Moscow
Moscow

In Moscow, everything is symbolic and paradoxical. All the trees of Sadovaya Boulevard had been torn out. The building of a magnificent agricultural exhibition had been started. At that time, the country was devastated by famine. Agriculture was in a catastrophic state. And, here we are, a colossal exposition was to be set-up – an exposition unprecedented in the whole world, an exposition that would show the alleged dazzling successes and happy life of soviet peasants. The cost exceeded the entire budget of agriculture. How to explain such phenomenon? Some believe that, at that time, this exposition was a nice fairytale, and fairytales were more important than reality. It is true that this fairytale was a masterpiece of bad taste. But don’t forget that provincial areas have their own tastes. Moscow was, and is still, rebuilt according to the same aesthetical cretinism. Others think that setting up such exposition was all the same easier than improving agriculture. The latter task has not been fulfilled yet, whereas the exposition has been set-up. Others even consider that the impact of the exposition was far superior to the one generated by the improvement of agriculture. A tiny progress of rural economy would have passed unnoticed, while everybody saw the exposition.
(Alexander Zinoviev, 1979