Shiyes Protesters Establish a Museum of Their Movement to Extend Its Influence

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Nov. 4 – Few public actions have had such a broad impact on Russian civil society than the demonstrators who stood watch for two years in opposition to the construction in the Russian North of a dump for trash not from those of that region but from the Russian capital of Moscow.

            Their steadfastness led to the ouster of two governors and the cancellation of a project the center had promoted heavily, but even more important, it served as a model of the success Russians can achieve against the powers than be when they organize and act in a highly disciplined manner.

            Now, with a victory won, the Shiyes demonstrators have found a new way to extend their influence: they have opened a museum in which their activities in the course of the protest are documented (7x7-journal.ru/articles/2021/11/05/kak-zashitniki-shiesa-sozdali-muzej-istorii-borby-protiv-stroitelstva-musornogo-poligona).

            As with the protest itself, the drive to create such a museum has faced many obstacles since the demonstrators themselves decided that having such a museum would be important. But the people involved have overcome one obstacle after another and are proud that they have a museum which displays the ways the fought their way to victory over Moscow’s plans.

            In reporting this development, the 7x7 regional news agency says that entrance to the museum is free and provides pictures of a selection of the items exhibited there. One hopes that the museum will create a website so that the many who can’t travel to the Russian North to see it will nonetheless be inspired.