THENIGHTMAREBEFOREFREEDOM

Art that doesn't ask for permission.

TNBF.art is an independent political art project about what happens inside the Russian repressive machine, and how its shadow falls on the rest of the world.

We talk about the things people usually try to ignore — in a way that makes it harder to look away.

This is a space for those who believe:

if the state builds a system of suppression, society has the right to build a system of witnessing, creativity and resistance.

Even a small one, even street-level, even a single person — but honest.

We want those who built the repressive system to finally face the consequences of their own policies — international restrictions, diplomatic measures, public accountability — and be forced to reconsider their decisions.

Not out of mercy, but out of inevitability.

What is TNBF.art

It is not an organisation.

It is not a movement.

It is not a structure.

It is a network of independent people, each with their own voice, methods and truth.

No hierarchies. No “correct formats”. No instructions from above.

This is exactly how repressive systems lose:

they are too slow, too heavy, too sure they control everything.

Art is not.

It goes where slogans cannot.

How to take part

Any way. Any form. Any idea.

• Take an existing poster and hang it in a library.

• Make your own mini-exhibition in an entrance hall, a park, or at a bus stop.

• Read poetry in the street.

• Share visual works.

• Print stickers.

• Hold quiet actions.

• Invent something no project has done before.

If you need materials — write.

I answer quickly.

I publish works on the site so they can inspire others.

If you use someone else’s materials — just keep a link to the author. This is about respect, not control.

Why it matters

A repressive system survives on predictability.

Decentralised creativity is chaotic, ungovernable, and persistent.

One person reads poems.

Another builds a small exhibition in a local library.

A third stands with a poster.

A fourth asks people questions on the street.

A fifth dances in a cat costume simply because they can.

Each one is a point of light.

And there will be more of them.

Big movements can burn out under pressure or exhaustion.

A network of small, free, independent actions cannot be switched off:

it has no central button.

Why art is a weapon (without violence)

The story of Jean-Michel Basquiat proves this:

one of the most expensive paintings of our time began with a short street tag, SAMO, on New York walls.

Art, said at the right moment, can be worth more than any propaganda.

And sometimes changes more than any orders.

Thanks

Thanks to RADR for helping with printing materials.

Thanks to my friends who bought me cookies and instant noodles while I stayed home and worked on the project.

Yes, such details matter. It’s exactly from them that something bigger is built.