His daughter, Maria, confirmed his death on Sunday morning, writing on her Live Journal blog: “My father, Lev Rubinstein, died today.”
Rubinstein was considered one of the founders of the Conceptual movement in Soviet-era Moscow, an artistic movement that sought to undermine socialist ideology and its restrictive forms imposed on artists. Serving as an antithesis to the official doctrine of the Socialist Realism art form which produced idealized and superficial scenes of Soviet life in a realistic style, the Conceptual movement involved bold experiments across various media such as painting, sculpture, performance and literature.
In his unique style, Mr. Rubinstein works at the intersection of literature, visual arts, and performance. He was known for his “postcard poems”, in which each verse was written on a separate card, inspired by his time working as a librarian at his university in Moscow. The finished work, resembling a library catalogue, prompted the reader to physically interact with the poem.
Beginning in the mid-1970s, he published his works first abroad and then in Soviet samizdat, secret and temporary publications intended to copy and distribute censored works across the Eastern Bloc.
Later in his career, Mr. Rubinstein turned to journalism and activism, writing for major Russian media outlets in the 1990s and 2000s such as Itogy magazine, Kommersant newspaper, and the Weekly Journal. In 1999, he received the Andrei Bely Prize, Russia's oldest independent literary award, honoring samizdat writers and poets who worked outside Soviet censorship.
Mr. Rubinstein worked closely with Memorial, one of the country's oldest human rights organizations, which was recently closed and banned by Russian authorities.
“He was poetic, witty, ironic, and himself a way of perceiving the world. We speak, have spoken, and will continue to speak in Rubinstein’s language.” statement On X.
“Russia today has no place for free citizens and independent poets. It runs through them, and does not stop at the red light to see them crossing the road,” the statement added. “A poet who outlived himself many times over could not live in Putin’s Russia.”
Mr. Rubinstein's death led to an outpouring of tributes from many Russian activists, writers, artists and supporters, both inside the country and in exile.
“His poems, stories, ideas about how human nature works, and his attempts to understand and explain the world around him will remain with us and long after us. His voice is heard now and will continue to be heard,” journalist Sergei Parkhomenko wrote on his Facebook page.
Mr. Rubinstein has participated in numerous demonstrations against the persecution of fellow artists and writers, and has been an outspoken critic of repression in Russia and in neighboring Belarus, the policies of President Vladimir Putin, and the 2014 Russian invasion of Ukraine. In 2021, he expressed his support for opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who was arrested in He returned to Russia from Germany after being treated for poisoning with a nerve agent.
Last March, Mr. Rubinstein signed an open letter against the invasion of Ukraine.
“Any war is terrible not only because it is very easy to start and very difficult to end. It is terrible not only because people die and cities are destroyed. In war, people's lives are destroyed and mutilated, and the consequences of war are in some cases disastrous,” Rubinstein said of war. Sometimes even for the generations that follow.”
“There is an old lady, of course, who looks bad now, but you should not forget her. Her name is Hope,” Rubinstein said in an interview last year with the independent Russian-language media outlet Meduza. And you have to turn to her every now and then because it is ingrained in the human psyche. You should To have hope and do what you can to the best of your ability.
