RussianMind #2 (18) 03 - 16 February

RussianMind №2 (18) 3-16 Feb 2012, www.RussianMind.com

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Contents

RM TEAM ACTING EDITOR OLGA KUDRIAVTSEVA

10-11

6-9

5

LAYOUT YURI NOR, LIZAVETA WYATT COVER IMAGE: ROSE WYLIE AFTER CAMILLA, 2004

RussianMind №2 (18) 3-16 Feb 2012, www.RussianMind.com

The Phenomenon of Success

Mikhail Prokhorov: The Oligarch Presidential Candidate

Visa. Free for All

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12-13

16-17

14-15

HEAD OF EDITORIAL BOARD MARK HOLLINGSWORTH MANAGING DIRECTOR AZAMAT SULTANOV SPECIAL PROJECT DEPARTMENT DARIA ALYUKOVA

Maintaining Minimum Goodwill 18-19

The Cinema of Andrei Tarkovsky

Rose Wylie Exhibits in Moscow

21

ADVERTISING YORDANKA YORDANOVA, MARIA YADRIKHINSKAYA BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR ALINA BLINOVA IT DIRECTOR OLEKSII VYSHNIKOV SUB EDITOR JULIA GOBERT ACTING EDITOR’S ASSISTANT RUKHSHONA SHAKHIDI DISTRIBUTION OLGA TSVETKOVA IN PRINT: RICHARD BLOSS, TAI ADELAJA, DAVID GILLESPIE, XANTHI SKOULARIKI, TATIANA IRODOVA, OLGA LESYK, GAFUR SADIKOV.

22-23

Portraits of Our Times

Where Is My Dream Life Partner?!

24-25

Lillian Bassman: The Poetess of Fashion Photography

26-27

CONTACTS: EDITORIAL STAFF: OLGA@RUSSIANMIND.COM GENERAL ENQUIRIES: INFO@RUSSIANMIND.COM DISTRIBUTION: DISTRIBUTION@RUSSIANMIND.COM

Sambir, Ukraine: Recipe for a Perfect Day Out

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Editor

THE PHENOMENON OF SUCCESS

I have always admired individuals who achieved in their lives what they wanted. My admiration has

worked hard to attain their position.

Looking at them, I understand few very important things. Those who achieved success in their life are

judgment. ! "

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distrust, these people turned our understanding of the world upside down.

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4 0 And by the way, here is a simple formula. Genius = 1% talent + 99% sweat.

5

MIKHAIL PROKHOROV: THE OLIGARCH PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE

by Mark Hollingsworth The decision by Mikhail Prokhorov, Russia’s third richest man, to stand against Vladimir Putin for the Presidency of Russia was greeted with shock.

While he has been a highly successful businessman, he is best known as a sports-obsessed playboy, rather than a politician.

So how did Prokhorov, only 46, accumulate his $18 billion fortune? In the

RussianMind investigates.

Mikhail Prokhorov was born in Moscow on 3 May 1965. His father

the Soviet State Sports Committee and his mother,

studying law. According to Prokhorov’s sister, their

the KGB in the late 1950s but declined after their mother threatened to leave him if he agreed. “Our father was a really brilliant man�, said Mikhail’s sister. “I think my brother inherited from him the faculties of memory, imagination and audacity — all virtues that were useless under the Soviet system. My father was more or less successful, but I remember his bitter remarks when he came back from trips abroad. He could see the difference between the life

Tamara, who had a Jewish mother, was a researcher at the Moscow Chemical Materials Institute. “She was a chemical engineer and she was very good at it�, her son Mikhail said later. “I was very far from that. If we needed something repaired at home, my mother, she was the best�. His father, Dmitry, grew up in Siberia and was one of eight children in a family of

N Q 9

peasants persecuted by Lenin and Stalin. He grew up in extreme poverty, but attained relative privilege in the Soviet State Sports Committee after 6

in the West and how we lived�.

In their early years the Prokhorovs lived in a Khrushchev era highrise apartment block. In 1975, when Prokhorov was ten, they moved to a two bedroom apartment on Kibalchicha Street on the north side of Moscow.

Prokhorov recalled: “It

Q

For more than 30 years, maybe 35 years, I lived in [that] 500 square feet�.

Later he showed the New York Times around the apartment: “Inside he began rummaging through closets and drawers. Here

was a four-inch nail a strongman friend of the family had bent in half; a boomerang from Australia; a Sharp double tape deck for the whole family that Prokhorov eventually ‘privatized’. A hall shelf

bound leather editions of classic writers like Balzac, Chekhov and Dickens. In his boyhood room were VCR tapes of Rambo (“I 9

~ or seven years I watch it again�) and hockey photo books and chess manuals.

Prokhorov was a gifted chess player, trouncing all the grown-ups on the beach during a family vacation to the Baltic Sea when he was 6, but he gave the game up, preferring hockey, soccer and sports where he could ‘feel the pulse of the opponent’.

His bedroom wasn’t much bigger than a shoebox, with barely enough space for the extra long bed.

His father was in charge of ordering supersize beds for the basketball athletes competing in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow and added one for his son. When Mikhail was older and wanted a girlfriend to stay over, he had to set up a cot�.

Prokhorov says his parents would cram people

school so I did economics, which is in between�, he recalled.

Prokhorov then spent two years in the Soviet army. He says: “It was the

was cancelled but I joined anyway. I wanted to experience the hardships

myself�. During his service he would forage for wild mushrooms to add to the army porridge. He says

in a military jail for leaving the barracks without permission.

After the army Prokhorov worked in manual jobs and once unloaded bags of cement from Moscow trains and was paid 50 rubles per person per car, more than any other rail freight.

When the laws changed, he could deliver the cement as well, earning as much as 400 rubles a day, more than teachers at the Finance Institute earned in a month. Â…

stonewashing blue jeans.

He established a company called Regina, named after the wife of a business partner and rented a corner of a laundromat in Moscow to process the jeans. He would buy jeans for 1 ruble, treat them with a mix of clay and pumice

into their tiny kitchen: “When my parents had parties, there would be 20 people packed in here, standing, sitting, moving, talking all the time. We didn’t have a country house or a car. There was nothing to buy. We had parties‌.Ever since the age of four I remember playing sports on the street and parties were a big part of my growing upâ€?. He added: “We lived with great contradictions. There was the public need to support the regime, and then there was the private life in the kitchen, where we listened to Voice of America on the radio, and read forbidden books and had discussions in a very soft manner about all sorts of things. I learned from both my parents that you had to be clever. They could think in a different way, but they made their views very soft. When you are 12 or 14, it’s not easy to feel the limits of what you are allowed to say or doâ€?.

Prokhorov attended Moscow School, where he learned English. He was a head taller than his classmates and was nicknamed ‘the Giraffe’. In 1982, he joined the Moscow Financial Institute. “There was no such thing as businessmen in Soviet times, but I wasn't a scientist or a philosopher at

7

in a laundry on the outskirts of

Moscow and then sell the pants to retailers for 15 rubles each. “You could only get normal jeans in Russia but we got the technology to make stone-washed and the business soaredâ€?, he said later. “We got very rich. I bought a second-hand Lada and spent my money on girls and parties. It was the last time I felt real joy at having money‌It was another level of life. It freed me from the metro. I could invite a girl out and drive her to one of the small private restaurantsâ€?.

In his last year at university Prokhorov joined the Communist Party. Along with other young Komsomol members he spent a period helping farmers harvest potatoes.

But it was not long before he entered the commercial world. In 1991, when he met his long term business partner Vladimir Potanin, Prokhorov worked at the International Bank of Economic Cooperation in Moscow – set up to handle the foreign trade accounts of ten Communist states.

Prokhorov headed the foreign currency export operations department at the bank.

On meeting Potanin, they spoke about the trade

MIKHAIL PROKHOROV AND VLADIMIR POTANIN

account for 15 seconds and then spent three hours discussing opportunities in business. Three months later we were partners.

Potanin founded Interros to provide services in

support of foreign trade operations.

Potanin and Prokhorov became inseparable business partners and friends, and in 1992 they established their own bank, the International Company for Finance and Investments (MFK) Prokhorov brought 90 per cent of his clients with him from the International Bank of Economic Cooperation and used his experience in banking whilst Potanin drew on his contacts in government to win lucrative state accounts.

Prokhorov says of their partnership: “One plus one was much more than two when we were together. We are absolutely different in everything. We have a funny joke. If you put 10 girls of different appearances in front of

absolutely different girls.

No overlap�.

banks set up across Russia,

economic rebirth. Banks could be started by anyone with about $1.5 million in

Evgueni Ivanov, who worked at Onexim Bank in the 1990s told Bloomberg: “All the big names in foreign trade were there, plus some oil producers.

Potanin was in charge of outside connections, and Mikhail was running the team�. Onexim Bank’s greatest achievement was taking control of Norilsk Nickel under Yeltsin’s notorious loansfor-shares programme.

Potanin was close to the Yeltsin administration in the mid-1990s and was for a time First Deputy Prime Minister. He played in important role in promoting the loans-forshares scheme from which Interros emerged as one of

According to the New York Times: ‘Potanin was retained as a consultant to the government and designed the auction process, known as loans for shares. The auctions were overseen by Anatoly Chubais, one of

According to Bloomberg, Prokhorov and Potanin

exchanges during Q 3 “Newly independent Russia was hit by Q

than 2,000 percent, and Prokhorov and Potanin

by exploiting the dollarruble exchange rate. They would convert rubles to

Q

to eat away at the ruble’s value and then convert the dollars back into

you had access to a good clientele with really big ruble deposits, the margins were really enormous and you could convert them easily to hard currency�, Prokhorov said.

Attractive as this business was, Interros really hit the jackpot when Potanin opened Uneximbank in 1993 with funds from the government's foreigntrade bank. As with MFK, Potanin became President and Prohorov Chairman.

These were still the early days of privatization, and Uneximbank was one of thousands of new private 8

his sponsors in Yeltsin's administration and a leading reformer. ... [The] auctions gave Uneximbank control of Norilsk Nickel, one of the world's largest nickel producers; Sidanko, 9 ˆ

oil company, and a bevy of other industrial concerns. Uneximbank was appointed by the government to run the Norilsk auction -- and somehow won with a bid just $100,000 above the opening price of $170 million after disqualifying a competing bid of $350 million. “It was bad�, Potanin said of the auctions. “The prices were cheap. We can stop discussing this. It was bad. But it did solve the problem of having more ) Norilsk Nickel had been converted to a Joint Stock company in 1993.

At the end of 1995, the Yeltsin administration transferred 38 per cent of its shares (51 per cent of its voting shares) to Interros for management and in 1997 the company took ownership of the shares.

Potanin and Prokhorov thus acquired assets worth

billions of dollars for only ÂŁ120 million.

Prohorov admits to having paid bribes in the 1990s: “It was cowboy territory with no sheriff�.

Still, he claims that Norilsk Nickel was a troubled company when they took it over and that they were able to turn it around. “The company had $2 billion of loans,

Q ‰8 billion a year and six months of unpaid wages.

We asked several Western institutions to share the risks and help us. We asked for $50 million or $100 million. The answer was ‘no’. They're kicking themselves now!�

In the mid-1990s Interros also took control of Sidanko oil company, Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK), and North-Western Shipping. Along with George Soros they also famously clashed with Berezovsky and Gusinsky

institution. Armed guards, metal detectors and electronic gates protect the entrance to the main building, which is on a commercial boulevard lined with monolithic slabs housing a series of Russia's leading banks.

But the bank had proved to be the foundation of an empire built on sand. Its tenuous prosperity rested on a lucrative but unstable niche in they Russian securities markets and an inside track it navigated with a heavy hand during auctions of formerly state-owned companies beginning in 1995.

Onexim Bank was declared insolvent and, according to Western bankers, was left with about $700 million in derivatives liabilities that it could not pay. Prokhorov subsequently oversaw the restructuring of the

over control of the state telecommunications giant Svyazinvest. In 1997 the Yeltsin administration auctioned a blocking stake (25% + 1 share) in Svyazinvest which was sold for $1.87 billion to a Cypriot-based consortium called Mustcom Ltd. The consortium included Unexim Bank, Renaissance Capital, Deutsche Morgan Grenfell, Morgan Stanley Asset Management and George Soros’s Quantum Fund.

Potanin and Prokhorov maintained their wealth and power through the 8’’“

largely due to their control of Norilsk Nickel. Unexim Bank was badly affected by the crisis and defaulted on its loans following the Russian government’s own default of August 1998 During the crisis, the headquarters of Potanin's empire, Uneximbank, resembled a fortress

9

He says: “One stupid decision by

the government to declare itself bankrupt meant $2 billion was written off at the bank. We were the only bank to negotiate with creditors. It was the hardest time of my life�.

Between 1997 and 2001, Potanin and Prokhorov sold their stakes in a number of companies including Sidanko and Novolipetsk Steel and cashed in. In 2001 Prokhorov took over the management of Norilsk Nickel as general director.

He cut the number of workers from 125,000 in 2001 to 58,000 in 2007 and axed the nurseries and hospitals, which were a legacy of the Soviet system. Norilsk Nickel was now hugely wealthy and Prokhorov was on his way to becoming one of Russia’s wealthiest men.

Photos: mdp2012.ru

Opinion

VISA. FREE FOR ALL

by Richard Bloss who has important news about UK visa requirements Similarly, in a reciprocal move redolent of the Moscow European Football Finals of 2008, those visitors in possession of a ticket for Chelsea's game against Liverpool a week next Tuesday, will be exempt from these charges.

Ladies and gentlemen, a note has come across my desk that I believe I must share with you.

In an unexpected announcement, it appears HM Government is to waive the requirement for Russians and Russian speaking nationals, to have a Visa when entering the UK. It will mean free access whenever you feel like it. The task of Immigration and monitoring the movement of individuals and likely visitors - will be outsourced to the ABC Supermarket chain.

The Minister and the Supermarket CEO were –

arrangements, in particular that there will be no more wars! In their place, will simply be intense negotiations at the time of the January Sales.

It is felt that, since supermarkets already invade

credit card payments, it will be a simple matter to extend this monitoring, to allow in only those people who spend more than a hundred quid a week on food.

The Government Minister responsible for this announcement was quick to point out that "we

•

supermarket database, along the lines of : "1. Are you a terrorist?, 2. Have you ever thought about being a terrorist?, and 3. Do you think that you could be persuaded to be a terrorist if life gets any worse than it is already?"

The Supermarket were keen to stress that in line with their policy of improving the retail experience, you will now be able to buy your favourite brand of toothpaste along with the Duty Frees when you arrive. However, there will still remain some food and drink Import restrictions, and for Gods sake don't bring in any more of that luminescent purple salade that you guys eat at lunchtime.

And there has likewise been no adverse reaction from ether Londoners or UK residents Q • 9 0 English people can actually afford to live in London, there will be no visible difference when &

walking down Bond Street anyway. And in the provinces, people already prefer to use builders will now be much more open, in particular, young females under the age of 25, and as long as they are and decorators from Poland, so no probs there, then. blonde, will be encouraged to apply.

The only restriction will be that all immigrants must be in a possession of at least a Gold Amex Card or local equivalent. However, those that

• bucks in cash to the guy on passport control as you go through. This is known as a Special Tax In The Customs Hall – UK Process - or to give it it's acronym, STITCH-UP.

10

Asked whether we will see little Russian corner shops appearing, aka the Polish model... a spokesman for the Russian Consulate " thought that this was unlikely, as we own most of the London shops already".

The new rules are likely to come into force on April 1st.

Opinion

11

Business

MAINTAINING MINIMUM GOODWILL

by Tai Adelaja DESPITE LOSING AN OVERWHELMING MAJORITY IN PARLIAMENT, RUSSIA'S RULING UNITED RUSSIA PARTY MAY BE SPEARHEADING SPECIFIC INITIATIVES AIMED AT PREVENTING MORE RUSSIANS FROM SLIDING INTO POVERTY. Still reeling from a surprise challenge to its decade-long dominance in December, Russia’s ruling United Russia party appeared to be trying a new way of maintaining ties to its traditional constituency as it pushes for an increase in the country's miserly minimum wage.

The pro-Kremlin party, which still maintains a slim majority of 238 out of 450 seats in the State Duma, said last week that it is stepping up efforts to index the federal minimum wage, which it said has been nearly “eaten up� by Q 1

say the move, which came on the heels of a wave of popular protests against the December 4 parliamentary election, could be a belated attempt by the party to stem the rising tide of public anger.

The Russian Parliament plans to enact a three-step increase in federal minimum wage through a parliamentary

resolution to be considered "very soon," Andrei Isayev, State Duma Labour and Social Policy Committee Chairman told. Isayev, who is also a senior member of the pro-Kremlin United Russia party, said the proposals, which will combat poverty, include mandating the government to adopt a triple indexation scheme that should see the minimum wage top 6,500 rubles ($207) by October. According to the three-step schedule, the minimum wage will

current 4,600 rubles ($146) to 5,000 rubles in $ 1 2 8 be increased to 5,500

6,500 rubles by October 1. The new minimum 12

wage, he said, will be enough to meet last

ˆ

subsistence level.

number of Russians currently living below the poverty line grew by more than 2 million over the past year, the State Statistics Service (Rosstat) reported in September.

About 15 percent of the population, or 21.1 million people, now subsist below the poverty line, up from 19.1 million people in September last year, according to Rosstat.

The current subsistence income is 7,023 rubles ($221) a month for a working adult, 5,141 rubles ($165.8) for a pensioner and 6,294 rubles ($203) for a child. In last year's –

respectively, 5,956 rubles ($192), 4,395 rubles ($142) and 5,312 rubles ($171).

The minimum wage, which serves as a basis for calculating payments to unskilled workers and some federal and regional government employees, was last 2

2009 from the previous year's level to 4,330 rubles ($138). However, supporters of pay raises, including Mikhail Shmakov, the Chairman of the Independent Unions Federation, have been pressuring the government to raise salaries as a way to stimulate demand and boost the economy at a time when prices keep growing despite people's thinner wallets. The

However, with economists warning

election promises could punch a hole in the budget after the Presidential elections, the government has been wary of raising the minimum wage in violation of promises to control the budget.

Russia currently spends more than 15 percent of its gross domestic product on social and welfare programmes and has struggled to keep

Q

so the nation's poor won't be poorer, the Eurasian Development 1

report. Isayev offered

Business

RUSSIA: THE COUNTRY OF CONTRAST

last week to help the government to raise the minimum wage to meet the poverty threshold. “We are working on the necessary resolution.

And we’re prepared to defend this before the government in order to resolve the issue�, Isayev said.

The average nominal income of employed Russians stands at 23,154 rubles ($738) per month, or 330 percent higher than the subsistence income, according to Rosstat.

But while the numbers of the impoverished dropped steadily in the early 2000s, amid climbing oil prices

could increase from 12.7 percent in 2012 to 12.8 percent in 2013, while the poverty rate could reach 12.5 percent in 2014.

and economic growth, they have remained relatively static since 2007. According to the State Statistics Service, in 2001 about 50 million Russians, or 33 percent, were living below the subsistence level. This number improved to 24.5 percent in early 2005, and 14.8 percent in the third quarter of 2007. The Ministry of Economic Development earlier predicted that the minimum subsistence level would rise to 8,579 rubles ($273) by 2014. But because of the rising costs of a consumer basket of goods and services, the percentage of the poor

But even as many Russians are coming to grips with a declining era of relative stability and prosperity, the number of Russian super-rich has increased, making Moscow home to more of the world's wealthiest people than New York. According to Forbes magazine, Russia had 101 billionaires in 2011 – almost double the number in the previous year. Social and economic polarity has become so palpable 13

that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who is seeking another term as President, told a United Russia congress in September that taxes on the rich could be raised, while acknowledging "dangerous levels of social inequality". Such public acknowledgement from the Kremlin is a sign that party members, who have dominated the top echelons of business and institutions under the Prime Minister, may have to share their wealth and power with a wider circle of Russians, analysts say.

Original source:

Culture

THE CINEMA OF ANDREI TARKOVSKY

by David Gillespie The Soviet Union’s two

Sergei Eisenstein and & +

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Culture

IVAN’S CHILDHOOD (1962)

ANDREI RUBLEV

SOLARIS (1972)

MIRROR (1975)

playing herself in old age, and poems by his father, Arsenii Tarkovskii, read by the acclaimed actor Innokenty Smoktunovsky.

Tarkovsky moved back

Stalker (1979), a vision of a post-apocalyptic

been polluted and bonds

Â&#x; the Stalker leads a Writer and a Professor through a tortuous labyrinth

9

one’s innermost desire

! they eventually reach it, neither can bring himself to enter, and the scientist 4

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been seen in allegorical terms as a statement on š009

of the Writer and the Professor based on the dissidents Alexander Solzhenitsyn and Andrei Sakharov respectively.

The Stalker is himself an embodiment of pure

any material comfort and lives only inside himself,

There is a suggestion that his daughter’s

the consequence of his exposure to the radiation Â&#x; possesses telekinetic

though released in the š009

and during his visit to Italy to make Nostalghia 58’“;7

of his Soviet citizenship, effectively becoming

a stateless individual. +

‘nostalgia’ is not for a time past, but for a place.

Thus the main character becomes increasingly

9

Italian surroundings,

a mirror image of the ‘holy

(and dies forming the

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attempts to impose his

and inner communication (or its lack) into a plot of

1

It is no accident that the

0 and features some of Bergman’s regular cast

members, including Erland Josephson and & '

by Bergman’s cameraman Sven Nykvist. As many 1

set in an isolated island community. The main narrative moment is the imminent end of the

confrontation and annihilation, and one man’s attempt to avert

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represents Tarkovsky’s most pessimistic assessment of man’s inability to communicate, the failure of man’s inner

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are notable not only for their exploration of the great contradictions of

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they are imagined and

are unforgettable images and juxtapositions, and a fascinating interplay

reality. It is therefore no surprise that in his native country Andrei Tarkovsky is regarded not so much

visionary.

STALKER (1979)

NOSTALGHIA (1983)

THE SACRIFICE (1986)

15

Person

ROSE WYLIE EXHIBITS IN MOSCOW

by Olga Kudriavtseva FOR THE FIRST TIME UK-BASED ARTIST ROSE WYLIE PRESENTS HER SOLO EXHIBITION IN MOSCOW. WYLIE IS KNOWN FOR HER LARGE-SCALE, LOOSELY-PAINTED CANVASES MADE ON UNSTRETCHED SURFACES WHILST LAID OUT ON THE FLOOR OR PINNED TO HER STUDIO WALL, DEPICTING A SURPRISING RANGE OF SUBJECT MATTER CULLED FROM MEDIA IMAGERY, INTERNATIONAL NEWS STORIES, FILM NARRATIVES, ANCIENT ART FORMS AND MEMORIES FROM THE 77-YEAROLD ARTIST’S CHILDHOOD. BEFORE THE EXHIBITION, RUSSIANMIND SPOKE TO ROSE TO FIND OUT HER ARTISTIC VISION OF LIFE: RM: Your solo exhibitions have been staged in London, New

York and Berlin. Why did you choose Moscow this time?

RW: For so many reasons‌ The wonderful high walls of Regina gallery – I like to work Âœ 3 Q ceiling, and out sideways, round corners – these ‘spreading’ presentations have always appealed to me‌ Like Gonzaga style, early church and billboard. So when I was invited to show in Moscow, I went for it; and very pleased to as I thought that Vlad’s choice of Rosemount for his own collection was irresistible. (Rosemount is a record of a personal

• WW2 – a history painting and was the name of the house I lived in as a child).

Secondly, the working arrangement of the artist and two gallery selectors together choosing the work shows, contrasting and different aspects of the paintings, which might not otherwise be apparent in a ‘themed’

presentation. As well, I like the look of Russian writing – the formation of letters and, if it comes to it, as animals, I like the bear more than the eagle.

RM: What paintings are included in the Moscow exhibition “Rosemount�?

RW: A cross section of my work over the last ten years or so. Especially interesting for me is the

canvas paintings.

RM: Do you plan to visit Russia to present your exhibition?

RW: I would very much

decided not to. Two of my children will be going in my place RM: Elsewhere, your paintings address a diverse array of themes such as bingeeating, body adulation, stereotypical beauty worship, the iconography of sports stars and sporting occasions and the depiction of other

16

world events in the media. Is it your protest again modern morals?

RW: In my work, mine is a disinterested position. Several of the paintings here refer to Tony Blair’s comment that Britain is the fattest country in Europe: either by the pun of the ‘Fat Controller’ (children’s story ‘Thomas the Tank Engine’), or a cause, sofas for sitting about on and chocolates and cakes for eating, or as a corrective by symbols of

time like David Beckham and Thierry Henri, as a reminder of physical •

game. ‘Beauty stereotypes’ is a different direction, but points to the difference between my subjective idea of what looks good and the stereotypical, a difference which has always interested me‌ Isobel Huppert versus Penelope Cruz.

And in another direction which I follow:

Person

ARAB AND DANCING GIRL, 2006

YELLOW STRIP, 2006

THE MILK OF SORROW, 2010

a memorable visual moment from two

%

:

giving respect to the ‘combination’ nature of cinema as an art form.

RM: Once you said that “painting feels exciting...

You don’t have to worry about your house falling down, or your family – you forget everything�. It seems that painting is the main sense of your life?

RW: It’s true that

9

things to go into‌ the house is less important.

RM: Do you need any special conditions for inspiration? Or do ideas come spontaneously?

9!3 0

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ROSEMOUNT (COLOURED), 1999

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+ triggers often turn up

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& 3 not for political reasons but for the complete œ

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Jonathan Meese described

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17

Art

PORTRAITS OF OUR TIMES

by Xanthi Skoulariki STUART PEARSON WRIGHT, AN ESTABLISHED BRITISH ARTIST, IS CURRENTLY SHOWING HIS NEW WORK AT THE RIFLEMAKER GALLERY. RM VISITS THE EXHIBITION AND MEETS VIRGINIA DAMTSA, THE COFOUNDER OF THE GALLERY. At one of the fastest growing galleries of London, a solo exhibition showing the new works of Stuart Pearson Wright is now on until the 15th February. The gallery

Q to the BP Portrait Award winner at the National Portrait Gallery, who has been recognised for his sensuality, empathy and powers of observation.

VIRGINIA DAMTSA, COFOUNDER OF RIFLEMAKER GALLERY

Wright has worked on a series of portraits, pulling together classical artistic quests such as ‘the smile’ and some more old-school tastes of tattooed stereotype characters such as the strongman, the tattooed lady, the Coney Island freakshow performer and the rockabilly hepcat. The scene is set somewhere between Bow, Dagenham, Ancient Greece and William Shakespeare’s Denmark.

These new works emphasise the artist’s pre-occupation with the 18

Art

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motif of the smile and its traditional role in the history of portraiture as well as its use in advertising, popular culture and the mass

successful life. His work explores the process of transformation that takes place both privately and publicly when a camera is pointed at a subject and what the artist describes as “the collective, hysterical conspiracy to appear happy which blights our visual world with endless images of disingenuousness�. The works are presented in neo-baroque frames, which have been handsculpted in jesmonite by the artist. The painting’s luxurious surfaces are peppered with real diamonds, precious stones and metals, pearls, real hair, makeup, sequins and glitter.

The highlight painting of the exhibition is titled ‘Together In Electric Dreams’, depicting Keira Knightley in a sodium-lit, Lynchian backstreet. Her mascara

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of meticulously crafted works whose technical Q high mannerism and heroic realism.

is running down her cheek, her self-conscious and unlikely hand-onhip pose reminiscent of a knitting-pattern cover. + Q the artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s concern with the masks people wear, the way they like to be

employ to convince us of that.

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# VD: We are part of the changes. Contemporary art represents society NOW so its role is to 9 Q

is adaptable to these changes. Our aim is always to create an exciting, challenging exhibition to question our public, our artists and us. We seek to offer real young talents.

Virginia Damtsa, who together with Tot Taylor opened

the show and the art world that we live in.

RM: The new exhibition

" # VD: With technology taking over our life, the hand, the skill of the artist is becoming pertinent again. ¤

real draughtsman is rare and so valuable.

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show on Stuart Pearson Wright features a series

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deal was an Old Master.

I believe that in dealing in both makes my business more exciting.

I always thought that knowing history and making history comes together.

19

$& ; [ VD: I grew up in Paris with my great, great uncle. Any money he made was spent on the next new painting. It was an enjoyable hobby that over the years turned into a passion and then to an addiction. An addiction that I possibly helped to feed. When I was just eighteen he sent me off to New York to buy a work of art. I succeeded in doing so and that same day sold it for twice the amount I had bought it for. Consequently his passion was passed down

deal. I was a very young girl in an alien city yet I felt so powerful, virtually invincible. $& "

"# VD: Keep doing ambitious exciting exhibitions with a lot of integrity and keep building valuable art collections.

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Psychology

LETTERS TO YOU: â&#x20AC;&#x153;WHERE IS MY DREAM LIFE PARTNER?!â&#x20AC;?

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21

Style

LILLIAN BASSMAN: THE POETESS OF FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY Lillian Bassman is one of the last great women photographers in the world of fashion. She was born in 1917 in a Jewish family of free-thinking intellectuals who emigrated from Russia to the United States and was brought up with a mindset that allowed her to live as an independent and unconventional woman.

She worked as a textile designer and fashion illustrator before working at Harper's Bazaar with

Alexey Brodovitch, who was creative director at that time and ultimately she became a photographer. Under the guidance of the Russian emigrant Brodovitch, she began to photograph her models primarily in black and white.

Bassman's fashion images are unique and achieve their effect through manipulation in a dark room. Appearing in Harper's Bazaar from the 1940's to the 1960's, her work was categorised

by its elegance and grace. She transformed her photographs into original works of art through her darkroom techniques in which she blurred and bleached the images.

By the 1970s, Bassman turned to her own photo projects and abandoned fashion photography. Nowadays at the age of 94, she is working with digital technology and abstract colour photography to create a new series of 22

work. She now uses Photoshop instead of a dark room for her image manipulation.

The most notable thing about Bassmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s photographic work is the high contrast between light and dark, the graininess of her photos and the camera angles towards her subjects. Her approach undoubtedly changed the way the world view fashion.

Photos: letmefashion. blogspot.com

Style

23

W

e have previously dwelt

geographical location that is Western Ukraine and its capital <; ;

Â&#x20AC; Â&#x2020; ; " " your stay in Lviv and its vicinity.

PROVINCIAL SAMBIR. OLD TOWN

by Olga Lesyk

RECIPE FOR A PERFECT DAY OUT

SAMBIR, UKRAINE:

Travel

THE CHURCH OF RIZDVA BOHORODYTSI WITH THE RELICS OF ST VALENTINE

KAFE KAZKA - ITS ORNAMENTED WOODEN DOOR HAS BEEN AROUND SINCE MY CHILDHOOD

24

Weather permitting, visit a town called Sambir on the river Dniester for a picnic out in the wilds. You will love walking down the quiet streets of this â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;provincial paradiseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, alongside â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;doll housesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; with their

Q

Most homes have raspberry bushes lining their fences, so treat yourself to some berries, if you see any.

Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what I used to do when I was a kid on my family visits - this is where my father and his extended family came from.

Of all Western Ukrainian towns, Sambir is arguably the westernmost, just off the Polish border. It has a long Jewish history too, with the Old Jewish Cemetery dating back to 15th century. The cemetery is no longer open and is surrounded by a stone wall, which doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t, however, stop â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;black archaeologistsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; from vandalising the

+

was even mentioned in the Russian TV-series Iskateli (â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The Searchersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;) â&#x20AC;&#x201C; episode 69 â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;One day with a Black Archaeologistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. (statehistory. Â&#x2021;Â&#x2C6;Â&#x2030;Â&#x160;Â&#x2021;}" Â&#x2039;" Â&#x2039; Â&#x2039; Â&#x2039;

).

Like Lviv, Sambir is multicultural and multi-confessional, with a number of Greek and Russian Orthodox churches, a mosque and a synagogue, each being an architectural gem.

Like Lviv, Sambir has an Old Town Â&#x152; Â? Â&#x2018; â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a squareshaped promenade area with a Town Hall and lots of cafes and shops â&#x20AC;&#x201C; like a mini place Vendome in Paris, but without being so posh.

A BLAST FROM THE PAST Hidden under a canopy of willows, next to the little train/bus station, are the remnants of what used to

be a real hallmark of Sambir in the 1970s. This vast area was once an attraction park and had an open-air discoteque, all well-kept and full of happy faces dancing the night away

Q

This was where my mother and her girlfriends went in between their lectures for an ice-cream, and where

Today, it is overgrown area where stray dogs roam, a perfect relaxation spot for all lovers of wild nature. A striking contrast that brings tears to my mumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eyes each time we pass through the park.

There is an air of abandonment about Sambir, which is only apparent to those who knew it in all its former glory. Sambir is, undoubtedly, one of the many postUSSR towns that saw better days under the Soviet sun.

A THRILL-SEEKERâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S DREAM TRIP There is one activity I mentioned earlier that is still on the agenda.

Imagine you have seen and photographed Stare Misto, spent a few quid at the local food market and bored yourself witless. Now it is time for an adventure. Whether you are travelling alone, or in a group, the best fun you can have is a lunch on the banks of the river Dniester.

And I hope my personal experience

with minimum risk.

Dniester, where it runs through the town, it is shallow and peaceful with a knee-high current on a pebbly bed. Crossing it may seem the easiest thing you have done, but you need to watch out. The water level is ever-changing and the current rises in the afternoon.

This happened exactly on the day we were out with my Sambir relatives. The remaining shashliki (Russian BBQ) sizzling away on a

Q 5 real â&#x20AC;&#x201C; no Russian/Ukrainian picnic is completely alcohol-freeâ&#x20AC;Ś), music

Travel

in the air â&#x20AC;&#x201C; you get the picture. The highlight, though, was still to come.

The way back involved two crossings of the river. As we were laden with bags and feeling somewhat relaxed from a good helping of oxygen, but as we were trying to cross back, the

Q Surprisingly, it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t panic that settled in amongst our merry crowd â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it was laughter, wild laughter from watching everyone trying to walk in the raging water and looking like toddlers making ! in groups of two, holding hands

following in their wake. Needless to say, it was the toughest 10 minutes in our lives â&#x20AC;&#x201C; crossing

Q

normally take seconds to do.

Everyone made it across safely except me - I was busy taking pictures of the epic adventure and literally got swept off my feet. Had I not been rescued immediately, my camera would have departed this world, and the current would have probably driven me into Moldavian territorial waters.

That will teach me! Within the family this picnic is now referred to as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Mission Sambirâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; or â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Assault Crossing of the Dniesterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;.

It may have become a tradition by now to conclude every travel piece by stressing the importance of local connections â&#x20AC;&#x201C; your friends or relatives, who could host and show you around. This is especially true when you visit the post-Soviet space. An interactive map on your phone and a pocket phrase book are all good in Europe. But as you read this, you like travelling. So I am wishing you enough memorable adventures to start your own travel column in a national newspaper.

Why not? Whatever your travel agenda in Sambir (should you venture out there), do mind how you go. And take this idiom literally!

25

BBQ THE SLAVIC WAY

1 GBP = 12.5040 UAH Timezone â&#x20AC;&#x201C; GMT +2 Getting there: Trains and intercity buses are running well, but the state of them may leave you in a shock. So best book a cab from Lviv. infotaxi.org/ukraine_taxi/ lviv_taxi.htm Staying there: Hotel Imperial, Sambir- 4 Rynok Square Eating there: Tastiest Ice Cream in town â&#x20AC;&#x201C;â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Kafe Kazkaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, 6 Sagaydachnogo St. krylos.com/en/component/ jea/?view=properties&id=53 History and Religion: The Church of Rizdva Bohorodytsiin Church St. is believed to contain part of the relics of St. Valentine, which made its way to Sambir in XVIII century AD. It is also home to the wonderworking icon of Our Lady of Sambir, made in XVI century AD. A good resource on Sambirâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Jewish history: jewishgen.org/ yizkor/sambor/SamI.html Entertainment: 0

!

- Shopping Mall â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;PIT Stopâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, Peremyshlycka St. Entertainment Complex â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Hostylny Dvirâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, village Strylkovichi Sambir. Featuring a modern motel, car park, sauna, banquet hall with live music, hippodrome (race track), and an ostrich farm (yes, you read it rightâ&#x20AC;&#x201C; ostrich farm, courtesy of a local businessman). The farm is open to the public and admission is free.

Guide

London Wedding Show 2012 4-5 Feb

Torture Garden Valentine's Love Boat 10 Feb The massive fetish event returns for another gargantuan gropetastic affair for Valentine's weekend.

Kicking things off, is a low key boat party with four areas to play in for the dedicated bevy of show-offs, Goths, industrial punks, burlesque beauties and circus freaks. Dress in your latex, fantasy, drag, burlesque,

¢ and prepare to explore.

Important: No street clothes.

Tickets: ÂŁ30; members ÂŁ27 on the door (adv ÂŁ28/ÂŁ25), weekend tickets ÂŁ52-ÂŁ60 Address: HMS President, Victoria Embankment, near Blackfriars Bridge, London EC4Y OHJ Contacts: 020 7583 1918, torturegarden.com

London Wedding Show '12 at Excel London has everything that a prospective Bride and Groom need to turn their dream wedding into a reality. With over 150 exhibitors ranging from one off designer pieces to bespoke Wedding packages and award winning professionally choreographed and staged catwalk bridal fashion shows, London Wedding Show at Excel is certainly not an event you will want to miss.

Fashion shows will take place on both days at 12pm, 2pm and 4pm.

Words Words Words at Selfridges Until 29 Feb This month, Selfridges is celebrating literature, reading and all things wordy throughout the store. Words Words Words will see a 15,000book library in store, with unique celebrity contributions. There will also be a concept store within Selfridges' Wonder Room, selling wordy goods from stationery to accessories and jewellery collections..

Tickets: ÂŁ9 - ÂŁ10 Time: 10am - 5pm Address: Excel London Exhibition Centre, 1 Western Gateway, Newham, London, E16 1XL Contacts: 017 0451 7979 theukweddingshows. co.uk

Tickets: Admission free Address: Selfridges, 400 Oxford St, London W1A 1AB Contacts: selfridges.com 26

Midnight Tango Until 31 March 'Strictly Come Dancing' stars Vincent Simone and Flavia Cacace get their own West End show, 'Midnight Tango', produced by Arlene Phillips and directed by Karen Bruce. Against the backdrop of a late-night bar in downtown Buenos Aires, you can expect all the tango cliches the setting suggests, but it's bound to be a slick show with glossy production values and excellent dancing from the TV duo.

Tickets: ÂŁ26-ÂŁ56 Address: Aldwych Theatre, Aldwych, London WC2B 4DF Contacts: 0844 248 5140

Guide

Kew's Tropical Extravaganza 2012 4 Feb â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 4 March

Picasso and Britain 15 Feb â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June Including over 150 works this exhibition looks as Picasso's lifelong connections with Great Britain. Themes explored include his Q 1 artists, seen through the work of Modernists such as Duncan Grant, Ben Nicholson and Francis Bacon and also

of controversy and celebrity through the ways in which his work was shown and collected during his lifetime. The exhibition will include over 60 paintings by Picasso from all periods of his career.

Tickets: Admission charge Address: Tate Britain, Millbank, London SW1P 4RG Contacts: 020 7887 8888, tate.org.uk

Russian Ballet â&#x20AC;&#x153;Giselleâ&#x20AC;?

17 February The most poignant of all classical ballets combines powerful emotions and visual splendour in a chilling and heart-rending tale of love, treachery and forgiveness from beyond the grave.

The story of Giselle and her aristocratic but duplicitous lover Albrecht is set to a glorious score and brought to

costumes and virtuoso performances of the Russian State Ballet of Siberia.

Tickets: ÂŁ28-ÂŁ30; ÂŁ24.50 seniors; ÂŁ15 child Address: Â&#x2014; Â&#x2026;

Park Lane, Croydon CR9 1DG Contacts: 020 8688 9291,

27

Golden Spider Silk 25 Jan â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June

Displays of exotic

Q

foliage in the Princess of Wales Conservatory form the centrepiece of Kew's colourful annual festival.

The theme for 2012 is 'Forces of Nature', with displays inspired by the

3

and earth, arranged according to colour - including hanging

blooms in aquatic hues and arches decorated with reds, yellows and oranges to represent +

illustrates how plants and fungi depend on and moderate the elements.

In addition, there are hands-on sessions and behind-the-scenes tours including a tour of the tropical nursery.

A display of large textiles woven from spider silk.

The only examples of their kind in the world, these textiles include a four-metre-long brocaded piece made from the silk of more than one million female Golden Orb spiders collected in the highlands of Madagascar, which took around four years to make, as well as a cape which will be on public display for

+

recorded use of spider silk for weaving dates from eighteenth-century France, where gloves, stockings and, it's believed, a full suit of clothes were produced for Louis XIV. The textiles on show have been made by Simon Peers and Nicholas Godley, who began experimenting with spider silk in 2004 to see if they could revive this forgotten art.

Tickets: ÂŁ13.90, ÂŁ11.90 Address: Kew Gardens, Kew Rd, Richmond TW9 3AB Contacts: 020 8332 5655, kew.org

Tickets: Admission free Address: V&A, Cromwell Rd, London SW7 2RL Contacts: 020 7942 2000, bookings 08445 791940, vam.ac.uk

Diary

â&#x20AC;&#x153;GIFT OF LIFEâ&#x20AC;?

CHARITY AUCTION #

provides help to more than 2000 young patients in Russian hospitals: pays for the procedures and medicine not provided by

# for bone marrow donors, and provides social and psychological help to the patients and their parents.

In 2011 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Gift of Lifeâ&#x20AC;? (a sister charity to the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Podari Zhiznâ&#x20AC;?) started to operate in the United Kingdom. Its mission is to

of children with cancer who get care from Gift of Life Russia. Co-founder of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Podari Zhiznâ&#x20AC;?, Dina Korzun, who lives with her family in London, actively participates in the running of this new foundation.

The cream of Londonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Russian society converged on The Wallace Collection in Manchester Square to launch the London branch of the Russian childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s charity â&#x20AC;&#x153;Gift of Lifeâ&#x20AC;?

Foundation.

They included Arsenal footballer Andrei Arshavin and model Natalia Vodianova who arrived with her 10-yearold son Lucas and her new beau Antoine Arnault, son of LVMH head Bernard Arnault. The auction raised ÂŁ300,000.

The foundation â&#x20AC;&#x153;Podari Zhuznâ&#x20AC;? (Gift of Life) is a leading charity in Russia that supports children with cancer. It was founded in 2006 by two leading Russian actresses Chulpan Khamatova and Dina Korzun. At the moment it is the biggest charity in Russia working

Photographer: Hazel Thompson 28

Diary

RUSSIAN ACTRESSES, CO-FOUNDERS OF THE FOUNDATION “PODARI ZHUZN” CHULPAN KHAMATOVA AND DINA KORZUN

FOOTBALLER ANDREI ARSHAVIN

29

MODEL NATALIA VODIANOVA

Street Chic

Sean, 26, restaurant manager Vans, Nike, Volcom BEAR

Ross, 25 Babour, Nike, charity shops BEAR

Fatima, 22, student Topshop, Versace, Urban

Puma BEAR

CLOTHES MAKE A STATEMENT Sarah, 30, student Mulberry, Prada, Love Australia, SNOW LEOPARD

David, 30, dentist Reiss, Topshop, French Connection SIBERIAN TIGER

30

Roige, 18 Uniqlo, Waynes TIGER

Street Chic

Lucy, 25, footwear developer Topshop, charity shop SNOW LEOPARD

Karl, 23, product designer Mam, Converse, WOLVES

Roddy, 24, sales executive Reiss, Nike, Zara BEAR

What Animal Do You Relate with Russia?

Photographer: Gafur Sadikov

Jose, 21, hedge found assistant M&S, Zara, New Look WOLF

Sam, 18 Hollister, Urban

A&F, Vans WOLF

31

Sarah, 36, PA Dorothy Perkins BEAR

READ IN THE NEXT ISSUE: CYRIL TUSCHI: GERMAN LOOK AT RUSSIAN OLIGARCH

AMAZING MOSCOW UNDERGROUND

5 REASONS TO VISIT MASLENITSA FESTIVAL IN LONDON

PHOTO PROJECT: SENSE THE CITY