The Cherkashins were born and have grown up in Russia, in a country with an imperial mentality. Later they became witnesses of its tragic collapse. It was important for them to understand what kind of contribution was made by the Soviet epoch to the way that world culture has developed. During a relatively short historical period a number of unique memorials, such as the Moscow metro, Stalin's skyscrapers and the Exhibition of Economic Achievements were created.  At the beginning of the 90s a lot of people in Russia wished to destroy everything that reminded them of their sufferings during the Soviet period.

After it lost its ideological meaning, Soviet architecture was transformed into beautiful decoration, a mirage. That gave The Cherkashins an idea for the title "Mirages of Empire". Being artists, they have not only lived through all these changes, but have also reflected them in their art which is based on documentary photographs which they took  in Moscow from the end of 80s till now. Later the Cherkashins continued to work with this theme in other countries, such as The USA, Great Britain, Germany, Spain, and Japan.