The Monument to the Conquerors of Space

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857-1935) statue

A poem says: “And our efforts were rewarded by [the fact] / That having defeated injustice and gloom / We have forged the fiery wings / For our / Country / And our epoch”. Below: “This monument was constructed in commemoration of the Soviet people’s outstanding achievements in space exploration”.

A sculptural panel depicting Soviet scientists and engineers, Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, and the image of Mother Motherland (aka Mother Russia) holding hammer and sickle

The Monument to the Conquerors of Space (1964)

A sculptural panel depicting Soviet scientists and engineers, and Vladimir Lenin

If you ask people what symbol comes to their mind when they think of Moscow most of them (including both foreigners and Russians) would name Saint Basil’s Cathedral or the Kremlin, some would recall the Worker and Kolkhoz Woman sculpture or the Peoples Friendship Fountain. It is impossible to disagree that all of these magnificent constructions, especially the first two, are symbols of the city (or even of Russia itself) which are accompanied by such stereotypical cultural brands like ‘matryoshka‘, ‘balalaika‘, ‘samovar‘, ‘banya‘, ‘ushanka‘, ‘vodka‘ (sic!), etc. Many of these ‘brands’ are sold near the heart of the city, Red Square, thus, strengthening the association. Don’t get me wrong – there’s nothing bad about these products but the combination and the positioning of them gives me the right to call it ‘klyukva‘ (cranberry). This word is often used in Russia in a non-literal meaning to describe foreign (negative) stereotypes concerning Russia and Russians or some specific Russian cultural products (films, books, music videos, etc.) which are ‘klyukved‘ on purpose by their creators in order to be appreciated by the Western media and public.

I’ve chosen the Monument to the Conquerors of Space as an iconic symbol of Moscow (and not only Moscow), an embodiment of the cultural and historical heritage of the Soviet space program. Until the middle of 2006 very close to the monument there used to be Zvezdny Ryad which started from the VDNKh metro station first entrance and ended near the main entrance to the All-Russia Exhibition Centre. As poetic was its name (‘Zvezdny Ryad’ literally means ‘Star Row’) as miserable was it in reality: a bunch of casinos, one-armed bandits, sex-shops and bars with loud ‘popsa‘ (how we call tasteless low-quality pop-music in Russia), filled with zhuliki (crooks) of all kinds: gamblers, sellers of the stolen mobile phones and watches, thieves, etc. This whole scene could be perfectly described by one specific Russian word – poshlost’ – which Vladimir Nabokov introduced to the Western public in the form of ‘poshlust‘, i.e. “the falsely important, the falsely beautiful, the falsely clever, the falsely attractive”.

As for me this monument is a representation of people’s will and human capabilities, the-sky-is-not-the-limit approach and per-aspera-ad-astra attitude. One can also view the monument as a Soviet pyramid: the kingdom and the dynasty are gone, the people who built it and who it was devoted to are dead but the monument remains as a reminder of the past victories of a mortal man over time and space. It stands against the klyukva & poshlost’ of nowadays.