It’s always the most embarrassing part of a fallen regime. All those statues, no longer relevant. Usually they come down, hence the severed head of Vladimir Lenin recently unearthed in Berlin. But what to do with all those Lenins still standing? Turn them into the likeness of a more benevolent leader, of course.
That’s what happened in Odessa, Ukraine, where local artist Alexander Milov managed to turn a statue of the Soviet leader into a post-surgery Anakin Skywalker. The country is in the midst of a decommunization program which requires all symbols of the toppled political party to be removed. But instead of knocking this one down, Milov (a sculptor who also had a piece at Burning Man) encased Lenin in an alloy which is glued to the old statue. Oh, and he added free wifi, which is exactly the kind of tech upgrade Lord Vader would have demanded.
Who was further on the Dark Side spectrum, Lenin or Vader? I’d say Lenin—although Vader had his moments, the Sith Lord eventually redeemed himself. Although there are plenty of Imperial apologists who refuse to believe the Empire was indeed evil:
[Dumskaya via Hyperallergic]