In 2014, Yan Xing took a research trip to the Caucasus region. Afterwards he set up a fictional Soviet intelligence research institution, the "Caucasus Bureau," at the Iset Hotel in Yekaterinburg. Actually, the Iset complex used to be a residential facility for officers of the Soviet Union’s interior ministry (NKVD), because of which it was popularly known as “Gorodok chekistov” (Town of KGB officers). Yan Xing imagined that after the Soviet Communist Party withdrew from the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic in 1936, it established the “Caucasus Bureau” as a secret organization in Yekaterinburg. Overtly, the organization took on the responsibility of studying the politics, culture, and history of the Caucasus region, but in reality, it served as a tool for enforcing Soviet rule in that area. In Yan Xing’s narrative, after the Soviet Union collapsed, this institution was also disbanded.

Bringing together collected objects and archival materials, Yan Xing captured the scene of a former “Caucasus Bureau” staff member as they left the premises for good. Hereby he highlights the insignificance of individuals under specific historical circumstances. In this site-specific installation, objects and the scene converse with each other, illustrating the transition between historicity and contemporaneity.