Worker and Kolkhoz Woman, Steel monument at VDNKh, Moscow, Russia
Worker and Kolkhoz Woman is a 25-meter-tall steel sculpture group in Ostankinsky District, Moscow. The two figures raise a hammer and a sickle toward the sky while their clothing and a connecting scarf appear to blow in the wind behind them.
The monument stood at the 1937 Paris World Fair as a response to the German pavilion across from it. After the exhibition it returned to Moscow and was placed in front of the VDNKh entrance, where it remains today.
The two figures holding their raised tools appear in the opening credits of countless Russian films as the emblem of Mosfilm studio since 1947. The image became so widely reproduced that it appeared on posters, stamps, and everyday objects throughout the Soviet Union.
A museum inside the base opens Tuesday through Sunday with exhibits about the construction and Soviet architecture of the period. The plaza around the sculpture is freely accessible and offers a good view of the full composition from several angles.
Engineers designed a special internal truss system to support the flowing metal scarf between the two figures. The entire construction consists of over 5,000 individual steel parts welded by hand.
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