Description
"“The reconstruction and renovation of residential housing is progressing well in the majority of Leningrad districts. However, in some city areas there have been repeated failures in meeting the
repairs completion deadlines and the quality of work has been poor. The district housing boards’ inspectors are lax in enforcing compliance among contractors. The houses with numerous defects still manage to pass inspection” (From the newspaper Leningradskaya Pravda).
Poet: Tumarinson, G.
The building’s still in total disrepair,
So far the renovation’s been disaster of a job.
Progress report we pulled out of thin air,
But it is fair to say that we are right on top.
The joke is centered on the Russian idiomatic expression ""from the ceiling"" that corresponds to the English expression ""out of thin air."" Here it is understood literally that the ceiling collapse is caused by the bureaucrat who pulled nonexistent figures out of it."
Rights
Source: Holzer, M., Illiash, I., Gabrielian, V., & Kuznestsova, L. (2010). Red Tape from Red Square:Bureaucratic Commentary in Soviet Graphic Satirical Art. Poughkeepsie, NY: NetPublications
Identifier
Art, Satire, Cartoons, Leningrad, Construction, Housing, Repairs, Bureaucracy