Lower Thirds:
0:05	Report by Christine Mhundwa
0:19	 Paulina Siniatkina | Artist
0:50	 Vladimir Shalamov | Curator Artists Against the Kremlin
2:18	Aglaya Drobysheva | Artist
((info: The largest exhibition of critical art by Russian artists is on show in the Dutch city of Amsterdam. 'Artists Against the Kremlin' is a protest against the Russian government's propaganda and repression.))

Script: 
This portrait of Vladimir Putin is a work of protest against his rule in Russia.
It’s on display in an anti-Kremlin exhibition featuring dozens of Russian dissident artists.
The theme is virus.
+++ SOT (English) Paulina Siniatkina, Artist+++
“It is about reinforced loop of corruption that Putin is aware of. But he's immune. This is like a system that keeps everybody oppressed”
‘Artists Against the Kremlin’ is being hosted in Amsterdam’s renowned center for art and public debate - De Balie.
It's a safe space for Russian artists to criticize the Kremlin’s imperialism, repression and authoritarianism.
Which the artists say is a virus that is spreading:
+++SOT (English) Vladimir Shalamov, Artists Against the Kremlin, Curator+++
“Many countries that was known to be pro-democratic now uses those practices of repressions like Georgia, for instance, where I stayed and lived for the first six months of my forced exile. When we came there, it was full support of Ukrainians, right now, it's completely vice versa. It's like super pro-Russian government. This looks like, like a disease how Kremlin technologies of propaganda, of repressions of torture become global”
Since Moscow’s full scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the number of artists imprisoned in Russia has grown.
Rights groups say Russian secret services have been monitoring artists, forcing many to flee.
Those still inside the country work underground, risking arrest for criticising the war and the authorities.
Some of the art on display here is from those artists inside Russia. And some from Ukrainian artists in regions under Russian bombardment:
+++SOT (English) Vladimir Shalamov, ‘Artists Against the Kremlin’ Curator+++
“[This box came directly from Ukraine to this exhibition]…this one I think is something you build for a sniper ”
In Russia -  repression has reached new extremes, pushing many into exile.
+++SOT (English) Aglaya Drobysheva, Artist +++
“The screen was quite an important component of the project, because there is always a system beneath just the surface this can actually be quite an interesting metaphor for the Kremlin and the propaganda and the regime itself.”
Through this exhibition - Russian artists want to send the message: that the Kremlin is waging a hybrid war and fuelling instabilty through propaganda and disinformation..
+++ENDS+++