SPECIAL ISSUE OF NIVEAU BiZZ magazine euregio in cooperation with:
GRINSVENSKI@GORKI Interactive photo and video portraits of Enterprising Russian and Dutch Ambassadors by Guy van Grinsven with texts by Frans T. Stoks
©2013 Published by: NIVEAU BiZZ magazine euregio Molensingel 73 NL - 6229 PC Maastricht T: +31(0)43 356 14 90 F: +31(0)43 356 00 84 info@niveaumagazine.nl www.niveaumagazine.nl All photographs © Guy van Grinsven
All the photos in whatever publication form they appear now or later (newspaper, magazine, tablet) have been edited with the unique Layartechnique, allowing owners of smartphones to view these videos on their phones, once they have downloaded the special free Layar app.
Introduction “Every picture tells a story,” as they say, but what is
their eyes when they notice how certain things are different
unique about Guy Van Grinsven’s photos in his exhibition
from what they remember from their youth in their native
GRINSVENSKI@GORKI, on display in Moscow’s Gorky
country, but at the same time they openheartedly talk about
Park and later this year in the Kremlin in Nizhny Novgorod, is
the “otherness” of their new environment without hesitating
that the people portrayed tell their own stories too. On these
to mention the things they miss most: quite ordinary local
live seize pictures, twenty people – ten from Russia working
dishes like frikadel or pelmeni, or road facilities for bicyclists.
and living in the Maastricht Region and twenty people born
Remarkable, however, is how similar the desires and emotions
and/or raised in Limburg working and living in Moscow or
of the Russian and Dutch participants are. Or maybe that is not
Nizhny Novgorod – are being portrayed at the favorite site in
remarkable at all, for after all they are just people like you and
the city where they emigrated to, and all of them are holding
me, captured in a unique composition. And that is the artistic
a real iPad in their hands. Visitors can trigger a short video
greatness of these photos.
on these iPads, in which the portrayed will briefly talk about the location where they were photographed, their motives
With his exhibition GRINSVENSKI@GORKI prize winning
to settle in Russia or the Netherlands, and about their lives,
photographer Guy Van Grinsven cleverly shows how people
loves, desires and longings.
can bridge distances, even between immense nations such as Russia and the tiny Netherlands, by giving these people both a
What is interesting about Guy Van Grinsven’s interactive
face and a voice. In that sense this photo and video exhibition
photo and video project is that all the participants – whether
is a exemplary contribution of the City of Maastricht to the
they are students, teachers of music, academics, successful
Dutch-Russian Bilateral Year 2013.
business men, or children of mixed Russian-Dutch families – proclaim to have found their place in the new country of their own choice. They have not yet lost the look of surprise in
Frans T. Stoks
Anastasia Alexandrovna Safonova
Finding her second home, without losing her first Some people are surprised, some even get angry when they
What she likes best in Maastricht is the city’s combination of
find out that the hero of their youth, famous Musketeer
concrete history, exuberant conviviality and an open academic
D’Artagnan, was killed near one of Maastricht’s city gates on
atmosphere. In Maastricht, Anastasia has found her second
June 15th 1673. Alexandre Dumas’s hero is well known among
home, without losing her first, as she puts it herself.
Russians, for his life was taught in nearly all schools in the
Most surprising to her is that in Maastricht she made
former Soviet Union.
acquaintance with prominent Russian musicians she would not
On the picture, we see piano teacher and performer Anastasia
have met had she stayed in Russia. However, she plans to pay at
Safonova, playing an imaginary piano next to a huge statue
least one visit per year to Moscow, which just is a more dynamic
of D’Artagnan in Maastricht’s Aldenhof Park. Anastasia was
metropolis than small town but cozy Maastricht. By now, she
born in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia’s third city, 4,000 kilometers east
has taken numerous Dutch musicians on tour through Russia,
of Moscow, on the Yenesei river. She grew up in Moscow,
and they all have become enthusiastic fans of Russia.
where she began to study music at the age of four, having her
Incidentally, the D’Artagnan statue was made by Russian master
successful début performance of Mendelssohn piano concerto
sculptor Alexander Taratynov, who lives both in Maastricht and
eight years later.
Moscow and is known for his bronze-cast representation of
To Maastricht she came at the invitation of an English teacher,
Rembrandt’s Night Watch among others. D’Artagnans head is
who asked her to participate in an international master class at
modelled on the basis of a photo Guy Van Grinsven made of a
the city’s Conservatory.
still living descendant of the historical D’Artagnan.
Anastasia loves to come to this place in the park when she is preparing herself for a piano performance and needs to get inspired. She has been a piano teacher at the nearby Maastricht Conservatory since 2000, has been performing all over Europe and made various recordings for public TV and radio stations.
Theodorus P.M. Schreurs
Problems are challenges to be solved Most people are extremely annoyed when, after a strenuous
21st Century. The novel was the inspiration for the name of
flight, they arrive at an airport and are faced with long queues at
Theodorus’s enterprise.
the customs. When in 1999, Theodorus P.M. Schreurs arrived
The Limburg business man feels perfectly at home in the
in Moscow for the first time he was confronted with these
dynamic Russian capital, an art and museum lover’s paradise
queues and was probably the only passenger who rubbed his
which, like New York, is a city that never sleeps. Over the years
hands. He saw chances and challenges. After all, he was a crisis
in Russia, Theodorus had come to deeply respect the people
manger by profession. Two years later, he founded The Noble
of this immense country. He greatly admires the sacrifices and
House, an enterprise specialized in helping foreign businesses
achievements of the Russian people over the last twenty years,
to develop successfully in Russia, being expert in finance,
since the early days of perestroika. People in the West tend to
taxation, sales, import, transport, and warehouse logistics,
forget these things and should pay less attention to negative
legal and HR services, IT support, and Certification. By 2013,
trifles.
The Noble House is employing thirty people. Theodorus Pierrovich Schreurs was born in Venlo-Blerick, the third biggest city of the Limburg province, on the river Meuse, close to the German border. For him, Moscow was back then and still is an exciting metropolis where he is doing business in exciting times. That is why he chose to be photographed on Moscow’s Red Square, with the famous Saint Basil’s Cathedral in the background. In his left hand, he holds a wellthumbed copy of The Noble House, a novel written in 1981 by James Clavell and set in the financial world of Hong Kong in 1963. Interesting times, interesting place, like Moscow in the
Dmitri Alexandrovich Boutylkov
Promoter of tolerance and diversity “Two religions on one pillow, there the Devil sleeps in
Dmitri is a staunch promoter of a unique project, initiated
between.” This old-fashioned Dutch saying suggests that a
by the German artist Gunter Demnich, to keep the memory
marriage of two people with different religious backgrounds
alive of the victims of National Socialism by installing
will not last. However, the moral of the saying did not last
commemorative brass plaques in the pavement in front of their
either, for religious diversity and tolerance are what Moscow
last address of choice. There are now over 30,000 Stolpersteine
born Dmitri Boutylkov likes best about Maastricht. Being
(lit. ‘Stumbling Stones’) all over Europe and, thanks to Dmitri
the president of a foundation promoting the advancement of
and his foundation, also in Maastricht. In 2012, the first one was
Jewish cultural heritage in the Maastricht Region he chose
installed in front of a bookshop in an 800-year-old church that,
Maastricht’s main square, the Vrijthof, for his picture to be
according to the British newspaper The Guardian, is ‘the most
taken. He is standing next to a statue, representing cheerful
beautiful bookshop of all time’.
people celebrating carnival by holding each other’s hands.
It is not hard to understand why Dmitri feels at home in
“Behind me there are both the Catholic Basilica of Saint
Maastricht.
Servatius and the Protestant Saint John’s Church,” says Dmitri. Only a small alley, ironically called Purgatory, lies in between. One of the huge bronze gates in the Servatius Basilica was made by one of Dmitri’s friends, Maastricht sculptor Appie Drielsma, a Jewish Holocaust survivor, who incorporated the names of his murdered relatives in the gate. For Dmitri, who came to Maastricht 22 years ago, these religions linking up with each other perfectly symbolize the tolerance and diversity of Maastricht, a very European city of not only many religions but also many languages, with Russian on the rise.
Pim Nikolayevich Bemelmans
An interpreter-translator going into Russian business At the age of twelve, Maastricht born Pim Nikolayevich
Lieve Vrouweplein (Our Lady’s Square). He simply loves it’s
Bemelmans was convinced that he was to become an
unique atmosphere, the friendly people he can talk to in his
interpreter-translator of Russian. After all, there were
own dialect and the epicurean life style. ‘With all their money,
numerous job opportunities in Holland’s most European
all the Russian oligarchs cannot buy that atmosphere. It is
city Maastricht and the (then called) European Economic
between the ears and not to be found in a wallet.’
Community in nearby Brussels. He became fluent in Russian,
Pim is standing on the Bolshoy Kamenny Bridge (Big Stone
but his professional career would strike out on a different
Bridge) over the Moskva, the river that runs through the very
course. After additional economic and marketing studies, he
heart of Moscow, the Kremlin right behind him. In his hands, he
took an MBA degree at the Antwerp Management School,
holds a windshield, symbolizing the Carglass company, which
had various managerial functions in aluminum and live stock
he started as a wild MBA project and side job almost four years
companies and has been living in Moscow now for the past
ago, and for which he has been working in Russia now for two
seven years.
and half years as a Sales and Marketing Director. This is the
During the roaring Russian nineties, Pim even contemplated
favorite spot for all TV news reporters in Moscow for an on-
setting up a chain of Starbucks-like coffeeshops in Russia, but
camera standup. They usually report on world politics. Pim just
fate decided otherwise, partly because supporting companies
kindly invites you to come to Russia and taste its many facets
shied away from doing business in booming, unknown,
for yourself.
adventurous Russia. But Pim seemed to have found his destiny in Russia. He loves the country’s dynamics, its paradoxes and everything why Russia and the Russian way of life cannot be understood with ordinary western common sense. However, whenever he pays a visit to his native town, he will go for a beer and a good old unnesop (onion soup) at the Onze
Vladimir Igoryevich Kirasirov
‘While my guitar gently speaks’ Love of music and more specifically love of the guitar made
the Maastricht Conservatory. Nowadays he makes a living
Vladimir Kirasov come to Maastricht. Along with his partner
in and around the Limburg capital by teaching others to play
in life, Evgenia Markova, who plays the domra (a traditional
guitar and by staging various concerts, both as a solo artist and
Russian string instrument), he plays musical compositions from
with his partner Evgenia. Having won various regional and
Béla Bartók, Manuel de Falla, Johann Sebastian Bach, Maurice
international competitions, he also performs regularly in Saint-
Ravel and Rumanian Folk dances, to contemporary music by
Petersburg as well as in other European cities.
Ástor Piazzolla and Alfred Schnittke. During the photo shoot Vladimir preferred to have his guitar talk for him rather than talk too much himself. He is photographed in het lime stone caves near Maastricht, a labyrinth of thousands of tunnels, carved out by miners during the past centuries. They sawed the characteristic yellowish blocks out of the mines so that they could be used in the construction of buildings such as houses, churches and schools. You can still see these buildings all over the Maastricht Region. Behind Vladimir there is peeping Siri, the photographer’s husky dog, symbolizing Vladimir’s roots: his parents originate from far away Siberia – his father from Novosibirsk, his mother from Novokuznetsk –, a place and climate where Siri feels quite at home. Before coming to Maastricht, Vladimir was a graduate of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. In 2013, he graduated from
Darya Vadimovna Severina
Lighting a table lamp on an old border post Not only world famous opera diva Anna Netrebko was born in
Netherlands. Now, with peaceful Belgium on the opposite
the southern Russian city of Krasnodar but also Darya Severina.
border of the river and with only an iron post to mark the exact
Krasnodar, meaning literally ‘Red Gift’, is a city of 700,000
border, Darya celebrates the borderless possibilities of life
inhabitants, on the river Kuban and roughly 1,500 kilometers to
in the Maastricht Region by lighting a table lamp on the old
the southeast of Moscow, near the east coast of the Black Sea
border post, making her feel even more at home.
and, by Russian standards, near the Olympic city of Sochi. A few years ago, Darya went on a holiday to nearby – again by Russian standards – Turkey, where she met a handsome Dutch man. “It was love at first sight,” she remembers. One year after they met, Darya moved to the Netherlands, where she eventually found a job, working as a treasury analyst for of Sabic, one of the world’s top six petrochemical companies and the largest non-oil company in the Middle East. Darya is working in a modern office in Sittard, a city just 25 kilometers north of Maastricht. Coming from southern Russia, Darya was attracted by the borderless environment in the Maastricht Region. That is why she chose to have her photograph taken right at the BelgianDutch border in Eijsden, a friendly historic village on the river Meuse, just south of Maastricht. During the First World War a high voltage electric fence prevented refugees from warstricken Belgium to flee across the border into the neutral
David Kirovich Kaik
‘Learn about each others cultures and be friendly’ David Kirovich Kaik was born in Komsomolsk-na-Amure, a
Russia’s cheap cigarettes and vodka. And he never forgets
city of over 200,00 inhabitants in the Russian Far East, near
about Russia due to his friend’s obsession with Russian dolls
the Chinese border. His ancestors from both sides originally
(матрёшки/matryoshkas), the ones people in the Netherlands
came from Germany but moved to Russia somewhere in the
call ‘бабушки/babushkas’, which does not make any sense to
18th century. He was raised in his hometown, moved to St
David.
Petersburg in 2011 and has been living in Maastricht since 2012.
There is one other thing that would make David feel even more
“I’ve come to Maastricht mostly because of the university and
comfortable in Maastricht. He truly hopes that the university
I just wanted to study abroad as it seemed a good idea. Until
will stop making a distinction between EU students and non-
now, I have not regretted that decision. I am enjoying the city’s
EU students, so that he would not have to pay five times as
international atmosphere (especially at the Faculty of Arts and
much for his program. Moreover, David is convinced that
Social Sciences of Maastricht University where I study). Here,
student exchange programs would make a great difference in
you meet people from all over the world and I have made some
Russian-Dutch relationships. Young adults should learn about
really great friends. And cycling I find just fascinating. I have
other cultures, traditions, languages perhaps, and that would
been to Belgium a few times on a bike.”
definitely make us all friends. “Be friendly, that is my advice,”
While in Maastricht, David does not really miss Russia that
says David.
much. Naturally, it was nice to be back in St Petersburg and see his Mom and friends for the New Year, but frankly those two weeks were enough for him to start getting bored and missing Maastricht. And he was disappointed to notice how many people in Russia still do not speak English, says young David from the Russian Far East with an almost perfect British accent! On the other hand, when in Maastricht he misses
John Bèrovich Habets
A room with a view The view from the room in his Moscow based office is both
and travelled and worked all over the world, from China to Oman,
magnificent and highly symbolic. Leaning out of the window,
from the Czech Republic to Russia. The last seven years he has been
Maastricht-born John Bèrovich Habets looks at the back of a famous
active in Moscow, and since one year and a half he has been living in
statue of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin near Metro station Oktyabr’skaya,
the Russian capital permanently. Meaning, from Monday to Friday.
the square where the old communist hands will rally to pay tribute
John never tires of talking about recent developments in Moscow,
to their great leader or vent their anger at his successors. On top of a
offering great challenges to Russians and non-Russians. Like
stone column, the great Russian revolutionary is showing the way to
anything in Russia, the scale and scope of the projects are immense
a bright communist future to a pack of soldiers, farmers and workers
and much bigger than elsewhere, making them all the more
gathered at his feet. At least, that is what the sculptor had in mind
interesting and exciting. The road infrastructure has improved
when he made the statue. Today, they are looking at 21st Century
tremendously, and flight handlings have become much more
reality: super cars driving nose to tail, when not stuck in traffic jams,
smoother.
on Prospekt Leninskiy, one of Moscow’s busiest highways. They
Although he feels quite at home in Moscow and loves his work here,
are heading for New Moscow, the business center of Europe’s most
as a true family man he is always glad to go home for the weekend to
capitalistic city where state-of-the art glass and steel office and
his wife and children in Maastricht, taking his dog Luna for a walk and
residential skyscrapers shoot up like mushrooms. A future Lenin,
training in the Savelsbos nearby, finishing one final reconstruction
who looks on without batting an eyelid, surely did not foresee.
of his house or joining his son-in-law for a tour on their shining
John, by contrast, looks out of his office window at TGC Group of
motorbikes. In each and every employment contract John signed
Companies with beaming eyes and great enthusiasm and optimism.
over the past years a clause was inserted allowing John to celebrate
The Russian company he works for as a Technical Director is
carnival in his native town of Maastricht. And he intends not to miss
specialized in the development and construction of logistic parks
any edition of Maastricht’s most popular feast in the future.
and warehouses, among others. John has been working as a technical
Nonetheless, he invites everybody to come to Moscow and see the
director for Eurasian Real Estate in international projects for years
incredible changes and dynamics of this great city for him- or herself.
Ekaterina Vladimirovna Muravyeva
Sustainable exchange
Ekaterina Muravyeva was born in Nizhny Novgorod, a city of
The place she choose to have her picture taken has changed
1.5 million inhabitants just over 400 kilometers east of Moscow.
drastically since the days of her internship. Today, construction
There, she grew up and went to study at the Nizhny Novgorod
workers are digging a unique highway tunnel, 2.3 kilometers
State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering
long and containing two stories of each two tubes, right
(NNGASU), International Institute of Economics, Law and
through the heart of the city of Maastricht. The building site
Management (MIEPM), specializing in international private
slightly blocks the view Ekaterina used to have from her office
law. It was during her study that, for the first time, she heard
back in 2008.
the name ‘Maastricht’, more specifically the Maastricht Treaty
Ekaterina is standing in front of a group of statues, symbolizing
of 1992, establishing the European Union and leading to the
the liberation of Maastricht from Nazi terror in September
creation of a single European currency, the euro.
1944. It was made by Limburg sculptor Charles Eyck. Since
The Nizhny Novgorod University has been working together
sustainability plays an important role in the cooperation of
with Zuyd University in Limburg, allowing many students and
the Russian and Limburg universities, photographer Guy
lecturers to come and study or teach in Maastricht or Nizhny
Van Grinsven had a small windmill placed next to Ekaterina,
Novgorod. Ekaterina was one of them. In 2008, she got an
producing enough electricity to illuminate the light bulb she is
internship at a Maastricht legal office, and she has enjoyed living
holding.
in Maastricht ever since. There, she had her first impressions
“I really enjoy working and living in the Netherlands,” she
and experiences with Dutch people who, in her opinion, seem
says, “but what I have been missing is traditional Russian
to favor a culture of discussions and careful considerations. She
food. Pelmeni (stuffed dumplings), blini (thin pancakes) and
now works at the Regional Center of Expertise on Education
a traditional Russian table loaded with food when somebody
for Sustainable Development (RCE Rhine-Meuse), operating
comes to visit.”
from the oldest learning center in Europe, the 900 year old Rolduc Abbey in Kerkrade.
Gerardus Gerardovich Uijtendaal
‘Things are not always what they appear to be’ For more than twenty years, Dutch-born Gerard Uijtendaal
holding in his hand. It was intended as a gift from Russia to the
has been helping multinational companies doing business in
United States, commemorating the discovery of America five
Russia, and training and coaching Russian managers to operate
hundred years ago. However, all the chosen cities in America
in multi-cultural teams. Privately, Gerard has accommodated
kindly declined the offer, leaving Moscow with the statue in
himself to the Russian way of life, proof of which is his
the city’s own heart, be it with a slight amendment: Columbus’
conversion to the Russian Orthodox faith when he married his
head was replaced by one representing Czar Peter the Great.
Russian wife.
Indeed: things are not always what they appear to be in Russia.
Gerard is being photographed in what he himself calls “my back
Still, Gerard has a tender spot for Peter the Great: as a trainer
garden in the city where I feel at home”. He is standing in a park
he admires the historic figure who, like no other Russian, stands
along the river Moskva in the Yakimanka district in the heart
for knowledge transfer, and that is, in the end, Gerard’s core
of Moscow where he takes his little dog called Jochie (literally:
business. And he likes living in Russia: “In the Netherlands,
‘little kid’) for a walk every day. In the background, the splendid
things work, but nothing happens. In Russia, nothing works
gold cupola of the restored Cathedral of Christ the Saviour can
but all kinds of things happen!”
be seen, the “Saint Peter of Russian Orthodox faith”. But what strikes most is, of course, the 45 meters high statue of Czar Peter the Great in the middle of the river Moskva. In his hands, Gerard is holding his little dog, forming a nice contrast to the controversial statue by Georgian sculptor Zurab Tsereteli. “Russia would not be Russia if things were actually what you see,” says Gerard. According to him, the statue is representing a proud Christopher Columbus on a Spanish galleon, looking for new land and bringing law and order in a charter he is
Fatima Gaziyevna Magmutova
A border running through her body Fatima Magmutova was born and grew up as a citizen of the
In the background, Château Neercanne can be seen, Holland’s
Soviet Union in the Ukrainian city of Charkiv. Maybe the
only terraced castle, famous for its international visitors during
fact that she is a Ukrainian by birth inspired her to have her
European summits like François Mitterrand and Helmut
photograph taken on the very border of two countries. After
Kohl. The castle was built in 1698 by the Military Governor
all, etymologically ‘Ukraine’ means ‘At the border’.
of Maastricht, baron Daniël Wolf van Dopff, who used the
For the past seventeen years, Fatima has been living in
castle as a country estate and guest accommodation, and also
Maastricht, the city she has come to love so much that whenever
held receptions and feasts. One of its most remarkable visitors
she is elsewhere, she very quickly becomes homesick for her
was Czar Peter the Great, who spent the night here while on
favorite city on the borders of the river Meuse.
visit in Maastricht in 1717. He was particularly interested in the
Fatima studied construction and architecture in Charkiv before
terraced gardens.
she came to the Netherlands. Here she successfully raised
Peter the Great’s connection with Maastricht makes Fatima
two children, and became a building advisor, working for the
love Maastricht even more.
Heerlen municipality. Her love for construction is being symbolized by the construction helmet in the grass. Her other great passion is the making of puppets. Fatima is lying in the lush spring grass of the Jeker valley, the small river originating in Belgium and joining the river Meuse in the heart of Maastricht. The Dutch-Belgium border – nothing more than just an imaginary line – runs straight through her body, her head being in one country (Belgium), her feet in another (the Netherlands).
Jo Martinovich Spaubeck
The good-humoured strategic professor ‘Holding a chair’ is what a university professor is required to
mother of all Russian rivers, the Wolga. Jo is comparing –
do. Joseph (‘Jo’) Spaubeck, a true son of the city of Kerkrade,
tongue in cheek – the confluence of Oka and Wolga in Nizhny
Limburg’s musical stronghold near Maastricht, holds a chair
Novgorod to the Jeker river in Maastricht, flowing out into
in the strategic marketing and management department at the
the river Meuse in the very heart of the Limburg capital. A
Nizhny Novgorod State University of Architecture and Civil
comparison which naturally hardly holds water, considering
Engineering (NNGASU), one of the leading universities of
the size of these rivers, but this is what usually happens when
Russia, just over 400 kilometers east of Moscow. With over
(big and mighty) things Russian are compared to (small and
23,000 students it employs more than 1,000 faculty members
tiny) things Dutch.
and researchers.
Over the years, Jo has conceived a great passion for Russia and
On the picture, Jo is trying to ignore the possibility of his chair
all these big and mighty things Russian, without forgetting his
sliding down the steep hill in Nizhny Novgorod on which once
Limburg roots. He is still president of the Royal Wind Band St
the city’s Kremlin was strategically built.
Philomena in his native village Chevremont, he has worked for
Jo has been working in Nizhny Novgorod since 1995, but he
25 years as a volunteer committee member at the World Music
still holds various positions in the Netherlands – lecturing as
Contest in Kerkrade, and he is a staunch supporter of local
a senior expert at Zuyd University and as a senior expert for
football club Roda JC. But nowadays he also feels quite at home
PUM, an organization connecting entrepreneurs in developing
in Nizhny Novgorod, as is apparent by the relaxed way he tries
countries and emerging markets with senior experts from the
to sit in the leather chair and the big smiles on his face.
Netherlands. In Nizhny Novgorod, he has been a member of the management team of the International Institute of Economics, Law and Management (MIEPM), a structural unit of the Nizhny Novgorod University. Behind Jo, the river Oka can be seen, flowing out into the
Goulnara Rinatovna Khissamoutdinova
A meeting on a stone bridge at five o’clock in the morning Many cities were built along rivers, such as Maastricht and
on a holiday but, according to Goulnara, they do not want to
Moscow. They say it is good for trade, because bridges connect
live here, because they are too chauvinistic. Ironically, she
people. And that is even true at five o’clock in the morning. Just
finds the same feeling to be a dominant characteristic of many
ask Moscow-born Goulnara Khissamoutdinova. Right in the
inhabitants of Maastricht!
middle of the old stone Saint Servatius Bridge over the Meuse
Goulnara is proud of Maastricht, the city where, according to
river, she met, one early morning, her future husband Niels.
her, Europe was more or less born. What she misses, though, is
Goulnara, who grew up in Moscow, went to live in Maastricht
a good girls’ talk around a well laid kitchen table. In Maastricht
because her parents, sales representatives for a French food
the talking (and gossiping) is done in the city’s numerous pubs,
processing firm, were looking for a centrally located place
but there is something to be said for that too! And she would
to operate from. After a look on the map of Europe and
like to have more Russian related exhibitions (like the one
considering the educational possibilities for their daughter,
in the Maastricht Bonnefanten Museaum in 2013 about the
they quickly concluded that Maastricht was the best place to
revolutionary changes in Russian painting two decades before
settle. And so they did.
the Russian Revolution), ballet and musical productions,
Goulnara recently worked in sales in Maastricht and Kerkrade
especially pop concerts for young people.
but is currently fully occupied with raising her two beautiful
Goulnara cannot but love Maastricht. Who would not, having
children. In Maastricht, Goulnara appreciates the fact that it is a
met one’s future husband on an old stone bridge at five o’clock
well-organized, old historic city, with a lot of brimming energy.
in the morning!
She explicitly mentions The European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF, the world’s biggest art trading fair, held every year in March), the July concerts by Maastricht’s most famous son André Rieu and, of course, the city’s unrivalled carnival. Most of Goulnara’s Moscow friends like to come to Europe
Roeland Kristorovich van Gestel
President of entrepreneurs Roeland Van Gestel received his Master of Business Economics
Novgorod, in the city’s Kremlin. Quite a few historic Russian
from the University of Groningen, Netherlands. In 1994,
cities were built around a kremlin, a major fortified central
Tebodin Consultants & Engineers, recognizing the need for
complex, that later became a walled city within the city. The
advisory services in Eastern Europe after the breakup of the
Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin, dominating both the old town of
Soviet Union, sent him to Moscow to set up a Russian branch
Nizhny Novgorod and the confluence of the rivers Oka and
office. In 1997 Van Gestel moved to Samara to become CFO
Wolga, dates back to the sixteenth century.
of a US-Russian joint venture in the optical cable industry. In
What startled Van Gestel in his early years in Russia is that
2003, he was appointed General Manager at Lear in Nizhny
Western European countries were generally referred to as
Novgorod. Eight years later, he moved to Bosal, also a global
“Europe”, regardless of all the differences between them. A
automotive supplier.
Dutchman working for a Dutch company would be taken aback
Roeland has a Russian wife and two sons, Danil and Felix, who
when asked about some business or political event in “Europe”
appear in this exhibition in a separate picture.
when really it took place in Spain or Austria. Interestingly,
Roeland is well integrated into Russian life and business. Proof
twenty years later EU citizens live and work everywhere and
of that is not only his fluency in Russian and the various top
people refer to European companies as opposed to American,
management posts he has held in Russia, but also his election,
or Chinese companies. European states are becoming a true
in 2010, as the President of the International Community
union. So ironically, Russians have gradually become right in
Association of Nizhny Novgorod (ICANN), a club of business
addressing all countries west of Belarus under one common
people working for foreign organizations in the region.
denominator: Europe.
ICANN offers its 45 member firms a platform for networking and lobbying their interests in local government circles. Roeland’s picture was taken by Guy Van Grinsven on a sunny Sunday afternoon in early June in the heart of Nizhny
Hilde Jankovka van der Sterren
Picture of a photographer Hilde van der Sterren belongs to a steadily growing group of
weekends, dozens of newly-weds have their wedding pictures
highly mobile people who take up residence in one place on the
taken right in the heart of Gum, as long as security will allow it.
earth, and move on to another a couple of years later. Hilde’s
Over the past months, Hilde, who regularly visits Maastricht,
husband is sent all over the world to work for and represent a
has come to like Moscow, enjoying the city’s location on the
multinational company. Partners of these cosmopolitans are
river Moskva, just like Maastricht on the river Meuse, and
highly challenged to organize again and again their lives in a
with her keen photographic eye she even notices interesting
new surrounding.
similarities in the buildings in both cities.
Hilde van der Sterren, who used to work as an air hostess,
What she misses most in Moscow – betraying her unmistakable
knows her way around in the world and studied art history at
Dutch roots – is the possibility of moving around in the city on
Leiden University, has greatly taken up that challenge. With
a bicycle. Despite the broad boulevards, there are no special
her husband and kids, she lived for a couple of years in Borneo
facilities for bikers in Moscow, and given the style of driving
(Malaysia) and Oman, among others. In 2009, she decided to
of most Muscovites and the intensity of the city’s traffic, it is
start her own photography business, something you can run
best for her and her family that she sticks to cycling outside of
more practically nowadays, thanks to the internet, making
the Russian capital.
it less dependent on a fixed place of residence. Hilde herself specializes in making photo reports of children, marriages and family occasions and is improving herself constantly by attending workshops by master photographers. In early 2012, Hilde and her family moved to Moscow. Of course, Hilde wanted her picture to be taken while performing as a photographer. She choose Moscow’s fanciest and biggest warehouse Gum right on Red Square. In the
Sjeng Sjengovich Scheijen
Love of Russian Avant-Garde Art Maastricht-born Sjeng Scheijen studied Slavic Languages at
Sjeng is photographed on a platform of the Mayakovsky Metro
Leiden University and specialized in fin-de-siècle and early
Station, considered to be one of the most beautiful stations in
modern Russian art. In 2008 and 2009, he served as cultural
the world. Sjeng wishes to express both his love of Moscow
attaché at the Netherlands Embassy in Moscow. He is advisor
– “Europe’s most dynamic city, full of mysteries, with a
to various cultural institutions and the Dutch Government on
fascinating nightlife, and a fascinating daylife as well” – and his
Russian Art and Russian-European Cultural politics. In 2009,
love of Russian “futuristic” art with his unwavering admiration
he received international acclaim for Diaghilev. A Life, his
for Vladimir Mayakovsky. In Sjeng’s own words, betraying the
outstanding biography of ballet impresario and choreographer
biographer he is, Mayakovsky was “a great, highly tormented
Sergei Diaghilev, which was translated in various languages.
and tragic figure, one of the greatest poet of the 20th Century
In December 2011, Scheijen was appointed artistic director of
who, in a sense, was ruined by that new Soviet society”.
the Dutch-Russian Bilateral Year 2013. In early 2013, he briefly
Sjeng appreciates life in Moscow very much and regrets that he
returned to Maastricht, curating a highly praised exhibition
will return to the Netherlands soon. But until then, his daughter
of Russian early Avant-Garde Art, called The Big Change, for
goes to the Russian kindergarten (detsky sad), where she eats,
the Maastricht Bonnefanten Museum, featuring nearly ninety
sleeps and makes easily friends with her Russian peers.
paintings by almost thirty, sometimes very different artists, who were active in the two decades prior to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In half a year, the exhibition drew more than 70,000 visitors. Currently, Sjeng Scheijen is working in Moscow on a new project on the causes and consequences of the bloom and fall of Russian modernist art in favor of government-imposed socialist realism.
Tatyana Jurevna Sokolovskaya
Same preference as Peter the Great It was during a business trip to Eastern Berlin in 1989 that
Tatyana Sokolovskaya, resident of Maastricht, the city Peter
Tatyana Sokolovskaya met her future Dutch husband, an
the Great liked so much.’ To which she wishes to add: ‘The city
event that would change her life as radically as the fall of the
that I like too very much!’
Wall in that German city would change Europe. Tatyana had
On the photo, Tatyana is holding a torch, a reference to one of
been studying foreign languages at Moscow University and
Maastricht’s finest sons, Jan Pieter Minckelers, the inventor of
had found a job as a teacher and interpreter of German in the
illuminating gas.
Russian capital. In august 1994, she initially moved to Belgium,
With her Russian roots, her Dutch husband, her son married to
and later went to live in Maastricht, where she has been
a French speaking Belgian woman and working in Luxemburg,
working ever since as a sworn translator and an interpreter of
and her mother living in Germany and speaking Russian
German and Russian. Having followed various courses in the
and German, she truly embodies Maastricht’s international
history of Maastricht, she is now also a certified tourist guide in
character.
the historic city she has come to love so dearly. When Russians come to visit Maastricht, she never fails to show them the impressive 17th Century Town Hall on the Market Square. On the iPad she is holding a book, recently published by Professor Emmanuel Waegemans, about Peter the Great’s visit to the Low Countries. During his second trip to the West, the Russian Czar visited Maastricht. The small tower on top op the Town Hall made such an impression on him that he had a copy made for the Trinity-Sergius Monastery (TroitseSergiyeva Lawra) near Moscow. Tatyana is very proud of the personal dedication in her copy of the professor’s book: ‘To
Felix Boris & Danil Chris Van Gestel
Bilingual children of the 21st Century Apart from portraits of Russian and Dutch business men,
Novgorod in 1836. The statue is located on the corner of
musicians, students and teachers, there are also two slightly
ploshchad’ Teatralnaya and ulitsa Bolshaya Pokrovskaya, next
different pictures included in this photo and video exhibition,
to the Academic Drama Theatre, in the very heart of Nizhny
intended to illustrate and symbolize the ties between Nizhny
Novgorod.
Novgorod and Maastricht. They are two portraits of two
The picture of Stan and Nieck was taken in the very heart of
young brothers, one taken in Nizhny Novgorod, the other
Maastricht, on Grote Looiersstraat, in front of the statue of
in Maastricht. The connection between them is not only that
one of Maastricht’s most famous and beloved sons, Alphons
both boy couples have a Russian mother and a Dutch father, but
Olterdissen (1865–1923). As an unsuccessful business man he
also a common godfather, Professor Joseph (‘Jo’) Spaubeck,
started writing, in Maastrichtian dialect, popular plays and
who meets them regularly when Jo is teaching either in Nizhny
musical comedies in order to pay off his debts. The final stanza
Novgorod or in Maastricht.
of his opera Trijn de Begijn eventually became the local anthem
Danil (right) and Felix are the sons of Roeland Van Gestel, who
of Maastricht.
features in a portrait of his own; Stan and Nieck (next page) are
Both Danil and Felix, and Stan and Nieck are true children of
the sons of Bert Schroën, who is the Director Faculty of Bèta
the 21st Century, growing up bilingually (at least!) – speaking
Sciences and Technology at Zuyd University.
Russian with their mothers and Dutch with their fathers.
The similarities between both pictures are, of course,
And sometimes, for instance when they are talking with each
intentional. Not only did Guy Van Grinsven have the boys
other or having an argument, they are not even aware of what
positioned in more or less the same way, but there is also a
language they are speaking.
special relation to the location where the pictures were taken. In Nizhny Novgorod, Felix and Danil are sitting on a bench in front of a statue of famous Russian writer, literary critic and journalist Nikolay Dobrolyubov, who was born in Nizhny
Stan & Nieck Schroën
Bilingual children of the 21st Century Apart from portraits of Russian and Dutch business men,
Novgorod in 1836. The statue is located on the corner of
musicians, students and teachers, there are also two slightly
ploshchad’ Teatralnaya and ulitsa Bolshaya Pokrovskaya, next
different pictures included in this photo and video exhibition,
to the Academic Drama Theatre, in the very heart of Nizhny
intended to illustrate and symbolize the ties between Nizhny
Novgorod.
Novgorod and Maastricht. They are two portraits of two
The picture of Stan and Nieck was taken in the very heart of
young brothers, one taken in Nizhny Novgorod, the other
Maastricht, on Grote Looiersstraat, in front of the statue of
in Maastricht. The connection between them is not only that
one of Maastricht’s most famous and beloved sons, Alphons
both boy couples have a Russian mother and a Dutch father, but
Olterdissen (1865–1923). As an unsuccessful business man he
also a common godfather, Professor Joseph (‘Jo’) Spaubeck,
started writing, in Maastrichtian dialect, popular plays and
who meets them regularly when Jo is teaching either in Nizhny
musical comedies in order to pay off his debts. The final stanza
Novgorod or in Maastricht.
of his opera Trijn de Begijn eventually became the local anthem
Danil (right on previous page) and Felix are the sons of Roeland
of Maastricht.
Van Gestel, who features in a portrait of his own; Stan and
Both Danil and Felix, and Stan and Nieck are true children of
Nieck are the sons of Bert Schroën, who is the Director Faculty
the 21st Century, growing up bilingually (at least!) – speaking
of Bèta Sciences and Technology at Zuyd University.
Russian with their mothers and Dutch with their fathers.
The similarities between both pictures are, of course,
And sometimes, for instance when they are talking with each
intentional. Not only did Guy Van Grinsven have the boys
other or having an argument, they are not even aware of what
positioned in more or less the same way, but there is also a
language they are speaking.
special relation to the location where the pictures were taken. In Nizhny Novgorod, Felix and Danil are sitting on a bench in front of a statue of famous Russian writer, literary critic and journalist Nikolay Dobrolyubov, who was born in Nizhny
Special thanks to • • • • • • • • • • •
The City of Maastricht: Deputy Mayor Jacques Costongs, Head of International & Public Affairs at Municipality of Maastricht Ton Wanders, Project officer International & Public Affairs Marianne Ravestein, Richard Hansen Noble House, Moscow: Theodorus Schreurs Carglass, Russia: Pim Bemelmans TGC Group of Companies, Moscow: Ostapishin Alexander General Director, John Habets Lukoil InterContinental Hotel Tverskaya, Moscow: Mathieu van Alphen Lebedinoye Ozero (Swan Lake) Restaurant, Moscow: Nick Grachev InterPunct: Frans T. Stoks Vera Pepels Film & Media StudioPress: Linda Jansen NIVEAU BiZZ magazine euregio
This exhibition was made possible thanks to the generous contributions of: