Nostalghia tribute by Zoom, Moscow, Russia
Artwork FileMoscow · Russia
SeenJun 2023
Nostalghia
tribute
Zoom · «Ностальгия» (reported title), 2018 · ulitsa Shchipok, Zamoskvorechye
Photo as published on Street Art Utopia
In early October 2018 the Moscow street artist Zoom stencilled Gorchakov, Oleg Yankovsky’s hero in Tarkovsky’s Nostalghia, on an old brick wall a short walk from the lot where Tarkovsky’s home once stood, and gave him a real candle to carry. It burns only when a passer-by lights it, and for years they did.
4 things to know
- Strangers keep the flame goingThree days after the stencil appeared, Metro found Muscovites bringing new candles, relighting dead ones and stashing matches in the cracks between the bricks; Yankovsky’s painted hand was already coated in wax. Within two weeks a blogger found a “cultural layer” of paraffin and soot in the niche, and spare candles and matches tucked into the wall beside it. In September 2019 a Pikabu user wrote that passers-by often light it. Metro · cr2 · Pikabu
- A neighbour’s nudgeTarkovsky lived from 1934 to 1962 in a house at 1st Shchipkovsky Lane 26. It was pulled down on 20 June 2004 “without even notifying the director’s family”, Moskovskaya Perspektiva wrote. In October 2015 the city approved plans to rebuild it as a Tarkovsky cultural centre with a 78-seat cinema; by 2019 work had got no further than a foundation pit. Zoom had long lived in the district and thought of Tarkovsky as “a guy from the next yard”, his representative told Metro; he hoped the work would push the authorities to rebuild the house. mos.ru · Moskovskaya Perspektiva · The City · Metro
- Not his first tribute to the houseIn November 2015 Zoom put plywood figures of the three heroes of Stalker at a beer-hall table on the empty lot and called it «Поминки по Дому Тарковских» (A Wake for the Tarkovsky House). Someone soon stole the Professor’s head, along with the dog at his feet, so Zoom burned the whole installation himself. a_dedushkin · Moskovskaya Perspektiva
- Yankovsky’s son shared itOn 23 February 2023, Oleg Yankovsky’s birthday, his son Filipp posted a photo of the wall with the words «23 февраля родился мой отец» (My father was born on 23 February). Judging by the photo, Sarnovosti noted, someone had lit the candle again that day. Sarnovosti
Check-in guide
- 📍
- The wall at ulitsa Shchipok 8, building 13 (ул. Щипок, д. 8, стр. 13), near Serpukhovskaya metro (cr2), on the bend of 2nd Shchipkovsky Lane (yavarda.ru). The map pin marks the building, not the exact spot on the wall; one guide gives a different address (see The facts).
- 🚧
- Expect a fence. In August 2020 a visitor could not get close because the wall stood behind one (nefer), and a June 2023 post says a fence was put up around it (Pikabu).
- 🧱
- Look for bricks stamped «БАИ» in a frame, the mark of Baydakov’s 19th-century brickworks, as a blogger spotted in 2018 (cr2).
- 🏚️
- Tarkovsky’s house stood at 1st Shchipkovsky Lane 26, about 175 m away in a straight line. “Moscow has few addresses tied to Tarkovsky. In fact, only one,” wrote Moskvich Mag in 2019.
Sightings
- 20188 Oct
In Metro: three days old
- 201822 Oct
Blog photos: wax, candle stash
- 201920 Sep
Passers-by light it
- 20203 Aug
Photo taken: peeling, fenced
- 202211 Oct
Listed in a mural guide
- 202323 Feb
Lit on Yankovsky’s birthday
- 202310 Jun
After Zoom’s death: “still intact”
Every stamp links to the dated source.
On the record
Metro8 October 2018
Уличный художник Zoom оживил сцену из фильма Тарковского рядом с домом режиссёра
“горящая свеча у него в руке самая настоящая – её создатель городских призраков художник Zoom спрятал в небольшой нише”
“The burning candle in his hand is completely real: Zoom, the creator of the city’s ghosts, hid it in a small niche.”
Vedomosti.Gorod11 October 2022
Стена как холст. О чем рассказывают столичные муралы
“В мурале есть отверстие, где стоит реальная восковая свеча.”
“The mural has an opening where a real wax candle stands.” From a guide to Moscow murals.
Sarnovosti23 February 2023
В Москве создали граффити со свечой в память об актере из Саратова
“Люди приходят сюда и зажигают ее как в память о Тарковском, так и о Янковском.”
“People come here and light it in memory of both Tarkovsky and Yankovsky.”
Afisha Daily26 May 2023
Умер московский стрит-арт-художник Zoom, работы которого вы точно видели
“…некоторые до сих пор можно увидеть в столице — к примеру, Олега Янковского во 2-м Щипковском переулке”
“…some can still be seen in the capital, for example Oleg Yankovsky in 2nd Shchipkovsky Lane.” From the obituary.
The facts
- Artist
- Zoom (Зум), an anonymous Moscow street artist who made his first known work in July 2015; his real name and age were never made public. He died in May 2023: on 24 May, according to Afisha Daily (Kommersant reported the death on 26 May); on 22 May, according to a 22 May 2025 post by the Street Art Keeper project («Стрит-арт хранитель»), which says its interview quotes were agreed with his family; the post is carried on the Zoom Street Art site, which mirrors his Instagram. Conflicting
- Title
- «Ностальгия» (Nostalghia), as listed in a 2019 Moskva 24 walking route of Zoom’s works, which opens by noting that Zoom had just published a map of all his surviving works (Rambler) and on Russian Wikipedia. No title from the artist himself was found; “A Candle for the Missing Brick” is Street Art Utopia’s own heading. Reported
- Made
- Early October 2018. On 8 October Metro wrote that the work had been up for three days, which puts it at about 5 October. Checked
- Address
- Ulitsa Shchipok 8, building 13, according to a 2018 visitor (cr2) and yavarda.ru, on the 2nd Shchipkovsky Lane side (yavarda.ru; Afisha Daily). Vedomosti gives “1-й Щипковский пер., 19”, and Russian Wikipedia also puts it on 1st Shchipkovsky Lane. Our map pin is the OpenStreetMap building for Shchipok 8 bldg 13, so it is building-level (OSM). Conflicting
- Lane name
- The lane where Tarkovsky’s house stood is officially 1-й Щипковский переулок, 1st Shchipkovsky Lane; “1st Shchipovsky” is a former name (Wikipedia). Checked
- Subject
- Gorchakov, the writer played by Oleg Yankovsky in Tarkovsky’s Nostalghia (1983), in the scene where he carries a lit candle across the drained pool at Bagno Vignoni (Wikipedia). He shields the flame with his coat (Sarnovosti, Vedomosti); on the wall, one hand holds the candle’s base. Checked
- Medium
- Stencil in black and white spray paint on old red brick, with a real wax candle in a brick-sized niche (yavarda.ru: «Трафаретное граффити»; Vedomosti: «реальная восковая свеча»). Size not published. Checked
- The house
- Tarkovsky’s home was a two-storey house: a stone ground floor built in 1878, and an upper floor of logs added in 1912 (mos.ru). Checked
- Prize
- Russian Wikipedia, citing a Bosco di Ciliegi post of 15 June 2020, says the work won Zoom the Oleg Yankovsky prize «Творческое открытие» (Creative Discovery) at the Cherry Forest festival. Intermedia’s report of the Yankovsky prizes announced on 31 May 2020 names three winners, and Zoom is not among them. We could not read the festival’s post. Conflicting
Help us finish this file
- Does it survive? The last firmly dated report is from June 2023. A photo by Marina Roz on yavarda.ru, showing faded paint and a niche thick with wax, is dated “14.89.2023”, probably 14 September 2023. A dated photo from 2024 or later would settle it.
- Who took the photo at the top of this page, and when? Street Art Utopia ran it without a credit; the file was uploaded there in September 2020. A close-up uploaded with it matches one of the Instagram images Metro showed on 8 October 2018, so it may be Zoom’s own.
- Which address is right: ulitsa Shchipok 8, building 13, or 1st Shchipkovsky Lane 19, as Vedomosti has it? A photo showing a house-number plate near the wall would help.
- Did Zoom cut the niche, or use a gap that was already in the wall? A June 2023 Pikabu post says it was made for the candle (“проделана”); we found no word from the artist.
- The 2020 Yankovsky prize: a festival page, programme or press report that names Zoom as a winner.
Know one of these, or have a dated photo? Leave a comment below.
Related
- On Street Art Utopia: Better Broken (10 Photos) (2026), where the photo above appeared.
- Street Art Utopia’s earlier post “Missing Brick Creates Space for a Candle: Nostalghia Tribute in Moscow” (2024), with more photos, including a night view credited to Dima Zverev.
- Zoom’s own archive of painted-over works, “zoom’s art cemetery”. This wall is not in it.
- Tarkovsky’s Moscow: The City’s guide “Здесь был Андрей: места Тарковского в Москве” (17 October 2019), and Moskvich Mag on the long-planned Tarkovsky museum, “Это странно, но музей Андрея Тарковского в Москве только собираются открыть” (4 March 2019).
- The film: Nostalghia (1983) on Wikipedia.
All sources (23)
Moscow press
- Metro: “Уличный художник Zoom оживил сцену из фильма Тарковского рядом с домом режиссёра”, 8 October 2018. The real candle, the matches, Zoom’s representative. In Russian.
- Rambler Kino / Moskva 24: “Граффити и стрит-арт художника Zoom: пешеходный маршрут для прогулки по Москве”, 14 January 2019. Lists the work as «Ностальгия». In Russian.
- Vedomosti.Gorod: “Стена как холст. О чем рассказывают столичные муралы”, 11 October 2022. The candle; gives the address as 1-й Щипковский пер., 19. In Russian.
- Sarnovosti: “В Москве создали граффити со свечой в память об актере из Саратова”, 23 February 2023. Filipp Yankovsky’s post. In Russian.
- Afisha Daily: “Умер московский стрит-арт-художник Zoom, работы которого вы точно видели”, 26 May 2023. In Russian.
- Kommersant: “Умер уличный художник Zoom”, 26 May 2023. In Russian.
Tarkovsky’s house
- mos.ru (City of Moscow): “В Замоскворечье воссоздадут дом Андрея Тарковского”, 26 October 2015. The house’s history and the rebuild plan. In Russian.
- Moskovskaya Perspektiva: “От Щипковского до Пырьева”, 5 April 2017. The 2004 demolition and the burned installation. In Russian.
- Moskvich Mag: “Это странно, но музей Андрея Тарковского в Москве только собираются открыть”, 4 March 2019. In Russian.
- The City (M24): “Здесь был Андрей: места Тарковского в Москве”, 17 October 2019. In Russian.
- Wikipedia: “1-й Щипковский переулок”. Current and former names of the lane. In Russian.
Visitors and photos
- cr2 (LiveJournal): “Ностальгия от Zoom”, 22 October 2018. Six photos, the address, the brick stamps. In Russian.
- Pikabu: user post, 20 September 2019. Photos; passers-by light the candle. In Russian.
- nefer (LiveJournal): “Как мы искали Янковского на стене”, 11 August 2020. Photos with camera date 3 August 2020. In Russian.
- Pikabu: user post “Свеча”, 10 June 2023. In Russian.
- yavarda.ru: page on the stencil, 30 January 2025. Address detail and a photo by Marina Roz. In Russian.
Artist and prize
- Wikipedia: “Zoom (художник)”. List of works; the reported 2020 prize. In Russian.
- Zoom: “zoom’s art cemetery”, the artist’s archive of painted-over works.
- Zoom Street Art: post of 22 May 2025 with unpublished interview fragments; gives the date of death as 22 May 2023. In Russian.
- a_dedushkin (LiveJournal): “Поминки по Дому Тарковских”, 20 November 2015. Photos of the plywood installation. In Russian.
- Intermedia: “Ильдар Абдразаков и Марина Неёлова получили премии фестиваля «Черешневый лес»”, 1 June 2020. In Russian.
Film and map
- Wikipedia: “Nostalghia”. The film and the pool scene.
- OpenStreetMap Nominatim: building search for ul. Shchipok 8 bldg 13. Source of the map pin.
Artwork File · Last checked 29 September 2026 · Certainty labels follow How We Verify Art · All Artwork Files