Siberian Messiah’s Journey from Utopia to Persecution

Deep in the Siberian taiga, followers of a self-proclaimed messiah set out to build a new world. Led by Sergei Torop, a former traffic police officer known as Vissarion, they sought refuge from the upheaval of the former Soviet Union in a community known as “The Zone,” founded on spiritual renewal and the promise of salvation. Yet their utopia came to reflect the world they hoped to escape.

Who were the people who left their lives behind, and what did they find in the wilderness? Their experiences reveal the appeal of belonging, the sacrifices demanded by collective dreams, and the difficulty of beginning again after profound disillusionment.

Join photographer Maciej Skawiński and writer Jędrzej Morawiecki for a photographic and literary journey into this community, drawing on five years of travel in Siberia. Through documentary photographs, filmed excerpts, and stories from Morawiecki’s book Prepare Your Sleigh in Summer, they explore the hopes that brought believers together, the tensions between personal freedom and spiritual authority, and life following Vissarion’s arrest and conviction.

The evening opens a wider discussion of new religious movements in Russia, internal oppression and state persecution, and what remains of a community when its promise of salvation is shattered.

At each of our events you can expect a warm atmosphere, an ability to network as well as complimentary refreshments.
RSVP is recommended, donations welcomed.

Senate Square Society, an organization that is opposed to the current Russian regime and fully supports Ukrainian independence and territorial integrity.