1966

He was born in Novorossiysk, on the Black Sea, and in the early 1980s moved to Leningrad, where he met and became friends with leaders of the art scene there, such as the painter Timur Novikov and musician Boris Grebenshchikov. Shortly thereafter he adopted the artistic moniker "Afrika" and began working as an artist himself. In 1987 he starred as Bananan, the lead character in the groundbreakingly avant garde film Assa by Russian film director Sergei Solovyov. In 1999 Afrika represented Russia at the 48th Venice Biennale.