Stalin's Reign Over East Village Lasts Five Days

Cooper Union has taken down the giant Stalin banner that went up this week following pressure from the Dept. of Buildings, which had received complaints. The banner was part of Lene Berg's installation, “Stalin by Picasso, or Portrait of Woman with Mustache.” The school recognized that it may be particularly sensitive circumstances to have it up--with a large nearby Ukranin community keenly aware that it is the 75th anniversary of a famine imposed by Stalin that killed millions of Ukrainians. Jaroslaw Leshko, the president of the board of trustees at the Ukrainian Museum, did not want to kibosh the installation and suggested it be put up somewhere indoors. But Berg was more than unhappy with the move, saying, “In a sense, I think it’s self-censorship...They ruined my show, my work.”