find difficult?
Choosing a style for my drawings, and what to focus on.
— What was easier than you thought?
Choosing specific frames to draw.
— Which moment touched you the most?
I saw familiar faces that I didn’t expect to find among the participants.
— Where were you when you were drawing, what was happening around you?
I was at home, in front of my computer. Of course, I prepared all my materials at the very last moment, so my entire table was covered by markers, pastels, and pieces of paper.
— Which materials did you use?
Paper, glue, ink, oil pastels, and pencils.
— What did you find difficult?
I hadn’t done life drawing for a very long time before that, especially so fast. Sometimes it was difficult to catch both the image of a person and some sort of a story.
— What was easier than you expected?
Like for many other artists, it seems, the time passed very fast.
— Which moment touched you the most?
A young man in Yerevan was reading the names with his head bowed. Behind him, a monument to Yeghishe Charents stood in a similar pose, just bowed to a different side. Their facial expressions were similar in a way too. It felt like a painful connection between the eras.
One young man from Narva gave me a drastically different impression. He had a variety of piercings, and his eyes were completely black. When he showed the picture of his grandfather, it was difficult to believe these two people were in any way related. And yet…
— Where were you when you were drawing, what was happening around you?
I was in a park, next to the place where “Returning the Names” took place in my city. At first, I listened to people I knew and didn’t know reading the names, and then I refocused on the YouTube broadcast and started drawing.
— Which materials did you use?
The Procreate app.
— What did you find difficult?
It is best to only think about the form when drawing fast, and tune out everything else. That was impossible — I was constantly spacing out and just listening to the names being read.
— Where were you when you were drawing, what was happening around you?
I prepared my drawing materials beforehand and settled in my kitchen with my laptop. My plan was to draw people, leaves, and droplets of rain on tree branches, and tree trunks. The weather was cold and damp, and nature itself was remembering the men, women, teenagers, and elderly people who were executed.
— Which materials did you use?
Gouache, ink, a gel pen, and my brushes.
— What did you find difficult?
Drawing fast enough, “catching” the composition, and putting it down right. Translating the mood and atmosphere. Writing down the names and the dates.
— Which moment touched you the most?
All of them. I saw my acquaintance, who went to the Kuntsevo cemetery and read the names there and then talked about her executed grandfather in Mordovia. He was 44. I remember the striking ages that lives have been cut short: 26, 23… And the professions of those executed, all peaceful, all important: farmers, doctors, warehouse managers… I remember young people, who were already freezing at twilight but still read the names. In different cold places in Moscow.
I also remember a broadcast, I think, from Germany: there they talked about teenagers who received large sentences for “creating an organization that intends to overthrow the government” — that’s what the charge sounded like. All of them were rehabilitated after.
— Where were you when you were drawing, what was happening around you?
At home.
— Which materials did you use?
Gouache, a stick.
— What did you find difficult?
Because I took part in the broadcast not just as a viewer, but also as an artist, my level of emotional investment was unexpectedly extremely high, and it was hard to deal with at first.
— What was easier than you expected?
Drawing non-stop for an hour turned out to be very exciting. I drew fast, and my entire floor was covered in drawings.
— Which moment touched you the most?
The fact that people are not indifferent.
— Where were you when you were drawing, what was happening around you?
I went to a coffeeshop on purpose — I wanted to be somewhere where it’s warm, loud, and where I’d be surrounded by people — just like in the queue for “Returning the Names”.
— Which materials did you use?
A gel pen, two markers, and a pencil.
— What did you find difficult?
My red marker suddenly betrayed me, I had to lick it to make it work again.
— What was easier than you expected?
Время за рисованием пролетело незаметно!
— Which moment touched you the most?
When children came to read the names! That was in the Budva broadcast.
— Where were you when you were drawing, what was happening around you?
Я была дома на кухне в тишине, и даже соседок или не было дома, или они не заходили в кухню.
— Which materials did you use?
I was drawing in Procreate, using my favorite brush and one new one.
— What did you find difficult?
For me everything went by so fast — I wanted to draw for a little bit longer, but I never knew if the person would stay in shot. Then, it almost became an artistic thrill.
— What was easier than you expected?
Surprisingly, when you draw that fast, a lot of people look quite similar.
— Which moment touched you the most?
I was touched by the level of preparation in different cities. In Moscow, they returned “Last Address” plaques to their rightful places, in a library the names and the stories of the executed were written on white paper doves, that were put up on a dresser.
— Where were you when you were drawing, what was happening around you?
I was at home in Moscow, watching the broadcast and looking at the other artists’ works.
— Which materials did you use?
Ballpoint pen, colored pencils, and a sketchbook.
— What did you find difficult?
It was difficult due to the troubles with the broadcast — it started lagging in the evening.
— Which moment touched you the most?
I was struck by the variety of the professions of the executed whose names were read.
— Where were you when you were drawing, what was happening around you?
I was in the kitchen! I thought that I’d be somewhere in the city, but it turned out that it was much nicer to come home and do everything in a more calm way.
— Which materials did you use?
A thick black liner, faber castell colored pencils, and caran d’ache pastels.
— What did you find difficult?
It was difficult to not be nervous: the broadcast lagged awfully, and I could only see 8 people. I was really worried that I couldn’t participate properly. On the other hand, the lagging made it quite convenient to draw 🙂.
— What was easier than you expected?
The time spent drawing flew by so fast!
— Which moment touched you the most?
Unfortunately, I couldn’t remember anything in the moment. I was very happy when a woman said that her father got lucky and survived. And I was also happy to see my friends’ parents in the drawings of my colleagues!
— Where were you when you were drawing, what was happening around you?
I was at home in the morning, and in a cafe during the day, when I was between meetings. When I was watching and drawing, it was difficult to stop and turn it off — I ended up being late to my meeting.
— Which materials did you use?
My tablet with a drawing app.
— What did you find difficult?
It was difficult to write the word that Alexandra from Hamburg said — “erschossen” — executed. I had to look it up in a dictionary. Then I realized that through “Returning the Names” I learned something new. I spent about twenty minutes just thinking about it. In the evening my tablet ran out of battery, and the broadcast lagged for everyone — that all happened while I was drawing.
— What was easier than you expected?
Apparently, I could pause and take a screenshot.
— Which moment touched you the most?
The story about the executions on March 8, “in honor of the holiday” (read in Istanbul).
My goal was to show the people who were shown on the broadcast did not feel alone. I wanted to let them know that there are people watching, drawing, and thinking. But, in the end, it was me who felt less alone. Through my and other artists’ drawings I have traveled the world and seen so many different participants of “Returning the Names”: wearing Fortnite t-shirts and dress shirts, with long beards, wearing suits, with their hair dyed, old and young people. I felt that there was so much interest and passion for the idea in people who I would never expect to be passionate about “Returning the Names”. And, what’s most important, I’ve learned to see people with even more love.
Katya Guschina