RussianMind #10 Sep

RUSSIA'S EVIL GENIUS

RussianMind

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№10 (10), 23 September- 6 October 2011, www.RussianMind.com

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RMContents

4 – Editor’s Letter 6-7 – From Kazakhstan

6-7

24-25

16-17

№10(10) 22 September - 6 October 2011

with Cash 8-9 – Why Do People Vote for United Russia?

10-11 – A Contemporary Classic 12-13 – Between Heaven and Earth 14-15 – National Comparisons: Transportation 16-17 – Extremes 18 – How Do I Start a New Life?l 20-21 – Contemporary Art: From Russia with Quality 22 – And How Was It For You? 23 – Daily Life 24-25 – The Urals – Beauty of a Russian Province 28 – No Blue Without Yellow 29 – RM Classified 30-31 – US Open Needs an Umbrella

22-23

3

RMEditor RM Team Acting Editor

Olga Kudriavtseva

Manuscripts Don’t Burn

Head of Editorial Board

Mark Hollingsworth Managing Director

Azamat Sultanov Business Development Director

Alina Blinova Art Director

Yuri Nor Front Page Design

Elizabeth Yurieva , Gafur Sadikov Special Project Department

Daria Alyukova IT Director

Oleksii Vyshnikov Sub Editor

Julia Gobert Acting Editor’s Assistant

Rukhshona Shakhidi Distribution

Olga Tsvetkova In print:

In print: Dmitry Babich, Xanthi Skoulariki, Anna Aslanyan, Olga Lesyk, Anatoly Karlin, Anastasia Grishchenko, Tatiana Irodova, Richard Bloss, Anton Phatianov.

Contacts: General enquiries & distribution:

info@russianmind.com Advertising:

adv@russianmind.com Editorial Staff:

olga@russianmind.com Address United Kingdom

40 Langham Street, London W1W 7AS United Kingdom Tel: +44(0) 207 637 1374 France

6 Rue du Docteur Finlay 75015 Paris, France Tel: +33(0) 981 147 395 E-mail: france@russianmind.com 4

W

e live in the era of rapid technological development when electronic devises are in more demand than ever.

One has the impression that someday soon gadgets will completely push out the need for printed material. Even today more and more people prefer an iPad or Kindle to read books and magazines. It does make sense in terms of saving personal space, time and strength. A tiny tablet PC fits perfectly into a handbag and can contain thousands of books on it and is far more comfortable than carrying around heavy volumes.

Despite this rapid invasion of new technologies, I still belong to those

(probably the minority), who prefer printed books to electronic ones. It sounds a little old fashioned (and for the younger generation even weird), but none of these new gadgets would make me more excited than having a newly printed book.

I love large bookstores, where I can spend the whole day walking among bookshelves, touching volumes and inhaling the smell of printer’s ink. After I chose a particular book, I thumb its pages, look at illustrations and sometimes even read a random part. In this way, I become acquainted with a book which soon becomes my friend. Together we will experience adventures; fall in love; conquer enemies or have a long philosophical conversation till sunrise.

There are certain books in my life, which I can reread many times. Among them is “The Master and Margarita” written by Russian author Mikhail Bulgakov. As the years go by I understand it differently, discovering for myself new sides which I never paid attention to before.

Once, a friend of mine gave me this truly magnificent novel in English and I galloped through it in two days. Ever since then, I have become a fan of Russian literature translated into English.

Recently while

visiting a bookstore I happened upon the bookshelves for the world’s classic works, where books by Russian authors have pride of place.

No wonder that Russian literature has been translated into many languages and is in great demand in Britain and worldwide. Alexander Pushkin; Fyodor Dostoyevsky; Nikolai Gogol; Ivan Turgenev; Mikhail Bulagakov; Leo Tolstoy and many other writers have reflected the truth about the reality of Russia. Their books were relevant centuries ago and are still poignant today.

I buy both classic and modern books to collect for my personal library. This is a great heritage to pass on to future generations (at least hard copies withstand the iPad). Moreover, that is what my granny did for my mum, as she did for me and I will do so for my kids.

In this issue, we are discussing why Fyodor Dostoyevsky and his works are still relevant today. Turn to page 10 to find out why his books are so popular in the UK. Also, we found a bookstore where you can buy books written in Russian. See page 27.

Best

Olga Kudriavtseva

Acting Editor

P.S.

In the novel “The Master and Margarita” Mikhail Bulgakov wrote: “Manuscripts don't burn". He knew what he was talking about. №10(10) 22 September - 6 October 2011

RMProfile Mark HOLLINGSWORTH The controversy over Prince Andrew's decision to sell his country house in Berkshire for £4 million more than the asking price to the billionaire Kazakh Oligarch, Timur Kulibayev, son-in-law of the President of Kazakhstan, has brought the spotlight on their mutual friend Goga Ashkenazi, the Kazakh businesswoman and London-based socialite.

This is part one of a special profile:

L

ast February Goga Ashkenazi celebrated her 30th birthday party at Tyringham Hall, near Pagnell, Buckinghamshire. It was an epic and extravagant evening and organised by her close friend and business partner, Caroline Stanbury.

The guests included Prince Andrew; the flamboyant Chinese bankers Andy and Patti Wong; Duran Duran’s Nick Rhodes; the financier Robert Hanson; the Russian model Natalia Vodianova; Nick Candy and his girlfriend Holly Valance; Nancy Dell’Olio; Lord Edward Spencer-Churchill and Nicholas Coleridge, managing director of Condé Nast. At the climax of the evening, Ashkenazi took the microphone and announced to the startled guests: "I am the richest girl in the world!"

But just who is Goga Ashkenazi, the glamourous Kazakh socialite and business broker who lives in a £27 6

Goga Ashkenazi

From Kazakhstan with Cash million house in Holland Park, west London, and is best known as a close friend of Prince Andrew??

Gaukhar ‘Goga’ Ashkenazi was born on 1 February 1980 in the remote Zhambyl region of southern Kazakhstan. She is the daughter of Erkin Berkaliev and (her mother) Saule Aralbayeva. Her name, Gaukhar, means diamond.

She has an older sister, Meuret, meaning pearl.

Although descended from poor peasants, she comes from an elite and relatively wealthy Kazakh family.

Her maternal grandfather, who was born into a family of landowners, was just six when the Communists executed his entire family in front of him, apart from his little sister. 'The family took in his sister but they wouldn't take him so he walked with gypsies to Turkmenistan and gave himself to an orphanage,' she says. By the time the Second World War broke out, he was an officer and was subsequently sent

to China and Korea; finally, he became head of the region where Baikonur was built, and the cosmodrome from which Yuri Gagarin was shot into space was constructed under his supervision. Her other grandfather was one of the first Kazakhs ever to get a doctorate in engineering.

He ended up as head of a research institute with a salary larger than the General Secretary of the Soviet Union's.

Her father, Erkin Berkaliev, was a Hydro engineer and also head of the Economics and Trade Department of the Communist Party in Kazakhstan and later the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. He had a meteoric rise, was highly rated and had elite connections which enabled the Berkaliev family to move into a prestigious apartment block in central Moscow reserved for the party elite. Goga recalled: "We had everything: nannies; cooks; drivers;

dachas; holidays by the sea.

We didn't have a lot of money, but people were treated according to their status. We were quite high up and the state provided cars and plane rides, drivers, nannies and cooks. We lived very well in a four bedroom apartment in Moscow. 'My mum and dad travelled to the capitalist world on many occasions, though we weren't allowed to go with them. But as a family we would go to the Black Sea or Yalta. My father wrote speeches for Gorbachev’.

From 1988 Ashkenazi, then eight years old, attended an exclusive state school in Moscow where students were taught English. Like other former Soviet officials her father exploited the privatisation of former state assets after the collapse of the Soviet Union and took control of a number of factories in Kazakhstan. The family also purchased their flat when the block was privatised.

While the Ashkenazi family subsequently returned №10(10) 22 September - 6 October 2011

RMProfile to Kazakhstan, young Goga was sent to school in England. She originally attended Buckswood Grange, a small independent private school in East Sussex and then Stowe School in Buckingham. According to Tatler she was expelled for kissing a boy in her dormitory and was then sent to Rugby, which she loved.

In 1998 Goga enrolled at S omerville College, Oxford w here she studied history and economics. While she was there she posed for a student calendar as Miss March. By all accounts she spent most of her time partying in London and only graduated with a Third class degree in 2001.

While at Oxford, Ashkenazi had a relationship with Dino Lalvani – the son of Gulu Lalvani, the Indian born founder of Binatone (which Dino Lalvani now heads).

"Dino was gorgeous and very well connected", she said later. "I made many friends who I am still in touch with during that time".

She was a year out of Oxford and only 22 when she was photographed topless aboard the yacht of Italian fashion tycoon, Flavio Briatore. The Italian billionaire reportedly broke off their relationship when he discovered that she was not the daughter of Nursultan Nazarbayev. Ashkenazi denies this: “Everyone knew who I was already! What happened was, I was supposed to go to the German Grand Prix, and

Goga and Prince Andrew №10(10) 22 September - 6 October 2011

a charity auction. She dances at Annabel’s, does business lunches at Cipriani and plays Chopin’s nocturnes at home on her Steinway in the evening”. Her social

I said, I really want to go to St Tropez, do you mind if I wait for you there? And in St Tropez, I saw Dino again there we were, sitting holding hands in a restaurant, and Flavio walked in by himself.

You should have seen his face!

He says now that I'm the only girl that ever dumped him!”

During a 2003 visit to Moscow she met her now ex-husband Stefan Ashkenazi – the son of Severyn Ashkenazi, a Polish-American entrepreneur, hotelier and art dealer who founded the boutique L’Ermitage hotel chain. "He was amazing", she said. "Too good for me, for sure, the best man on earth, really. His previous girlfriend was Angelina Jolie, he was a kung fu artist from the age of six, and he learned Russian in three months and spoke it with no accent at all. Plus, he was gorgeous".

After the couple had dated for two months he proposed.

According to Tatler ‘They

eloped and married at least five times in different love chapels in Las Vegas’.

‘We didn't tell our parents but quietly went to a register office with two friends as witnesses", she said. "We then flew to Las Vegas and got married in those gaudy chapels, every day for five days. It was a bit of a joke.

We were enjoying ourselves".

They moved to Los Angeles but their marriage broke down and they were separated in August 2006 and divorced in 2007.

After her divorce, Goga Ashkenazi became an active high society figure. According to Tatler she is a force of nature: “Goga is like a

Bond girl writ large. She has shot wolves from a helicopter; hunted wild boar in Germany with the Bismarcks; downed wild geese from clifftops and once snapped up a grouse shoot with Michael Spencer for £20,000 at

downtime is divided between going out with the actor Kevin Spacey and nightclub tycoon Richard Caring, or hanging out in New York bars with Bono. She was also friends with Saif Gaddafi, although she has recently described him as ‘more of an acquaintance than a friend’ and has criticised his reaction to the Libyan revolt. She previously arranged a trip to Kazakhstan for him to meet President Nursultan Nazarbayev and took him wolf-hunting But her most famous and prominent friendship has been with Prince Andrew since they met at a dinner party in 2001. They became closer when she moved to London permanently in 2006. He has introduced her to the Queen in the Royal Box at Ascot and invited her to Buckingham Palace on numerous occasions.

And she has defended him when he has been embroiled in controversy. "Andrew is not the villain he's being made out to be", she said. "I have seen him in action and he is a superb trade envoy".

Since meeting the Prince, she reportedly sits on the council of London’s Serpentine Gallery and has sponsored debates at the Oxford Union.

It was her friendship with Prince Andrew that catapulted her name into the headlines, but it was a fateful meeting with a Kazakh billionaire that made her an extremely wealthy woman very quickly.....

to be continued in the next issue 7

RMOpinion

Why Do People Vote for United Russia?

Dmitry BABICH The electoral campaign for the Duma elections scheduled for December 4, 2011, has kicked off without much fanfare. Both President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin let it be understood that this campaign WON’T be any different!

part in an interactive TV programme, which the election for US President has become in the last 30 years, makes a great difference. The renowned RussianAmerican TV anchor Vladimir Pozner, who has experience in both Russian and American television, once bluntly reacted to the admiration of his audience for interactive TV. “I feel myself a coauthor of modern television!”, one such viewer exclaimed. “You don’t co-author anything. Don’t deceive yourself ”, Pozner said grimly. Such a reaction from the usually soft-spoken Pozner, with his habitual priestly air of a sympathetic and understanding of a “holy father,” was somewhat sobering. Not only in Russia, but the whole world seems to have lost the appetite for democracy.

Why has this happened? Russia’s presumed “backslide” on democracy is in fact not retrospective, but very modern. It is mostly connected with a very modern, initially American, preference for anything material over – I

hope, you haven’t forgotten the words? – Spiritual and intellectual. Just talk to the sociologists and ask them the question – “why do people vote for United Russia?”

“The motives of most voters are purely pragmatic. Since United Russia is seen by many as the only political party that can make things happen, a lot of people vote for it as they hope to get the roads mended, the local hospital refurbished, etc”, explains Alexey Grazhdankin, Deputy Director of the sociological research think tank Levada Centre. “It does not mean that they like United

T

he changes introduced to the electoral legislation since Medvedev’s election in 2008, despite some reassuring hints made by him at Yaroslavl forum in 2009, were largely cosmetic. OK, so parties which get 5-7 percent of the vote will have the right to have ONE deputy in the Duma. OK, the registered losers (whose numbers continue to dwindle – Russia now has only 7 registered political parties instead of the 14 before Medvedev’s election) will even have a chance to address the parliament – ONCE IN FIVE YEARS FOR 10 MINUTES, as was the case with the current Duma. Does this change much?

It is not hard to predict the ironicallyindignant reaction by the Western media towards this election. Of course, taking 8

№10(10) 22 September - 6 October 2011

RMOpinion

Russia’s policies. They just think that if they vote for, say, Just Russia nothing will happen – that’s all. But if they vote for UR, something MAY happen”.

According to the opinion polls conducted by the Levada Centre, voting patterns in fact do not reflect the whole spectrum of the ideological preferences of the Russian people. The reason for this is the fact that most Russians have little respect for the opposition parties, both registered and unregistered ones.

“Most of the people have an impression that there are two real parties in the country – United Russia and the Communist party of Russian Federation.

The other parties – social-democrats, nationalists, and liberals – are often seen as “unreal” ones. In the opinion of the majority of those polled, these parties are manipulated by the Kremlin, the West, the oligarchs – you name it”, Grazhdankin says.

Is this a sad situation? Both yes and no.

On the one hand, for example, the current poor showing of the increasingly dissident Just Russia party (4 per cent) does not reflect the real attitude of Russians towards moderately leftist opposition or to the social democrats, for that matter.

“In fact there may be many more Russians sharing social-democratic views, but they just don’t believe that Just Russia is a real party, but more of a decoy created by the political spin doctors”, Grazhdankin says.

On the other hand, mistrust towards the smaller political parties deprives the №10(10) 22 September - 6 October 2011

political life in the country of any sort of alternative, since the possibility for the return of the Communist party to power, is actually nil, so United Russia’s majority remains unchallenged.

The Western interpretations of this situation are, as usual, simplistic with the suggested cold war clichés even more prevalent than during the cold war itself!

Never in the twentieth century were the Western appraisals of Russian society as negative as they are today. The simple fact is that people DO NOT BELIEVE the parties positioning themselves as social-democrats or liberals, is seen in Washington and Brussels as an indication that these ideologies have no support in Russian society.

“If Parnas [Party of People’s Freedom, headed by former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, Boris Nemtsov and Vladimir Ryzhkov] ran today, even with access to public television and other perks of an independent party, it would not get more than 1 percent of the vote”, comments Alexander Oslon, the director of the Obshchestvennoye Mnenie (Public Opinion) research centre. The

problem is, people often have reason to doubt the sincerity and the “reality” of the opposition parties, Parnas included. I would add, I wouldn’t vote for this party.

Not because I don’t believe in people’s freedoms and other democratic values, I am just NOT SURE these values are represented by these former government officials Kasyanov and Nemtsov, thanks to whom, among others, Russia wasted its chance to become a democratic country during the 1990s. I am left indifferent or sometimes even insulted by their promises of “liberal reforms” which are translated by the ordinary Russian to mean: “more money for the rich!”

The irony of this situation is that my (or other’s) refusal to give their trust to avowedly pro-Western political parties, which are almost officially on the payroll of various “endowments for democracy”, will be interpreted by the Western press as an “inner slavery” and “old mentality”.

When will this situation change?

When voters start valuing their own sense of human dignity and other spiritual things, more than the promises made for the immediate construction of new roads or bridges etc. In the provincial towns, voting for a smaller party or abstaining from a vote is also a material risk – it is not hard for the politicians to figure out who “let them down” by voting the wrong way. So, for democracy to prevail, the values of spiritual things must increase.

Where in the world do you see the spiritual values prevailing over the material ones? Nowhere, it appears.

Advertising, gives us examples of people ready to subject themselves to any sort of humiliation (in fact, people embodying human manias for coffee, beer, chocolate, etc.) but this does not provide good role models for anyone.

The last time Russians preferred freedom to sausage in the voting booths was in 1991. Will this situation repeat itself any time soon? Let us hope so.

Dmitry Babich is a political analyst. He contributed to his personal blog www.dmitrybabich.livejournal.com which runs on a weekly basis by www.russiaprofile.org

9

RMCulture

A Contemporary Classic Anna ASLANYAN Despite 130 years having passed since Fyodor Dostoevsky’s death, his admirers agree that his work is still relevant today.

A

poor student obsessed with strange ideas takes out his frustration on an elderly pawnbroker, keeps denying it, confesses all, gets punished – this 142-symbol snippet could make for a Twitter version of the plot of “Crime and Punishment”.

It is a story one can find in a routine police report, give or take a couple of details, but it has been fascinating generations of readers over the years. Why is Fyodor Dostoevsky still more popular than many contemporary authors? All modern writers and publishers would like to know the answer, so as to try to pull off something similar today.

Dostoevsky's readership is much wider than the Russian-speaking world; his books often get republished in new translations. Oliver

Ready, who has been working on another English version of “Crime and Punishment” for the last two years, said “I suspect that he remains popular because of the nature of his reputation, 10

which rests on a winning combination: as a writer who is both exceptionally ‘deep’ and exceptionally exciting. I’ve noticed, while translating ‘Crime and Punishment’, that nearly everyone who talks to me about it remembers reading it in their lateteenage years and I think it is Dostoevsky’s continued appeal to that particular age group that may account for the persistently high sales of this novel”.

Indeed, people tend to read Dostoevsky when they are young, some come back to him later in life. This is what happened to Roger

Morris, the author of several thrillers set in 19th century St. Petersburg, whose protagonist is a detective named Porfiry Petrovich. Morris remembers reading Dostoevsky for the first time, “I was drawn

to him when I was a precocious teenager, after seeing ‘The Brothers

Karamazov’, the film with Yul Brynner. It captured my imagination, so I went to the school library and picked up ‘Crime and Punishment’. It seemed to have everything I wanted, a murder story as well as a number of serious questions: philosophical, religious, social. I was probably too young to understand it fully, but I did enjoy the crime part of the plot”. If Morris and others who read this classic novel at a similar age are anything to go by a recent rumour, had a prominent Russian publisher putting out “The Adolescent” in a modernized form, retitled “Teenager”, might be only half a joke and if realised, may even prove a success.

It is not just young readers, of course, who turn to Dostoevsky in search of a gripping or ideas-rich narrative. His treatment of religion has always attracted the attention of believers and non-believers alike.

Among his great admirers is Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury,

whose recent book, “Dostoevsky: Language, Faith, and Fiction”, is a thoughtful and passionate study of the classic author’s four major novels, where he not only analyses his subject, but also dissects his own creed.

To Williams, Dostoevsky is a companion, an interlocutor, at times an ally, at times an opponent whose views are vehemently

№10(10) 22 September - 6 October 2011

RMCulture discussed. The Archbishop keeps reminding the reader that Dostoevsky's prose is more contemporary than it might appear, talking about such issues as “adult choice”, “self-harm”, “protracted childhood” and even “cycles of abuse”, all discovered in his books.

These reminders seem somewhat unwarranted, as there is one thing all lovers of Dostoevsky agree on, it is his relevance today.

Ready, who is currently revising his translation said, “I'm also struck by the importance of Dostoevsky to contemporary debates about translations. Dostoevsky’s novels have become a lightning rod for arguments about the best ways of rendering the great texts of the past. Should he be radically modernised to the language of today’s youth (as happened in a recent, very popular translation of “The Brothers Karamazov” in Japan, that I'm told, uses elements of text-speak), stylised according to a 19th century idiom, or subjected to a ‘foreignising’ approach?”

Rhys Tranter, a literary blogger for The Spectator,

considers Dostoyevsky's present-day relevance from a different angle. “In a period

№10(10) 22 September - 6 October 2011

who regard Dostoevsky as our living coeval is Eduard

Chasovitin, an artist and film director from Moscow.

of economic instability and at times profound personal struggle, it is worth suggesting Dostoyevsky as one of our truly modern writers. His work, which is dark and comic by turns, takes a long look at the political and economic structures that determine our lives”, wrote Tranter about “Poor Folk.” Tranter mentions the financial difficulties that plagued the Russian novelist’s career as a sign that should not be discarded as insignificant – it is almost as if his situation

mirrors that of many 21st century writers.

Do people hope to learn something about present-day Russia from Dostoevsky?

Oliver Ready does not think so “it would be truer to say that our fascination with the 19th century Russian novel in Britain replaces readers’ interest in contemporary Russian books. As a literary subject, the Russia of the past appeals to readers in English a great deal more than the Russia of the present”.

The process, it appears, can be reversed. Among those

He is the author of a cartoon series about Dostoevsky, which has the writer wandering around European cities, from Bruges to Venice, getting involved in their everyday life. In the latest episode he comes to London, where he is looking for Banksy, a pseudonymous figure whose street art has become cult in Britain. The classic author cannot help commenting on the street scenes that unfold before him in the spirit of “Yes, it's a symbol of all literature!” (uttered at the sight of a wall with numerous amateur texts stuck to it). After all Dostoevsky's attempts to find the obscure celebrity fail, he gives up and starts calling himself Banksy! In a curious twist, on his recent visit to London, Chasovitin met Morris – and introduced his hero, helped by modern technology.

“Fyodor Mikhailovich and I hit it off famously”, Morris reported in his blog. This encounter certainly proves that Dostoevsky is not dead; however, it still does not explain the secret of his popularity in our pragmatic world today.

11

RMReview

Between Heaven and Earth Daria ALYUKOVA Whether the exhibition’s ironic attitude to cultural stereotypes owes more to the curator’s vision or represents a major trend, it certainly rethinks Central Asian artistic tradition in a refreshingly contemporary manner.

Between Heaven and Earth features 23 artists and artistic groups from Central Asia and has been curated by David Elliott, former Director of the Museum of Modern Art in Oxford, Moderna Museet (the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Stockholm), the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, Istanbul Modern, and the Biennale of Sydney.

Viktor Vorobyev and Elena Vorobyeva.

Kazakhstan, Blue Period (fragment)

T

he exhibition covers the period starting from the early 1990s, but in fact goes much deeper than that – the roots go back centuries to the years of the Mongolian invasion.

Works from Mongolia and Afghanistan are included in the exhibition to reflect that period.

The diverse selection of powerful paintings, installations and digital works shows a wide context and manages to make the cultural references understandable by the public, yet offering an individual style and critical view. A region with a rich and turbulent history, Central Asia is a true melting pot for different aesthetic traditions.

Quote – David Elliott “This belief in ritual; in mystery; in the wisdom of the ancient and the infinite capacity of the future, dominates the contemporary artistic output of this region and is

vital for an understanding of both artists and their works. Similarly, deeper knowledge of the historical and political context of Central Asia is an essential part of further framing the creative impulse.

These vast, complex and often inscrutable lands have been subject to persistent imposition and layering of outside perception especially by the blinkered, protected West. From the fabled and ancient Silk Road trails to the manipulation of the territories as played out by the British and Russian Empires in the ‘Great Game’, the rich cultural and physical landscapes of Central Asia are often perceived as little more than a black hole. Dismissed as the “Stans”, downgraded to little more than theatres of environmental abuse; religious conflict and war, they are characterised as devoid of contemporary culture; nuance or humanity and processed by the clichés

David Elliott

of a “Borat” style, postSoviet wasteland.

“Yet, through the works presented in “Between Heaven and Earth”, the strongest impression is of how people struggle to establish or retain an individual sense of creative integrity at a time when traditional society and its’ memories are being demolished by economic and political forces far beyond their control”.

The exhibition

“Between Heaven and Earth”

lasts from September 14 to November 13 Address: Calvert22 22 Calvert Avenue London E2 7JP

RMReview

Almagul Menlibayeva. Transoxiana Dreams

Almagul Menlibayeva. Steppen Baroque

Erbossyn Meldibekov. Peak of communism

CALVERT 22 is the UK’s only not-for-profit foundation dedicated to the presentation of contemporary art and culture from Russia, the CIS countries and Eastern Europe and presents a dynamic programme of exhibitions, talks and cross-disciplinary events from both emergent and established artists. Founded in May 2009 by Nonna Materkova, a Russian-born, London based economist, Calvert 22’s mission is to create a platform for the very best in current art and culture from the former ‘Eastern Bloc’, whilst being a catalyst for new possibilities of crosscultural understanding and Erbossyn Meldibekov. exchange.

Plates (in collaboration with Nurbossyn Oris)

Oksana Shatalova. Iridescent Dreams

Erbossyn Meldibekov. Mutation

№10(10) 22 September - 6 October 2011

13

RM Comparison

Anatoly KARLIN I continue the series on national comparisons between Britain, Russia and the US. In this part I evaluate transport in each of the three countries.

B

ritish roads are good (though not as good as German ones), US roads are mediocre and Russian roads are crap.

Beyond Moscow’s ring road, many roads have pot holes; further afield, e.g. the single road linking the Far East of the country to its centre, is little more than a dirt track that turns into impenetrable mud during the rasputitsa, or rainy season.

Part of the reason is that the country is vast, and that central planning with its penchant for railways, doesn’t

Transportation care much for good roads or automobile ownership; another reason is that the road construction industry is, quite possibly, the most corrupt sector of the Russian economy (which is no mean achievement). The recently dismissed Mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov, is suspected of organizing kickbacks totalling billions of dollars to wellconnected road construction companies in the Moscow region alone. There’s quite a bit of corruption in road construction in the US too – for instance, Massachusetts somehow managed to spend $15 billion on basically a couple of substandard tunnels in the Big Dig – but in Russia it seems to be the rule rather than the exception.

The vast majority of cars in the US are automatic, while a similarly vast majority of cars in Europe, including Russia and Britain, are manualtransmission. Petrol costs the same in both Russia and the US, but is about three times as expensive in Britain. Some cars in Russia run on natural gas.

Russian railways, on the other hand, are far better than their roads. They don’t offer amenities like free Wi-Fi, as A typical Russian city road

British trains now do, but they make up for it in vastly lower fare costs. The price of a ticket from Manchester to London can approach £80. When I travelled from Moscow to St.

Interesting fact №1: Packs of stray dogs have become intelligent enough to navigate Moscow’s subways. You can sometimes see them lying or sleeping on the train benches.

Petersburg in 2003, it was 500 roubles, or about $15 (granted it was in the lowest-class, because I was a cheapskate, but even getting a better class cabin for the overnight journey would have been much less than British rates).

As for US passenger railways, the less said the better. Rail travel costs about $20 to go from San Francisco to San Jose, but there’s no Internet and after that the line ends.

The Moscow Metro carries up to 9 million passengers a day and despite recent price rises, still remains cheap. In contrast to the drab, utilitarian nature of most metro stations elsewhere, Moscow’s central stations are truly “palaces of the people”, featuring murals, mosaics, statues and monuments, etc. A single journey costs a less than $1, but buying multiple journeys decreases the average price.

Students and pensioners get to travel free. In the Soviet Union and the early 1990's, men would typically give up their seats for women, but this ended by 1996. A victory for feminism? Or a collapse of moral standards? You decide.

Most other big Russian cities also have metros, as

do the biggest UK cities and most big cities in the eastern US. Mass transit is very poorly developed on the West Coast. Los Angeles is a giant car sink, with legendary traffic jams. San Francisco and the Bay Area have the BART system, but it’s not a pleasant riding experience and pretty expensive as well; plus, the train seats are full of germs and shit. Yes, shit, like for real: “Faecal and skinborne bacteria resistant to antibiotics were found a seat on a train headed from Daly City to Dublin/Pleasanton.

Further testing on the skin-borne bacteria showed characteristics of methicillinresistant staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, the

Interesting fact №2: Russia’s most famous post-apocalyptic novel of recent times, Metro 2033

by Dmitry Glukhovsky, is set in the Moscow Metro, where subterranean human civilization ekes out a miserable survival while nuclear radiation and mutants ravage the world above. drug-resistant bacterium that causes potentially lethal infections…” Makes one wish for the cold, hard comfort of the wooden benches of an elektrichka!

Tramways used to be a major part of the urban transportation landscape in Russia, but their significance has decreased since the 1990's; however, they still remain a prominent feature of the transportation system in some cities, including St. Petersburg. They are no longer an important №10(10) 22 September - 6 October 2011

RM Comparison

Komsomolskaya Station in Moscow, not the type of Metro station one would expect

transportation mode in either the US or Britain.

Cars aren’t only at the centre of US transport, but life in general; if you live in suburbia or rural areas, you can’t get by without one. Big strip malls like Target, Walmart, Costco, etc., dot suburbia and serve customers within a ten mile radius or so, having largely displaced local shops. The same process is ongoing in Britain, with a ten year lag. In Russia, car ownership is much lower than in the UK or the US; partly because of lower incomes, but also because they just aren’t as necessary, seeing Los Angeles, the epitome of suburban sprawl and poor city planning

as its cities have a higher density and a cheaper and adequate public transportation options (rail, metros, trams, buses). That said, Moscow’s traffic jams have become infamous in recent years, and nowadays only idiots – of whom there are a lot – commute to work by car.

The US seems only capable of producing gas-guzzling SUV’s, with a result that its automotive sector collapsed during the oil spikes.

Increasing fuel economy standards is a political hot potato, with Republicans set against it even though the US lags behind pretty much every country in the world in this respect (including China). The UK’s domestic brands have all collapsed, so the only cars there are foreign imports or produced by foreign-owned factories in Britain. It is not uncommon for Britons to buy their cars in Europe because of the high prices of cars sold in the UK. In Russia, the huge Avtovaz factory which produces the sturdy Lada (based off a 1970's Italian

design) just about survives with help from government subsidies and high tariffs on imported cars. Nonetheless, it doesn’t have a bright future, since most Russians would prefer to buy a second hand Audi or Toyota than a new

by foreign-owned factories in Russia. A high proportion, e.g. about 50%, of vehicles on US roads are SUV’s; this is closer to 10% in the UK and Russia.

In France and Germany, SUV’s are very rare.

Flying is extremely prevalent in the US; it is frequently more economical (and certainly faster) to take a flight from San Francisco to, say, Las Vegas or Los Angeles, than to make the journey by car (the only other valid transportation option).

A typical round-trip starts from around $150. In Britain, to go from Manchester to London costs less by train than by plane, but not by much; so many opt for the plane. Flights to Europe are cheap and very competitive; frequently, budget airlines like Ryanair offer amazingly good deals at prices like $50 for a round-trip to Prague, Munich or Barcelona. As for Russia, the days when you got on rickety Soviet-era planes with a shot of vodka for courage are over; most airlines have

British trains

Lada, even if the former costs a bit more. Whereas a decade ago most cars on the road were of a visibly boxy Russian type, today’s (much bigger) car fleet seems to be more than 50% foreign; of the foreign makes, about half are imported and another half are manufactured

modernized their fleets. Air fares are competitively priced – the far off cities will cost about $500 for a round trip (e.g. Vladivostok), but common routes like Moscow to St. Petersburg are around $100, and even less on the cheaper no-frills airlines.

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RMDetails The first special-purpose weather observation station in Russia was built in St. Petersburg in 1724. Instrument observation officially began in December 1725 at the St. Petersburg Academy of Science. The first analysis was conducted by the mathematics; physics; astronomy and optics professor, academician F. Meyer. However, systematic registration of outstanding meteorological events started yet in late 10th century. By command of Alexis I weather observation was established in 1650 at the Moscow Kremlin on a daily basis.

The lowest temperature on planet Earth was registered on the Soviet Antarctic station “Vostok” on 21 July 1983, when the platinum thermometer reading was - 89,2°C. This is the lowest in history of meteorological observation.

Extremes

The biggest temperature differential recorded was 106,7°C, from -70C to +36,7C. This natural record was registered in Verkhoyansk, Russia.

The isolated settlement of Tomtor, also in Sakha, holds the record lowest temperature for places with permanent residents. There is no other place on the planet where people live and work at 61°C which has an average January reading.

Sergey V. Obruchev, a geologist, wrote about his exploration of this area. He noticed that a weird sound always followed him around, “as if grain is being strewed by wind and shakes the dry snow off the trees. However, wherever you look – there is no wind and the trees don’t move, but the sound is still there”. Later he realized it was the rustle of his own frozen breath. The Yakuts call it “the whisper of stars”.

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№10(10) 22 September - 6 October 2011

RMDetails

Permafrost, or soil that is permanently frozen, covers about 63 percent of Russia.

Permafrost of more than 1370m deep was registered at the northern bank of the Vilui, the Siberian river, in 1982.

Immense layers can be found in the Taimyr Peninsula, reaching up to 600m deep.

The warmest place in the CIS is Sherabad, Uzbekistan (59 km from Termiz). The annual average temperature there is +18 °C.

The lowest temperature registered in the CIS is 68°C below zero – in Russia, in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Two local places vie for the honour of being considered the “Pole of Cold” in the whole Northern hemisphere, they are Verkhoyansk and Oymyakon.

№10(10) 22 September - 6 October 2011

The most intense heat in the CIS was registered in Turkmenistan by the employees of the Repetek meteorological station. The thermometer reading was +50,2°C in 29 July 1983.

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RMPsychology

Letters to You:

“How do I start a new life?”

Tatiana IRODOVA

Dear You, How many times have you said “I want a fresh start”; “I want to start my life over”; “I can’t continue living like this, and I want to make life changes”. Most people, I’m not the exception, have tried starting a new life with

cleaning their flat; getting rid of old clothes and moving furniture around. The truth is, that was a good start but also the end. As soon as your flat is spotless, you’re in a much better mood, you’re pleasantly tired and you decide “maybe my life is not so bad after all”. Your life goes on as usual until the next time you decide to change things around and you just end up with a clean flat again.

Whatever your reasons are for wishing to transform your life, forget about cleaning and prepare for a roller coaster.

Life changes don’t happen overnight. Whatever situation CURRENT situation

now with these tips from my personal experience, can turn your dreams into reality.

Be honest with yourself.

Write down, truthfully, where you are now in various areas of your life i.e. career; work/ life balance; relationships; hobbies etc. Now you are ready to write down ideally how you want the situation to be. For each point you mention, write down what resources you might need for the changes to take place.

For example, you might need family/friends support; financial or professional help. Write down a list of actions you have to take and IDEAL situation

in you and ….. GET AWAY from them. Surround yourself with positive people. Start socialising in different places and expose yourself to meet the type of people you really want to stay in touch with.

When you decide to stop being friends with some people, don’t lie to them that you are busy and can’t meet up with them. Explain that you’re starting your life over, tell them how you feel about their presence in your life and say goodbye! Don’t just ignore these people or remove them from your friends on Facebook – they won’t go away! Face up to them and tell

Actions/resources

Start date – achieve by

1 2 3

you are in now, you have to make sure you are serious about making changes. It’s time to put words into actions. You will need self-control; self-discipline; determination and willpower. Start making changes

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when exactly you want to take that specific action. It’s important to do this exercise to gain some clarity into the situation you find yourself in. Now it’s not just in your head, but on paper, you can do some brainstorming, add more actions to the list or make any other adjustments until you are completely satisfied. Take as much time as you need, but be completely honest with yourself and write down as much details as possible. It’s probably easier to make a table and print it out once it’s complete.

Think of all the people that are hurting you; making you feel down and don’t believe

them the truth, you will feel relieved. Explore your true desires – sign up for dance/ yoga classes, photography/ acting/make-up course or simply take a walk around your area more often. You have to be open and genuine to invite people into your life. Make a list of activities you’ve always wanted to try but haven’t done yet because of constant excuses. Research where these activities happen and decide when exactly you will try them out.

Be healthy, wealthy and happy…..& remember: “Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending”. №10(10) 22 September - 6 October 2011

RMArt

Contemporary Art:

From Russia with Quality being heroes from the Russian folk epics. Although his work has become progressively more abstract and formal over time, it is always characterised by the use of heavily encrusted levkas - a primer used principally in traditional icon painting.

David Plaksin has a strange mixture of acute observation and wild surrealism, as seen in his melancholic series of works on paper from the 1970s. The other three artists belong to a younger generation, growing up during the era of glasnost and perestroika; adapting the ethos and style of the Nonconformist heritage to suit contemporary concerns.

Tatiana Sergeeva with her childhood nostalgia paints mysterious objects and urgent images. Maria Garkavenko creates vivid themes of fantasy; ritual; sorcery and enchantment. Aleksandr Dashevsky is one of the rapidly rising stars of the St. Petersburg art world, is best known for his depictions of dilapidated, abstracted Soviet-era buildings.

Xanthi SKOULARIKI For their maiden show in London, Erarta Galleries opened this month with an exhibition featuring Nonconformist art from the 1970s and the 1980s Soviet Union and more specifically from the city of St. Petersburg, widely considered the cultural and artistic milieu of Russia since the Imperial era. Titled 'Peter and the Wolf', the exhibition is curetted by art critic Gabriel Coxhead who speaks of his project for Erarta Galleries and on the arrival of contemporary Russian art in London.

E

rarta Galleries are the newest addition to the demanding scene of London's contemporary art, currently presenting their inaugural exhibition with the full title 'Peter and the Wolf: Contemporary Painting from St. Petersburg' in their new space in Mayfair, strategically located opposite the new and much anticipated business venture of mega-restaurateur Arkady Novikov. The title of the exhibition deserves to be explained to the Western audience as it is based on a twofold idea that draws from the homonymous children's story and opera by Sergei Prokoviev. Curator Gabriel Coxhead, has worked with Russian artworks before, 20

Ballet on Ice, Vladimir Ovchinnikov, Oil on canvas, 2009

wanted to address the novelty of Russian contemporary art in the London art market whilst tracing it back to the roots of St. Petersburg’s tradition of folklore; childhood; magic and ritual.

Half of the artists in this exhibition belong to the Nonconformist generation.

Vladimir Ovchinnikov, is one of its’ foremost figures, prominent both as a painter of primitivist; socially satirical;

mythologically inspired scenes and also as an early organiser of the sort of unofficial and illegal exhibitions that came to be held in apartment buildings across Leningrad (as St. Petersburg was then known). Ovchinnikov's work is internationally acclaimed and sought after, fetching record prices at Sotheby's auctions.

Vyacheslav Mikhailov, is one of the founders of the group “The Three Bogatyrs”, 'Bogatyrs'

Gabriel, can you tell us on what criteria have you selected the artists on show?

Gabriel Coxhead: I have

selected three Nonconformist artists for the show, who rose to prominence in the 1970s and 1980s, who laid the groundwork for what we now think of as contemporary art in Russia and also three artists from the younger generation.

Hopefully there's something for everyone – from the abstract to the figurative; from the wildly surreal to the precisely observed. №10(10) 22 September - 6 October 2011

Gabriel Coxhead, Curator of Peter and the Wolf, Erarta Galleries

How do you perceive the exposure of Londonbased collectors to contemporary Russian art? Are Russian artists of calibre well represented or is it a new, emerging scene?

GC: London is the global

capital for contemporary art, as there is more art on display here than anyone could ever hope to see. There is something for everyone: both established

artists, as well as up-andcoming youngsters – whether you're speaking about Russian artists; London artists; the international circuit or whether it is art exhibited in commercial spaces or big museums or smaller non-profit spaces.

As for Erarta, the plan is to have a mixture of different generations, just like in this first group show, probably alternating with each other.

The second show, for instance, will be a solo exhibition of Rinat Voligamsi. Voligamsi is a fascinating artist, extremely well regarded in Russia, part of the younger generation who emerged during the period of the ill-defined, cold-war thaw, after the Nonconformist heyday. After that, there'll be a solo show of new work by Vladimir Ovchinnikov. After that, there will be a show by another young artist...

The arrival of Erarta Galleries in London comes at a time of a general

branching out and expansion of contemporary Russian art galleries in the city. What do you think lies behind this momentum?

GC: I think it's a combination of different factors. Part of it is simple demographics: an increasing number of Russians in London, a lot of them are interested in contemporary art. The timing is also right, if you think about when Russia began to be opened up and be "It is a sort of wry, metacomment on the exhibition itself: the act of exposing these Russian artists – some of whom have never exhibited outside Russia before - to the predatory art-market, which is ever hungry for new talent and spectacle" reformed: it takes about that long for art history and the art market to start to make sense of a whole new world of art that suddenly became visible

to Westerners. Finally, I think that people are always looking for the next 'big thing' in art; for a while, it was Chinese Art that was attracting investors.

Increasingly people feel it's going to be Russian art. It is a really exciting time.

What lead you to this collaboration with Erarta Galleries?

GC: What attracted me to

working with Erarta is that the organisation has access to a really interesting and historically significant stable of Nonconformist artists, both from St. Petersburg and the rest of Russia, as well as the younger artists.

What I'm hoping to do with the exhibitions here in London, is to show how the whole movement towards Nonconformist, unofficial, underground art during the 1970s and 1980s was far wider than the narrow circle of mainly Moscow-based, mainly conceptualist artists who tended to get promoted over here in the West. Lots of these shows have been extremely fascinating – such as a recent show at Calvert 22 – but it's only a tiny fraction of what makes up Russian art today.

Erarta was founded in 2008 in St.Petersburg, in a huge, historical building that is now fully renovated. Boasting a museum and a commercial gallery wing, Erarta has the largest private collection of contemporary art in Russia.

Last year, the commercial operations expanded to New York under a gallery on Madison Avenue called Ten43 and this year Erarta London opened its doors to the public.

Erarta Zurich will follow, and there are plans for other key global locations in the future.

“Peter and the Wolf” at Erarta Gallery: 14 Sep - 8 Oct Luggage Locker (from the series Cells) Aleksandr Dashevsky, oil on canvas, 2008 №10(10) 22 September - 6 October 2011

www.erarta.com

21

RMBlog

And How Was It For You....?

Richard BLOSS Gets serious for once about the Modern Russians in London...

I

spend my life on planes, not that I enjoy it. There are times when I look at a plane on the other side of the window and think, is this the moment that I am going to walk away? I don't want to sound ungrateful, but another 737 flight is just not my idea of fun. People say that travel may be good for the soul, but believe me, not at 06.00 in the morning and certainly not when you have just spent twenty minutes waiting in line behind a family on holiday who frankly don’t have a clue and have to be shouted at to take off their shoes, belts, watches etc to pass through security.

"What do you mean I can't take the baby food?"

22

This is the moment when reality catches up! There has to be a better way to enjoy seeing other places, than this? The answer is quite simple, instead of travelling anywhere...why not go and live there? It means that home is always where you want to be and when you've had enough, you can "go back home".

Modern Russians are amongst the best in the world at living somewhere else.

The modern Russians don't carry the religious baggage of Muslims; don't form little enclaves like the Australians in Earls Court; or the Lithuanians in Becton; they don't insist that prices are in dollars and above all don't talk about their flight from San Diego! They have worked out long ago that trying to compete with the Polish builders and decorators over here, is just not going to fly.

Why bother?

Life is for living.

There is no such thing as a poor Russian in London. You will find Russians in the most glamorous of London's places, easily able to mix the culture of one environment with that of another.

Herein lies the problem, like all things in life, perception is never reality. It comes down to this: are the Modern Russians "contributing" to our society, or simply

"consuming?" That is: can a Modern Russian ever empathize with the social unrest and uncertainty that we, as Londoners are experiencing? Or is it like it was for me, when I was

I am being a bit unfair and I know it, but the advantage of having the Modern Russians in our society, has been a quiet explosion, if you will, of Russian based art and culture. This is not just some "noir" films shown in the wrong part of North London, but expensive and market leader events from all sectors of performance, including opera, art and film. For example, Aleksandr Sokurov’s film “Faust” has just won the Gold Lion award at the Venice Film Festival. In short, what I see are ordinary people who

in Kiev for the Orange Revolution, being there, but very distant? It's wasn’t my problem, was it?

If this were Paris, we would be seeing a growth in the mixed cultural marriages that blend into arrondissement society because they've become French. I don't see too many people queuing round the block in order to become English. In fact I don't see anything like that in London.

know how to party, who are confident enough to try new things and are exploring their new found freedoms. I also see lots of mistakes and misunderstandings too.

But ultimately, none of that matters. The real measure of success for the Modern Russians is not how they can integrate into the UK culture, but how much of our culture they will take home? Or take "back home" to Russia, - if you see what I mean. №10(10) 22 September - 6 October 2011

RMSnapshot

Soak to the bone

Daily Life Who has a spare angle?

Rider

Glance

Family’s recipe

Stern reality Watermelon lover

Photos: www.thebestofrussia.ru 23

RM Travel

The Urals – Beauty of a Russian Province

Olga LESYK In recent years I have met a number of people with some fixed ideas about places to visit.

Unsurprisingly, it was often Russia they planned to see and destinations other than the Moscow/St Petersburg tandem – aka Glubinka.

G

lubinka (or ‘deep-deep country’) evokes an array of feelings and images in my fellow compatriots.

In a Muscovite’s snobbery book, it is anywhere outside MKAD (Moscow Ring Road) and the cradle for the young and ambitious flocking to the capital in search of a better life. In fact, not far from reality, there is a different story. So enigmatic and wild, the Russian countryside remains as inspirational as ever, no wonder people like going there to visit. The question is, where in glubinka do you go?

Just recently a French friend told me he was going on a trip to Siberia on his own the following year. My first question was, ‘Which Siberia is it? We’ve got at least two, if you leave the Far East out’. My friend didn’t have the vital language skills required from the outset, ranked second To the Ural in style. First and economy class by Demidovskij Express

24

or third of my top concerns at the time.

Then followed the usual geographical brief I do with every foreigner when they ask about my home in Russia.

It is not easy for small territory nations to understand Russia’s vast spaces. A westerner does not just catch a train to Siberia in the same way I can, for example, catch a train to Brighton on a particularly sunny weekend. There is much more travel involved in Russia.

While on the issue of the Siberias, to all train-lovers I recommend the Transsib experience, (or Trans Siberian Railway) covers pretty most of Russia, Mongolia and China. The 29 days adventure would set you back, between £1K - £3K. Russia may not be the world’s only country to have regions; yet Russia’s regional nature is unique in encompassing not so much different lifestyles and customs (which is the point of regional divisions within a state), but rather enormous territories, which could be proper countries on their own. So, before my travel-obsessed friend could ask any more questions on Siberia, I suggested he takes things in a logical progression and start with the Ural, my second favourite place in Russia after my home region of Western Siberia. This is a giant territory featuring the Ural Mountains, stretching from north to south of the country and the historic ‘Gateway to Asia’. It was mostly industrial during the Soviet era, but this region has much more to offer on the history and natural beauty front.

Getting There It is probably wise to start your acquaintance with the Ural by visiting Yekaterinburg (Sverdlovsk in the Soviet

Malachite jewellery is the region's hallmark

times). Being the capital city of the Ural Federal District (which is the size of France, Germany, Spain and Great Britain put together), Yekaterinburg is the Ural’s number one tourist destination. It is only 3 hours by plane from Moscow and GMT +5. The real Ural experience, however, is taking a railway from either Moscow or St Petersburg – the deluxe trains ‘Ural’ and ‘Demidovskiy Express’ respectively.

It will be 29 hours of your life you may never forget. Whether you are travelling first class (in a 4-berth compartment) or economy class makes no difference, as it is all down to what kind of fellow passengers you find yourself with.

The breath-taking views from the windows will cheer you up, whatever the neighbour situation. And you will have plenty of opportunities to explore the local scenery, as practically every third stop along the route is 10 minutes plus, just enough to hop off to stock on food carefully catered to the trains by provincial babushkas. Home-made cabbage and potato pies, pickled veg, fresh forest berries and mushrooms – the list is endless.

At some stations people get on the train, laden with merchandise – fluffy toys, crystal, wool wraps, china, pottery etc. This is typical of the small to medium provincial towns that are homes to larger manufacturers of these respective goods.

It may be a way of getting extra income these days, but in my childhood (the early and mid-nineties) the economic situation was tough. It was not uncommon for factory workers, particularly in glubinka, to get their monthly wages in goods №10(10) 22 September - 6 October 2011

Turgoyak – Russia's second clearest lake after Baikal

rather than cash. So the only way for those locals to survive was to try and shift the stock on to the passing trains – a daily job in its own right.

Industrial Hell v Countryside Heaven The Soviet époque saw the rise of the Ural as a major strategic region and an all purpose smith shop. To this day, there are a number of ‘closed’ towns dedicated to war technology and nuclear studies.

In true Bond-movies style, they have double names and admission-by-order system. My brother -in-law, a nuclear physicist, used to live and work in a place like that in the eighties – Snezhinsk, near Chelyabinsk (second largest city after Yekaterinburg, as per 2010 Census).

Up to 1991, however, it was known as Chelyabinsk-70.

More than any other city in the Urals, Chelyabinsk and its vicinity is an ecological blight. The smog from the many copper smelting plants is as bad as in industrial Beijing or Singapore. Only 90 Km northwest of Chelyabinsk lays the ‘dead land’ of Karabash, allegedly declared by UNESCO, the world’s most polluted town.

Karabash

Despite the industrial character of the region, the Ural has many areas of outstanding natural beauty, amongst which are the lakes Turgoyak, Tavatuj, Baltym and Shartash, and a Natural Park ‘Olenji Ruchji’ (The Deer’s Brooks), famous for its coves and impressive wildlife.

Folklore The Ural and its beautiful nature were glorified in works by Pavel Bazhov [1879-1950]. This Russian writer from glubinka is thought to be the father of a unique genre in Russian literature Uralskie skazy (tales of the Ural). Such pieces as ‘The Malachite Casket’, ‘The Mistress of the Copper Mountain’ and ‘The Tale of the Stone Flower’ gained a special love with Russians. So much so, Sergei Prokofiev wrote his eighth and last ballet based on the latter’s title. Today, ornamental stones excavation and the related arts and crafts business (malachite jewellery and souvenirs production) is a vital industry to the region.

Provincial Ural Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, Perm and Tyumen are certainly worth seeing. But it is the smaller towns, lost amid the woody hillsides and rolling plains, that give the Ural its provincial charm. In my early life, I would travel to the Ural often, as my older sister went to a university in Yekaterinburg.

We would often go away on the weekends to little places like Polevskoe, Berezovskij, Pyshma, Irbit and Miass.

Some really good memories I have of the Ural are of this village called Reshetnikovo, halfway between Tyumen and Yekaterinburg. This village is everything you would expect a typical middle-Urals settlement to be – hut-style wooden izbas with rather large brick barns and lots of tractors everywhere. The wooden banya (Russian bath house) with a stack of firewood outside, complete the scene.

An observation of mine – a major difference between a typical Russian village and a Western Ukrainian village, e.g., is that in Western Ukraine they must have a nice two or three-storied brick house, all painted and decorated on the outside; whereas in the Russian glubinka people invest more in machinery and farming tools, sometimes overlooking the aesthetics and safety issues in the household.

These local towns are the sort of place where I feel at home. The pace of life is somewhat slower there. Less entertainment than in the larger cities means people are focused on work and family life. By the same token, some associate living in glubinka with a chronic idleness resulting in heavy alcohol and drug abuse.

Others would argue the glubinka life style is more beneficial as you live in a small community, where everyone knows everyone, and you have your own garden, live on organic produce which you can also sell and it is generally safer than the larger cities, which are prime targets for terrorists.

You might think people only live in glubinka because they have no other choice. Yes, life is harder there and yes, some are born and die in the same place without ever venturing out, locked in their countryside ways. However, it is fundamental to understanding the Russian mentality. Do go there one day to see for yourself, because a day in the Russian glubinka is worth a thousand words.

Village life realities – procuring water from the local pump station

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RMGuide Andrei Rublev

Lecture-Screening Wed 5 October 2011 – 7.15pm Russian History in Film Series Language: In Russian with English subtitles Andrei Rublev is set against the background of 15th century Russia.

Although the film is only loosely based on the life of Andrei Rublev, its depiction of medieval Russia is realistic.

Andrei Tarkovsky created a film that shows the artist as “a world-historic figure” and “Christianity as an axiom of Russia’s historical identity” during a turbulent period of Russian history, that ultimately resulted in the Tsardom of Russia. The film is about the essence of art and the importance of faith and shows an artist who tries to find the appropriate response to the tragedies of his time. The film is also about artistic freedom with the possibility and necessity of making art for, and in the face of, a repressive authority and

Alexander Vorobyev its hypocrisy, technology and empiricism. By which knowledge is acquired on one’s own without reliance on authority and the role of the individual, community, and government in the making of both spiritual and epic art. (source: Wikipedia)

Tickets: £7, conc. £5 (Friends of Pushkin House, students and OAPs) Address: Pushkin House, 5a Bloomsbury Square, London WC1A 2TA

Tchaikovsky Competition Winners' Concert Wednesday, 21 September 19:00-22:00

An allTchaikovsky gala programme featuring the winners from the XIV International Tchaikovsky Competition held in July 2011, in the first major concert to be held outside Russia with the winners under the new direction of Valery Gergiev, performing the great concertos of Tchaikovsky.

Tickets: £10-£35 Address: Barbican Hall, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS www.lso.co.uk

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Exhibition Wed 12 October 2011 – 4.00pm “I think in terms of the construction of a dream, or of worshipping paper.

A painter’s thinking needs to be cosmic.

Because of the intense inwardness of my vision, and the purity and power of my reactions to the world around me, I aspire to break through in the way that Dali, Kandinsky and Klee managed to break through in the twentieth century.

I think that my works of art combine, in an organic whole, two lines of development, surrealism and abstractionism. Perhaps there are too many symbols in my works – crosses, spirals, springs, spheres, or quite real snails and flies, human bodies and severed limbs are all of a medieval mysticism worshipped by me. But this expresses the force of my imagination and the concentration of my dreams”. Alexander Vorobyev Tickets: admission free Address: Pushkin House, 5a Bloomsbury Square, London WC1A 2TA

First Intercontinental KVN Festival Sunday, 9 October 18:00-21:00

On the 9th October 2011 the HMV Hammersmith Apollo will host the First Intercontinental KVN Festival.

KVN is a Russian humour TV show and competition where teams (usually college students) compete by giving funny answers to questions and showing prepared sketches.

Teams from all over the world will gather in London to compete against each other. This includes teams from: Russia (Top League), Kazakhstan, Ukraine, USA, Israel, Australia, Germany,

France, Czech Republic, Transnistria, Ireland ...and Britain.

NOTE: The event will be performed in Russian Tickets: £20 - £65 Address: HMV Hammersmith Apollo, 45 Queen Caroline Street Hammersmith, London W6 9QH www.kvnuk.co.uk №10(10) 22 September - 6 October 2011

RMGuide

Where to… try Russian cuisine?

Nikita’s restaurant Nikita's is renowned for its Russian cooking, fine selection of vodkas and lively atmosphere. In keeping with the legendary Russian love of entertaining, Nikita's has a well deserved reputation as one of the best restaurants for private parties and over the years has played host to many well known faces including the late Princess Margaret; The Beatles; Kate Moss; Elton John and Richard Gere. Nikita's menu offers a range of Russian inspired dishes including Beluga caviar with Nikita's signature homemade blinis; Steak Tartar and borscht, the traditional beetroot soup which is made according to the Ukrainian chef's family recipe.

These delicious dishes will shatter the myth held by many people that Russian cuisine is bland, heavy and tasteless.

Address: 65 Ifield Road, London, SW10

find Russian books?

Bookshop Russkiy Mir In this book-shop you could find several thousands books in Russian – Russian and foreign classics; Russian history; fantasy; crime stories; Russian children books; popular Russian music and DVDs. You can visit the shop yourself in Central London, or buy on-line and your order will be delivered to you by Royal Mail anywhere in the UK. Address: 23 Goodge Street, London, W1T 2PL

buy Russian food?

Kalinka Now in Queensway you can hear Russian spoken more often than anywhere else in London. Also this is a kind of 'meeting point'. Kalinka is a ‘Russian Food Shop and Cafe’, located in the heart of London. You’ll find quality Russian food with great service. The owner Boris Gofman is a professional musician, conductor and composer, in the past he had been an ‘explorer'.

Address: 35 Queensway, W2 4QP, London UK

RMStreet Chic

No Blue Without Yellow What Russian Person Do You Know?

Photographer: Anton Phatianov

Luckytati, 29, personal assistant, jacket Bershka, bag Clarks, stockings Ann Summers, heels Aldo.

Alexander Sviyash (Writer)

Gorbachev

Vitkus and Sophia, 34 years, musician, t-shirt Primark, shorts Urban Pipeline, footwear Urban.

Luciana Duarte, 33, waiter, trainers Puma, jeans Diesel, t-shirt Armani, bag bought in Brazil.

Boris Moiseev

Dasha, 18 years, student, polo H&M, shoes River Island, jeans Zara, cardigan Benetton.

Berezovsky

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Kaela Bonnie, 21, student, t-shirt H&M, jeans New Look, boots River Island, bag from charity shop, waistcoat vintage.

No idea

Lola, 22, t-shirt Primark, jeans Pull and Bear, scarf from shop at Covent Garden, bag Disigual, sunglasses Ray Ban.

Gorbachev

Fara, 23, retailer, yellow dress from European fashion studio, black dress and bag Zara, leggings Mango, shoes New Look.

No idea

Sabrina, 31, banker, leggings and top New Look, dress Freddy, bag Capezio, shoes Comptoir du Cotonnier, bracelet Marks and Spencer.

Gorbachev

Konstantin, 31 years, engineer, jeans Levi’s, jacket Bench, trainers Puma, t-shirt H&M.

Lenin

Clem, 19 years, student, shoes Office, top/shorts/ leggings Topshop, jacket New Look.

Putin

Caitriona, 25, director, shoes Nike ID, jeans Topshop, t-shirt from T-shirt store.

Medvedev

Monika, deputy manager in Guess store, top/handbag/ leggings Guess, boots All Saints, jacket Stradivarius.

Aleksandr Domogarov (Actor)

â„–10(10) 22 September - 6 October 2011

RMClassified Services Tax returns, accounting services for the Self-Employed Tax returns; accounting services for the Self-Employed; registration of companies. All the documents needed to work in England: NI Number; CSCS card and certificate; UTR number (registration SelfEmployed) and CIS-registration.

Help with job placement, preparation of CV - is free.

Social assistance from the state: unemployment benefits for the poor; child allowance; maternity leave; for housing, etc. - residency for EU citizens - to prove your right of access to social programmes, UK (benefits). Free consultations.

We work remotely with other cities.

Tel: 020 3556 8216 or cell: 07928 108636 or advert.ab@gmail.com Transport help We will drive to and pick up from any airport in London; railway stations; ports etc. Business travel and car rental with driver. Reliable; efficient; comfortable; quick and inexpensive.

Call: 07707 649622, lisotransfer@rambler.ru Search Engine Marketing Consultant (SEO/PPC), website development We provide SEO Services and PPC Management (Google adWords, Facebook) for websites as well as Website Development (CMS and eCommerce) for individuals and small business companies.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO); Search Engine Marketing (SEM); Paid Search Marketing (PPC); Social Media; Online Media; Email Marketing; eCommerce; Website Design and Development.

Contact: info@webseoexpert.co.uk

Jobs Company ESR Company ESR: www. eurostaffjobs.com offers more than 40 different jobs with accommodation in the UK; Germany; the Netherlands; №10(10) 22 September - 6 October 2011

Belgium; France; Norway; Sweden; Finland; Spain; the Czech Republic and Italy. Work is with or without knowledge of the national language. Must have CV. Electricians required in Germany and the Netherlands want drivers with our vans.

Only serious callers, open Monday-Friday from 9am to 4pm on 07740 864279. Or send e-mail eurostaffjobs@gmail.com.

Advertising company An advertising company requires an operator of digital technology.

Relevant experience is desired.

Working with Photoshop; Corel Draw; Illustrator; Xerox; Konica.

People. Those who are not enthusiastic and are not ready to do the work on time, please do not waste our time.

Please send your CV to Olga gk@thunderarts.co.uk or call 0207 520 2655 Café shop assistant needed We are looking for a person to work at a cafe near Bank station.

Job involves: serving customers; making coffee; some food preparation etc. No experience

needed as training will be given.

Must speak and understand English.

Please send your CV to katerina@cafemana.co.uk and we will contact you.

Or call: 07581 364006

Autos for sale Mercedes Benz b220 Silver KU06YNX 3 to 6 years 82000 miles Price: £1,700 London Full Service History; Cruise Control; Air Conditioning; MOT; Power Steering; ABS; Electric Windows; Alarm; Estate with 4 doors Contact: phillip.darwin@hotmail.co.uk Nissan 350Z Silver YU54ZPR 3 to 6 years 94000 miles Price: £1,600 London MOT; petrol; ABS; Electric Windows; Alarm; Convertible with 2 doors Contact: bobby.taylor15@msn.com

PROFESSIONAL

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ТЕL.: 07897-48884-1

Porsche Cayenne V6 Year: 2008, 35000 miles Condition: 8 Asking Price: €78,750 Alloy wheels; power windows; multi functional steering wheel; heated seats; tinted windows; leather seats; sunroof; power steering; CD player; DVD; ABS; ASR; EDS ESP; alarm; immobilizer; airbags; tempomat CCS; xenon lights.

Price negotiable within reason.

Location: Gorlitz, Germany 02828 (Germany) Contact: info@autokarman.com

Homes for Rent 2 bedroom house to rent in Ely - £143 p/w Compact 2 bedroom, Victorian unfurnished house to let. Located in central Ely. Close to shops (10 minutes walk); local amenities; rail station (20 minutes walk) and easy access to the A10. Currently being refurbished available 1/9/2011 onwards. £615 PCM. Rental includes off road parking for two cars attached to the rear of a small private garden which is not overlooked. Quiet location surprisingly close to the City. Property also has a small workshop with power for utilities; reachable via a courtyard garden from the rear of the house. Would suit professional single or couple working in Cambridge or near Kings Cross London Contact: andreiflame@yahoo.co.uk Looking for someone to rent a house for me Hi, I need your help to rent a house for me, I will pay you the monthly commission and the house rental will be paid in full by me. I'm sincerely hoping someone can help me out soon, thanks!

Contact: christina0107@hotmail.co.uk

To find out more

VISIT: www.russianmind.com/ classifieds 29

RMSport

US Open Needs an Umbrella Waiting for Irene

Anastasia GRISHCHENKO, from New York

This years’ US Open suffered from a hurricane and an earthquake (events more likely to happen California) and was eclipsed by the exceptional withdrawal of players - 18 players refused to take part in the competition, 10 of them retired during their matches.

But it was the ordinary rain that caused the usual chaos to the Open schedule, which left organisers embarrassed and made the top players irritated, as never before. Rain delayed the men’s final to Monday from Sunday again, as has happened in the last four years — the cancellations and delays have become part of the scene at the National Tennis Center. When it came to the tournament winners, the results were somewhat of a surprise. Novak Djokovic and Samantha Stosur won their first US Open titles upsetting multiple Grand Slam champions Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams.

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New York declared a state of emergency as the hurricane neared.

Mayor Bloomberg cancelled all city events. Homes and hospitals situated in the so called A Zone (flood-prone lowlying areas) were evacuated. Subways, buses and trains were shut down. People were advised to stay in their homes.

Almost all the shops, restaurants, laundries in Manhattan were closed.

Only a few working cafes were chock-full of people. It felt like I was in a combat zone. During the days preceding the hurricane, there was only one subject discussed – Irene is coming. We were all waiting for Irene!

All training sessions and the US Open press conferences were postponed. “I stayed at the hotel the whole day which was spent relaxing, reading, watching soccer and movies, tweeted Nadal. Of course it’s a pity that the presentation of my autobiography and the autograph session were cancelled”. For Manhattan residents, the hurricane did not turn out as terrifying as it was supposed to be. It seemed that when Irene reached NYC, she ran out of power. “That’s it?” – wondered Elena Vesnina. “Thank God we didn’t need a parachute or a space suit!”

In two days, Irene was out of the NYC area. Paper fences on first floor windows were ripped off. On Monday morning Roger Federer

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

there was only one thing that reminded me of the hurricane days – empty Starbucks shelves. Where is my favourite lemon cake? “I suppose they have some problems with shipments”, the cashier said. But the tropical storm did not prevent the start of US Open, the final Grand Slam of the year got underway as scheduled.

Nadal’s fainting While taking questions after his win over David Nalbandian, the defending champion started to grimace, rolled

RMSport Photographer: Alexander Erastov, Anastasia Grishchenko

US Open wedding

Novak Djokovic

his head back, squeezed his eyes shut, covered his contorted face with his left arm, slipped slowly off his chair and disappeared under the table. Journalists were asked to clear the interview room and were then allowed back after 10 minutes. “It was just cramp”, Nadal assured.

Andy Roddick played down Nadal's drama saying: “Not to put a dampener on the story, which I know you guys think is really big, but people cramp after matches when you're cold. It's just something that happens with every player. When you are running around in nasty weather you can pull muscles. As long as it doesn't happen during a match, you're fine. When it comes to Rafa, they were telling me it was like this big deal and people were surrounding him. I started laughing. When I saw Rafa, he was laughing about it afterwards”.

Roddick was not the only one who made fun of the Spaniard. Caroline Wozniacki had a few laughs imitating leg cramp suffered by Rafa. The women’s world No. 1 slid down her chair just like Nadal did, during her press conference after surviving a thrilling three-setter against Svetlana Kuznetsova. The only difference was that she had a big smile on her face. "I had a bit of fun at my press conference. I hope it was not taken the wrong way. I have the utmost respect and admiration for Rafa!" said the Dane.

If you ask me, Caroline did nothing she should apologize for or be ashamed of. Her imitation was sweet and №10(10) 22 September - 6 October 2011

innocent, not disrespectful. The only weak point of her joke was that the Dane did not go all out. So Caroline, if you're going to mock one's cramping, which was hilarious, fall under the table next time!

Serena going mad “Serena was rude and disrespectful.

She did not even apologize to the umpire” – that was the general perception of Williams’ behaviour. If two years ago, when Serena threatened to kill the umpire for a foot fault call, fans and organisers supported her, this time they criticized her and found her unprofessional and classless. What happened? Serena Williams was fined $2,000 by the U.S. Open officials for berating the chair umpire during her 2-6, 3-6 defeat to Samantha Stosur in the women's singles final.

On Sunday night, Williams faced a break point while serving in the first game of the second set. She ripped a forehand that she celebrated with her familiar yell of "Come on!" But the chair umpire Eva Asderaki ruled that the scream came while Stosur was reaching for a backhand, so the point wasn't finished. Based on the hindrance rule, she awarded the point to Stosur.

The American could not stop blaming the umpire: “You're out of control, you’re a hater and you're just unattractive inside, don't even look at me". Her family

sitting on the stands stayed calm and patient. When the 13-time Grand Slam champion asked whether she regretted any of her words she replied: "I don't even remember what I said. It was just so intense out there".

Lessons from the Serb After winning three Grand Slams this year, Djokovic has spawned lots of rumours. People say that the Serb has had a spell cast upon him by Balkan shamans; or he ate something for his fantastic strength; or he is just cloaked in a mysterious winning aura. That talk didn’t sound completely unreasonable?

He has won 57 of 59 matches and nine tournaments since January, Novak casts a primal fear in all of his opponents including the Swiss living legend Roger Federer. Experts such as Brad Gilbert have said that Novak can easily give lessons to top tennis players charging them $100 per hour!

I want to stress one point that is important in Djokovic’s ongoing transformation. Novak’s team, his father Goran likes to joke that ‘Team Novak’ includes so many people that they travel by bus, “organised like Formula One, with so many people around him”, he said. With the help of a psychologist, Novak overcame a mental hurdle and believed that everything was possible, while his dietician helped him lose weight by removing wine and pizza from his diet. It’s a perfect illustration for how a great player is built not only by hard work and talent, but also with the help of other devoted professionals. That’s the way the US Open is run too!

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