Bigger is not Always Better

Friday is my last language class. I have written three papers, and completed three lecture courses. I have lived in Moscow now for just over four weeks. On Friday night I take the train with my group to St. Petersburg. We will stay and visit for the weekend and return on the night train Sunday night. There are then two more days of packing in Moscow before flying out next Wednesday. I am looking forward to returning home.

Today I visited some excellent Soviet-era moments to the greatness of Communism.

I was amazed at the Space Obelisk, which is over 350 feet high. Officially known as the Monument to "The Conquerers of Space." It represents a rocket heading toward the heavens. It is a beautiful example of Soviet public art and propaganda. At the base of the status is an awesome Bas-relief of Soviet Realist art, depicting the Soviet people under a confident Lenin pointing the way to space and the future. The grand opening of the monument took place on October 4, 1964, on the day of the 7th anniversary of the Sputnik 1 launch.





Even more impressive is the spectacular site of the former Exhibition of Economic Achievements of the U.S.S.R. It is still intact but is now known as the All-Russian Exhibition Centre. It was built in 1939 and designed to impress. It did.

Conceived as a cross between World Fair and Theme Park, with monuments to Soviet science, fountains, amusement-park rides and national pavilions for all the republics of the USSR. There are 82 pavilions spread over 578 acres. It was over 90 degrees so I didn't visit them all :)


The main entrance is a triumphal archway surmounted by towering statues of a tractor driver and a farm girl brandishing sheaves of wheat, which sets the scale for the avenue of fountains that leads to a Lenin statue and the Central Pavilion.


Between 1948 and 1989 pavillions continued to be added until it reached its peak of 82. There were pavillions for industries or fields such as Engineering, Space, Atomic Energy, People's Eduction, Radioelectronics, and Soviet Culture. There were also pavillion dedicated to regions or towns within the Soviet Union. The exhibition was held annually and attracted scientist and industry professionals from across the Soviet Union and the world. It was used to showcase what the Soviet Union claimed to be progress in all fields. 


In 1992 Russia opened it up to private enterprise. Now it is a bizarre juxtaposition: part agricultural fair, part trade expo, part shopping centre and part street market, with amusements as diverse as paint-balling and camel rides - as well as the ubiquitous slot-machine arcades - on offer in various parts of the grounds. This isn't what Stalin had it mind.  


As I was standing in the middle of the park with the massive pavilions surrounding me it dawned on me that this is why I wanted to come to Russia. I am able to place myself within an existing Soviet monument. Seeing all the elaborate pavilions, immensity of their scale, expensive landscaping, and self-adulation of progress and innovation, it became clear to me that the prestige expressed by the Soviets at this exhibition center was all smoke and mirrors. They had their own people fooled and many world leaders. Bigger is not always better.