Worker and Kolkhoz Woman (Verkhnyaya Pyshma)

The Worker and Kolkhoz Woman in Verkhnyaya Pyshma is a reduced copy of Vera Mukhina's famous sculpture, unveiled in 2018 on Uspensky Prospekt next to the UMMC Museum of Automotive Equipment. It stands in the town's museum quarter, about 18 km north of Yekaterinburg, and has become one of the recognisable sights of the Sverdlovsk Region.

The original

Vera Mukhina created the Worker and Kolkhoz Woman in 1937 for the Soviet pavilion at the World Exhibition in Paris. The two figures striding forward, a worker raising a hammer and a collective farm woman raising a sickle, drew great attention at the exhibition and became one of the defining symbols of the Soviet era. After the exhibition the original was brought to Moscow, where it stands at VDNKh.

Making the Verkhnyaya Pyshma copy

The Ural copy was made by sculptor Alexander Kokoteev. The figures were first modelled in clay at full size; for this the sculptors rented a large workshop at the Uralkhimmash plant in Yekaterinburg. The statue was then cast in aluminium over a stainless steel frame.

The sculpture itself is 9 metres tall. It was lifted onto a 10-metre pedestal with an 80-tonne crane and a purpose-built lifting beam, so the whole monument rises almost 19 metres, roughly the height of a seven-storey building.

The monument was unveiled in September 2018. At the ceremony Sverdlovsk Region governor Yevgeny Kuyvashev spoke of its symbolic meaning, and UMMC general director Andrey Kozitsyn spoke about the further growth of the museum complex.

What to see nearby

The copy is part of the UMMC museum complex, one of the largest in the Urals. Its main collection, the Museum of Automotive Equipment, holds more than 600 exhibits: vintage cars, motorcycles and bicycles, including a Ford Model T, a Cadillac, a GAZ-A and a French Delage. The monument is easy to see from the avenue and can be visited at any time without a museum ticket.

Getting there

From Yekaterinburg a suburban train runs to the Verkhnyaya Pyshma. Muzey station, right by the museum complex. Trams and suburban buses also run from the Uralmash and Prospekt Kosmonavtov metro stations. By car the trip takes about half an hour; for the navigator, use Uspensky Prospekt, UMMC Museum of Automotive Equipment.