Nevsky-25

The history of art squat began on March 13, 1987—on that day, the former shared apartment No. 20 in the apartment building under repair was annexed by artists. This association not only had no official status, but was literally underground.[2]

The double front doors were skillfully camouflaged, barred up with meter-long sheets of old partially rusted tin with inch-thick boards nailed across them. Thick curved nails (glued with epoxy resin) stuck out of wood and iron. Everything was well thought out and the scenery looked convincing. To the right of the door frame, an inhospitable wire with two bare contacts was hanging. You needed to close them to make the bell ring in the depths of the apartment. In case everyone left the workshop, there was a way to securely close the entrance. For this purpose, a strong and heavy inter-door hook and a system of levers were used. The door could be opened and closed by means of two external rope ends tied to the latch. Seeing this mechanism in action always made an indelible impression on newcomers.[3]

In the workshop, poetry readings and debates on contemporary art were held. Young artists, musicians, and writers exchanged their ideas. Books were self-published. The series [Pesok (The Sand. 1989), Tsvetnye zvuki (The Colored Sounds. 1989), Zelenaia kniga (The Green Book. 1989), Moia mansarda (My Attic. 1990)] and others.[4] Experiments were conducted to create noise music.

Members of the group included Leonid Kiparisov, Marina Parygina, Elena Grigoryants, Andrey Vermishev, Tamara Mitina, Andrey Korolchuk, Alexander Borkov, Vladimir Iosifov, Alexander Fedorov, Anatoly Yasinsky, Anton Nikolaev, Andrey Akishin, Evgenia Drigo and other artists.[5]

Having survived the persecution of the police, the invasion of homeless people and fires in neighboring apartments, the association ceased to exist in June 1990, after all the residents were rehoused and all utilities were cut off.[6]