Wende Museum Brings the Cold War and Russians to Culver City

For almost 15 years, The Wende Museum of the Cold War was hidden in the outskirts of Culver City. But now, its unique collection of 100,000 pieces of archives, art, and artifacts has moved to the Armory Building in the center of Culver City.

Wende Museum’s opening celebration at its new home in Culver City at The Armory. Photo by Edward Goldman.

Installation shot of “Cold War Spaces” at The Wende Museum. Photo by Michael Underwood. Image courtesy of the museum.

Installation shot of “Cold War Spaces” at The Wende Museum. Photo by Michael Underwood. Image courtesy of the museum.

Installation shot of “Cold War Spaces” at The Wende Museum. Photos by Edward Goldman.

I do remember seeing similar propaganda material while growing up in the Soviet Union, and let me tell you – back then, it was intimidating and a little bit scary. But now, at the new Wende Museum, with its unorthodox juxtaposition of Cold War ephemera, I look at this stockpile of German and Soviet Union spy equipment, “textiles, discarded family scrapbooks, furniture, restaurant menus, mixed tapes, paintings, [and] sculptures” (LA Times), and all that makes me smile and think differently…

Installation shot of “Cold War Spaces” at The Wende Museum. Photo by Michael Underwood. Image courtesy of the museum.

Yes, each coin has two sides; the Wende’s exhibitions allow us to learn what life was like on the other side of the Berlin Wall. Of course, there are plenty images of happy peasants and factory workers, smiling and marching toward a bright future.

Installation shots of “The Russians” at The Wende Museum. Photos by Edward Goldman.

One of the welcome surprises for visitors is a small exhibition The Russians, with a series of black and white photographs by New York artist Nathan Farb, who went to Siberia in 1977 and made portraits of Soviet citizens in the heartland of Russia. These people… they do command your attention; they come across as characters from Dostoyevsky and Chekhov stories.

L: Installation shot of “Cold War Spaces” at The Wende Museum. Photo by Michael Underwood. Image courtesy of the museum. R: The cover of Beyond the Wall: Art and Artifacts from the GDR, a catalog of the Wende Museum’s collection. Published by Taschen. Photo courtesy the museum.

And, here is a bronze bust of Yuri Gagarin, the first human being to fly into outer space in 1961. This Soviet achievement forced the United States to escalate the American space program, which ultimately thumbed its nose at the Soviet Union by sending Neil Armstrong to the moon in 1969.