And another city I would absolutely love to revisit before this year is out, is Tallinn. I spent three days in the city in early March 2002; the first day it was raining cats and dogs, the second it was extremely cold, and on the third day the sun was shining. It was just a few months after my marriage, and we to Tallinn because there my late husband could get a working visa without necessarily going to Britain. Back then it was me to had to get a visa to go to Estonia; nowadays it’s different. The picture was actually taken on the first day, soon after we dropped the bags at the hotel and paid a visit to the British consulate. The bag on my shoulder was soaking wet by the end of the day, but I had the ball of walking in my first real medieval European town – a few months before submitting my Russian MA dissertation in Medieval and Early Modern History.
Month: May 2011
St Petersburg – Peter and Paul Cathedral
Judging by the frequency with which people around me talk about St Petersburg, I should be going there soon. Last time I visited the northern capital of Russia was in late August 2002, and no, I’m not going to wait till next year to mark the 10th annivesary since my last visit. The Russian Venice and I are passionately waiting to meet, and Peter and Paul Cathedral at the eponymous fortress is just one of the places I am longing to see. In August 2002 the cathedral was undergoing reconstruction, so it should look wonderful 9 years later.
What about you, dear readers: have you been to St Petersburg? What places in the city do you like the most?
The Lido Opens WiFi Gates for the Venice Film Festival
FREE WI-FI ACCESS ON THE LIDO
The Biennale and the City of Venice announce an important agreement to allow the public, the journalists and the operators of the Venice International Film Festival on the Lido free access to the Wi-Fi connection, through the broadband municipal network of the City of Venice, the development of which will be completed by Venis Spa on the island of the Lido in time for the inauguration of the Venice Film Festival.
It is not until a paragraph like this do you begin to realise just how fast some European countries have been developing, compared to others. Whereas in Manchester (U.K.) the virtual network covers the entire city centre, and a free access to the Internet is accepted as a norm and taken for granted, in Italy the development of the web access seems to be lagging behind so much that such a ‘natural’ development deserves a special mention.
No, I’m not having a laugh, but merely making a point. At the same time, this is a curious point to observe. I wonder if this could be the best illustration of the chasm between the new arts and the old arts, between the future-oriented, classic-defying FutureEverything and Manchester International Festival and the classy (too classy, perhaps) Venice Film Festival. The former have acquired access to the Internet and diverse other things, the latter is only just providing the artistic public with one of pre-requisites of modern-day communication and success.
It’s not a question of the old keeping abreast with the new; it’s the question of the old retaining its ability and authority to inspire the new. And for that, the old has to have access to, and the knowledge of, the language and lifestyle of the new.
Image courtesy of BrandChannel.
Moscow: A Walking Method for Winter
Even before I came to live in England I was told that in winter the entire country would lose its nerve. “We’re too soft, we Brits“, someone told me. “We cannot live under the snow“.
The first time I heard this was in 2000, and already by 2004 I had been able to see that this was indeed so. Not unlike Russia, there were streets in Greater Manchester that were so sloppy that you probably wouldn’t manage walking or driving up and down even in good weather, never mind in the terrifying mix of snow, ice, and frost.
Eventually, in January 2010 the temperature dropped to minus 17 in Manchester, and one day there was so much snow that the entire city was indeed disabled: no buses left the terminals.
In Moscow where the temperature dropped to minus 27 in February 2011, and where we had a lot of snow (to celebrate my homecoming, no less), people merely brace themselves when they listen to the weather forecast. Then they clean their coats made of fur or sheepskin, get out an extra pair of socks, a thick hat (possibly the famous ushanka), and a good pair of gloves. It is normal to be cabbage-like in winter, to wear many layers, but as long as you can move and speak, it’s OK. Needless to say, buses drive as usual.
But then you also need to walk, so how can you walk safely and securely, without also compromising on the image people see? It wouldn’t be nice or comfortable to always balance with your arms and body, would it?
We owe the tip illustrated by this photo to an unknown Russian lady behind whom I happened to walk earlier this year, when it was cold and snowy in Moscow (as always in winter). You don’t need any fancy walking sticks or crutches. All you need is a pair of skiing sticks. And given how much Russian people love winter sports, it’s great to use the skiing sticks even when you’re not skiing.
Now that the summer is just around the corner, and it’s already getting very hot (yes, it may go up to plus 38 in the shade), I will keep my eyes peeled for tips on walking in the blazing sun.
Using Classic Black-and-White Photos for Videos
Some of you may already have heard me singing It’s a Heartache; but I have just arranged a video to accompany the recording, in which I used some of “lonesome” photographs by Boubat, Brassai, Man Ray, and Manuel Alvarez Bravo. I hope you enjoy the video (and my voice, too!)
Joan Baez – Natalia
August 25th will see the 43rd anniversary of the 1968 Red Square Demonstration against the suppression of Prague Spring. Although 8 people took part in it, only 7 were thrown in prisons and lunatic asylums. Among them was Natalya Gorbanevskaya who turned 75 on 26 May. Having recently given birth, she wasn’t tried with all other participants. She used the “free time” to narrate the history of events that was published abroad as Red Square at Noon
Gorbanevskaya graduated from the Philological Faculty of the Leningrad University in 1964 and worked as a technical editor and translator. She also wrote beautiful, lyrical poetry that was very sparingly published in the Soviet literary journals. This is how Yury Kublanovsky describes Gorbanevskaya’s poetry:
The originality of Gorbanevskaya’s poetry – and with the years, in emigration, this tendency has increased – lies in the fact that most of her poems do not develop in a linear way: introduction; development; resolution. Economical, lapidary, her texts go straight to the heart of the matter, apparently devoid of a framework. Metaphorically speaking, one might say that she constructs not “houses”, but “nests”. In her lyrical heroine there is indeed something of the tireless builder of nests: ever busy . . . And the reader suddenly feels that it is a privilege to be a contemporary of this indefatigably intrepid worker, tough, at times even harsh. There’s a certain phonetic, rhythmic, imagistic complexity that is more a sign of something organic than a defect. (read the full review).
A selection of Natalya Gorbanevskaya’s poems is displayed at Arlindo Correia website, with English translation. And in 1976 the famous policial activist and singer Joan Baez dedicated a song to Natalya, to the lyrics by Shusha Guppy, a distinguished female writer, editor, and performer of Persian and Western music. The political demonstrants of the once terrifying Soviet Union were like a gleam of hope for people’s rights activists and those who believed in the individual’s power. As the Czechs said, because of those 7 people who sat in the Red Square in 1968 they could no longer think bad about Russians.
My Saturday Music: Richard Gere
The first time I heard, well, read about Richard Gere was in the 1990s. It was, I think, a feature in the Russian ELLE magazine. I didn’t see any of his films, but I was of age when it takes very little to be inspired. I was inspired to have started writing a story that involved exchanging letters and Tibet. I haven’t found it in my archive yet; I guess it’s worth a second look. Years went on; I saw a few of his films; and then I saw Chicago. Back when I watched it the first time, it didn’t even register if or not Gere received any awards for his performance. Recently I rediscovered the film, and it was then that I found out, to my surprise, that awards were few and far between for what is undoubtedly amazing performance, complete with dancing and singing. Obviously, it takes sometimes years to be rewarded, and in the end one cannot live and work for awards, they have to live for what they love doing. Let Chicago stand the proof of how much Richard Gere loves the screen and stage.
Ivanovo Graffiti (and a Blog Query)
 |
| Declaration |
I have just discovered one of the most beautiful queries that landed someone on Los Cuadernos:
“one man’s graffitti is another man’s picasso phrases”
While you ponder this and wonder at various ways of interpreting it, here are a couple of graffitis I saw on my recent trip to Ivanovo. One of them says, pointing towards the houses: “Warning! There you may be blinded by the beauty of the nicest, most charming, and best girl in the world!”
 |
| “I love you, Yulka!” |
 |
| In the student quarter |
Polling Results, and Special Projects Page
It’s time to tell you what happened to those two polls I threw at you in April-May.
First, countries you thought I would visit in 2011. Most of you thought I’d go to Ukraine; the second place is divided between Italy and Israel; the third place goes to France, Belarus, and The Netherlands. I’m really grateful, as it does actually give me a focus in planning my trips for the rest of the year.
As far as wine poll goes, although the margins are very small, most of those who voted love dry red wine; this is followed by rose; which is followed by dry white wine. Well… I love rose, and I guess I shall have to like dry wines more.
Among the changes I made to the blog recently, is the page dedicated to the Russian-Italy cross-cultural year, with a calendar of events. Another page presents some of the available interviews that I made and special projects in which I took part since 2005. I thought I’d better display all that wealth of files and links on a separate page than on the main page. The page will be updated, as there are more files to display, and many more will still appear this year.
The Day I Had the Big Swedish Money in My Hands
I rediscovered this photo on my return to Moscow. It was taken at the State Historical Museum in 1999, where I and other students from our department of Medieval and Early Modern History went for an extra-uni seminar in Numismatics. Among all the coins we could see and even touch was this Swedish coin. It was supposed to be made of silver, but due to the shortage of this precious metal most of it was coined from copper.
It is not dissimilar to the plate money you see on the photo on the right (courtesy of MetalDetectingWorld), and it weighed the enormous 9 kilos. Despite my smiling bravely and gleefully, I had to pull all my arms’ strength to hold the coin for a few moments when the picture was taken. Since then, I must admit, I carried and held much heavier weights.
This makes me think… just how much we can actually carry if we care to pull ourselves together. Surprisingly or not, there are not many photos of me where I’d be smiling like that.