Dëni Mustafa

Born in 1977 in Samara, Russia, Dëni Mustafais an activist artist, filmmaker and video artist. After graduating from Samaa University with a degree in theater direction, he first worked as a designer for a newspaper and a magazine. In 2001, he moved to Moscow and began working for publishing houses and advertising agencies. He directed several short films and took part in the Moscow Short Film Festival and Cinefantom. A figure of artistic and political opposition in Russia for the past fifteen years, he criticizes the Russian authorities through his work and his demonstrations. In 2010, he organized an illegal exhibition called Communal Block, and also held a solitary picket in front of the Church of the Holy Trinity against article 282 of the Russian Criminal Code, regularly used against opponents of the regime. In 2021, he led an action written in Braille in the center of Moscow.
In 2022, to mark Russia Day, he organized an anti-war action entitled Today is not my day near the Ministry of Defense in Moscow. He spent 15 days in a special detention center and was fined by the court. He fled Russia in 2022. He is a member of the Artists in Exile Workshop.