NICOLA BERTOGLIO

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'Mail art' initiative in support of a Russian political prisoner

The 26-year-old Russian Daniil Klyuka, an art teacher originally from Temirtau, a city in Kazakhstan, in the Karaganda region and a resident of the city of Lipeck on February 16, 2023, was jailed in a detention centre (SIZO) under the article of the Russian law against support for terrorist activities. The young man risks up to 15 years old.

According to the indictment, on October 18, 2022, Daniil, being a 'insuffer of an anti-Russian point of view', exchanged 20 thousand rubles in cryptocurrency and then transferred them to the electronic wallet of the fighters of the 'Azov' brigade. (The Russian Supreme Court recognised 'Azov' as a terrorist organisation and banned it on Russian territory)

This is the text of the letter that Daniil Klyuka wrote from the Lipeck detention centre to tell the reason for his arrest:

"My story is bitter to tell. I worked in the school in silence, I wasn't arguing with anyone. I had a subscription to a local newspaper, teachers are forced to subscribe to these local magazines. But what we are forced to do I despise with all my heart. There is such a policy - this newspaper serves no one, but it is necessary to buy it because of propaganda, because the people must somehow know that they live in a beautiful country and have excellent power. I was the only one reading this political garbage, my colleagues put the newspaper under their shoes. In my free time I drew on it, for fun or under the influence of my feelings mostly horns, moustaches, beards. And despite the fact that there were photos of the representatives of the authority on the page, I had the right to write on their forehead 'Devil', because after all it is my newspaper - what I want I draw. When the 'special military operation' began and the newspaper received materials to justify the war, I continued my artistic activity, but forgot to take it home. One day the principal found him, called me and fired me. I was accused by her of Nazism and adding that I have 'dirt in my head'. I've heard a lot of nonsense like: Russia didn't turn Grozny into ruins, Mariupol was destroyed by Zelensky's troops. In short, it was the denial of history and terminal schizophrenia. I thought it would end up there, but the principal called the FSB (the Federal Security Service), gave them my newspapers with the drawings and told them I was interested in explosives. For a week and a half I was followed, then the principal called me and said, 'Come, we need to arrange some documents'. I then went to my workplace, but when I arrived I only managed to walk a hundred metres before the "show" began: I was thrown into the snow with my face, they put a sack on my head and took me to a basement in an unknown location. I won't tell you what happened there. I will leave out the details. A few days later, they found money transfers in my phone to my brother in Lugansk (Ukraine), made for a charity campaign. Honestly, I don't remember which one. But the FSB (the Federal Security Service) insistently asked me to confess that I did it to fund the 'Azov' with weapons, drones and other military equipment. And now I'm in jail."

Daniil is one of many political prisoners locked up in Russian prisons for expressing his disagreement with power. His story, which came to me by volunteers from the Free Russian Community of Milan, is not known as that of other activists and journalists imprisoned for similar reasons.

This is why I decided to shed light on his story by asking for the support of the whole 'mail art' community so that with the strength of art this guy can be helped to feel less alone inside his cell. Because the more letters he gets the more his detention will be less heavy. Political prisoners who receive attention from outside and abroad are in fact treated a little better.

We populate Daniil's imprisonment with our own portraits or self-portraits (even of course fantasy), made with all techniques and all styles, sending them to his mail address in prison. The maximum size of the works must be that of an A4 sheet. Remember to avoid nods to the situation in Russia or Ukraine, references to Putin or the ongoing war in general, so as not to incur censorship and allow the material to physically reach Daniil.

Also photograph your works and send them to the email: info@nicolabertoglio.com so that they can be published here on this dedicated page of my site. You can also post the same images on your social networks using the hashtag #UnRitratoperDaniil

This is the mailing address to which to ship your works. Copy it exactly as I report it because Russian prisons do not accept correspondence from non-cyrillic addresses:

КЛЮКА ДАНИИЛ ВЛАДИМИРОВИЧ 1996

СИЗО-1 УФСИН России по г. Москве

г. Москва,

ул. Матросская Тишина,

д. 18

107996

RUSSIA

The stamp to be used must be the one specific to Russia (Zone 1) and as simple as possible as well as the envelopes because the guards could keep them. For this initiative there is no deadline other than the end of Daniil's imprisonment. Let him feel that we artists from all over the world are close to him and think of him.

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Update 06/19/24: The Moscow court sentenced Daniil to 20 years in prison. His lawyer will attempt to appeal.

Below are some photos of Daniil along with some of his drawings and letters from prison

Below are the works sent by artists from all over the world