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PAST EVENTS ARCHIVE
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*** Seva Novgorodtcev*** 30 years at the BBC Russian service Saturday, 24th February 2007, 6pm, Reddaway Room, Fitzwillam College, Storey's Way, Cambridge A cult figure and an expert on almost everything, including rock music, who started working on BBC at the times when many of us were struggling to catch the words of truth on the radio through the horrible racket, created by special Soviet noise-making machines┘ Trained as a navigator in the Soviet merchant fleet, Seva Novgorodtsev then became a professional musician playing in various jazz and rock bands touring all over the Soviet Union. He has been a household name to millions of Russians over the past 30 years, forhis two hugely successful weekly radio programmes. Read about Seva: >>> (in Russian) http://www.seva.ru/ (Seva's official website)
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MOSCOW UNDER THREAT *** WHEN: Monday, 20th November, 7:30pm WHERE: Trust Room, Fitzwilliam College, Storey's Way, Cambridge Moscow's current building boom is threatening its fascinating and wonderful architectural heritage - over 1,000 buildings have been demolished over the last 5 years alone, some 300 of them listed. In May 2004, former Times correspondent Clementine Cecil co-founded MAPS (the Moscow Architecture Preservation Society: http:www.maps-moscow.com) to counterbalance the mass demolitions in Moscow that have transformed the city since the fall of Communism. She devotes her time to campaigning and bringing western conservation values to Russia at a critical time for the country's heritage. Moscow's current building boom is threatening its fascinating and wonderful architectural heritage √ over 1,000 buildings have been demolished over the last 5 years alone, some 300 of them listed. MAPS is presently campaigning to save the house of the Constructivist architect Konstantin Melnikov. Clementine will illustrate her talk with slides.
Ghost Walk in Cambridge June 2006 There was a great team of people whose enthusiasm, imagination, courage, bubbly personalities and hard work has made the Ghost Walk happen, namely Nancy Gregory, Katia Popova, Mark Vellacott, Vladimir Trifonov, Evgeniy Kuklychev, Sergey Myakon'kikh, Alberto Labarga, Barbara Laughlin, Daria Grafodatskaya and the evasive Mikhail Gerasimov (who was actually spotted a number of times by the very observant avant-garde of the group!) Here are
just a few comments from the participants: DVD of the walk is available for hire from Tanya Yurasova, yurasova(at)physics.org VALAAM Ensemble (Russian liturgical chant & folk songs) Sunday 14th May, 8:00 pm Jesus College Chapel, Jesus Lane, Cambridge, UK Another opportunity to hear this unique 5-strong male choir who sung beautifully both Russian Orthodox chants and traditional folk songs. There were over 150 people in the Chapel The evening was most beautiful, elevating and unforgettable. "The KGB, Russia and Cambridge" 25th
April 2006, Tuesday, 7:30pm Scott Polar Research Institute, Lensfield Rd, Cambridge
"JOURNEYS TO A GRAVEYARD: Russian travellers' impressions of the West" 3rd April 2006, Monday, 7:30pm Professor DEREK OFFORD: "JOURNEYS TO A GRAVEYARD: Russian travellers' impressions of the West" What did Russian travellers see in the West (in the 18th-19th centuries)? What did they think of it? The talk focused on the theme of Russia and the West in Russian thought. How was the Russian sense of identity being formed, during the period when Russia was becoming a major European power? Venue: The Lecture Theatre, Scott Polar Research Institute, Lensfield Rd, Cambridge
Maslenitsa party 2006 Everybody
seems to have enjoyed every bit of the Maslenitsa party. Here is just
one of the responses: "Kokoshniki and chuchelo of Russians, blonde hair
and gypsy dress of Ukrainians, pictures of Slavic gods of Belarusians...
Everything just added up to an overall image of Slavic culture!" Let me
use this opportunity to say a big "thank you" to all the people involved
who made it so special and elevating! "New Mysteries from Old Rus'" ("Novye zagadki Drevnei Rusi") 20th February 2006, Monday, 7:30pm Venue: The Lecture Theatre, Scott Polar Research Institute, Lensfiled Rd, Cambridge. Simon Franklin's lecture last night was a great success, with 95 people in the audience. We all left in excitement, puzzling over the mystery of three wooden plates, and some felt so involved that started making their own suggestions on how to unveil the truth! A review will be on our website shortly. Tuesday,
7th February 2006
"What's
happened to the good old Soviet censor, The Russian poet, translator and children's writer, Marina Boroditskaya, spoke in Russian about the history of children's literature in Russia, in Soviet and post-perestroika times. Marina described the contrast between a dry and dull 'official' Soviet children's literature, studied at school, and the 'unofficial' literature read to children by their parents at home. She also talked about the post-perestroika development of two very different children's literatures, commercial and non-commercial, and the preference of Russian publishers for poorly written and poorly illustrated stories likely to achieve wider circulation and greater commercial success. Marina explained why she refused an offer to translate part of a "Harry Potter" book, describing the low pay and highly pressured working conditions for translators in Russia, where publishers now focus on speed and quantity, rather than quality. Marina also spoke about her translations of classical poetry, including Chaucer, and related several extremely amusing anecdotes about her experiences as a translator and as a writer of verse and children's books. She also described her work with "Radio Russia", hosting the programme "Literary Pharmacy". Marina's lively and highly entertaining talk was interspersed with superb recitations of Russian verses for children and her own very impressive poetry. The talk was followed as usual by a wine reception. Marina donated a number of children's books to the Russian school in Cambridge, including some of her own chilkdrens stories. She also presented copies of a recent "ANTHOLOGY OF CONTEMPORARY RUSSIAN WOMEN POETS" for sale and spoke a little about this "Anthology". 21st and 22nd January 2006 "A weekend with Pasternak" The Cambridge Russian-Speaking Society hosted a 2-day event in collaboration with the United Kingdom Shostakovich Society. Weekend with Pasternak was a great success, with both Fitzwilliam Auditorium on Saturday and Scott Polar Lecture Theatre on Sunday being full to the brim. "Music
in the Life of Pasternak: Shostakovich, Skryabin and Yudina."
Pre-concert
talk by Evgeny Pasternak (in Russian, with English translation) Music
by Skryabin and Shostakovich. Guest of
honour at both evenings was Evgeniy Pasternak, son of the great Russian
poet and novelist, Boris Pasternak. Evgeniy Pasternak opened the evening
with a talk (ably translated from Russian by Tonya) in which he discussed
his father's early career in music and his relations with Shostakovich
and Skriabin.
"My
Father" A talk by Evgeny Pasternak (in Russian) On Sunday
evening Evgeniy Pasternak spoke at greater length (in Russian), about
his father's life and work and about his childhood memories of his father.
The audience listened to superb recordings of Boris Pasternak reading
his poetry and to intensely moving and emotional recitations of his father's
work by Evgeniy Borisovich, with translations by Professor Angela Livingstone.
Dr.
Hubertus Jahn: The Russian Revolution of 1905 Dr Jahn, a member of Cambridge University History Department, Fellow of Clare College and head of CamCREES, gave a talk at the Scott Polar Research Institute to celebrate the Centenary of the failed Russian "revolution" of 1905. Dr Jahn's talk not only provided a wealth of detail about the political background of the uprising, the events of Bloody Sunday and the subsequent wave of strikes, but offered fascinating insights into the economic, social and cultural context of a revolution "that didn't quite turn". The talk was followed by a lively and extremely interesting discussion, ranging from problems such as the definition of "revolution" and how the events of 1905 relate to 1917, to the broader cultural context of the Russian artists and composers of the avant-garde. "RUSSIAN CHESS: PEOPLE AND POLITICS" 19th November 2005, Saturday,Walter Graves Room, Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge.
A
MUSHROOM WALK in the Hinchingbrook Park Saturday, 15th October 2005, in Hinchingbrooke County Park, Huntingdon "It was lovely to see so many of you for the mushroom walk last Saturday! On a glittering sunny afternoon, 77 adults (plus a fair number of children and dogs) all gathered in a beautiful autumnal forest, for an obsessive mushroom hunt! All sorts of ethnic origins were represented: English, Russian, Ukrainian, Lithuanian, Czech, Spanish, German, French, and Cameroonian... We found plenty of very pretty toadstools, and even a few edible mushrooms, which were properly identified by our wonderful fungus experts, John Holden and Helene Davies. I know for sure that some people put them in their soup (mushrooms that is). What's most important though, is that we all had a whale of a time, walking, barbecuing, eating, drinking and singing... to the extent that it had never come to rope-skipping and ball games!" Tanya Yurasova Photos of the Social Part after the AGM and the Mushroom Walk >>> Photos of the Mushroom Walk by Suzy Ashraf >>> CAMRUSS SOCIAL GATHERING & AGM, 1st OCTOBER 2005 Cambridge Russian Speaking Society held its first gathering of the year at Fitzwilliam College on Saturday 1 October. The evening opened in the Gordon Cameron lecture theatre, with reports by Marina Burrell and Tanya Yurasova, who gave lively and colourful accounts of their recent trips to St. Petersburg and Moscow (Marina and her students) and the Crimea (Tanya and family), copiously illustrated with beautiful slides of the cities and towns of Russia and Ukraine. The talks were followed by a brief AGM, outlining the past year's activities, future plans, election of this year's committee and support group and the general division of responsibilities for the running of the society. The meeting was very well attended, with the lecture hall full to overflowing with both old faces and new. We then moved to the Common Room for drinks, delicious Russian food and some lively dancing - a very pleasant end to the evening and a wonderful start to our new year! Photos of the Social Part after the AGM and the Mushroom Walk >>> 17th May 2005, Tue, 7:30pm Dr
Piers Vitebsky : "Living with reindeer and spirits in Siberia" On 17 May
2005, Dr. Piers Vitebsky presented a fascinating talk about his research
on Siberian reindeer herders at the Scott Polar Research Institute in
the University of Cambridge, where he is Head of Anthropology and Northern
Studies. To a packed lecture hall, Piers described his many visits over
the past 20 years to the Eveny people in the Verkhoyansk mountain range
of north-eastern Siberia, one of the coldest regions on earth. With great
sensitivity Piers explained the close but partly ambivalent relationship
of the Eveny nomads to the harsh environment in which they have to survive
and their intimate relationship with the reindeer, on whom their survival
depends. Book by Dr Piers Vitebsky REINDEER PEOPLE: LIVING WITH ANIMALS AND SPIRITS IN SIBERIA published by HarperCollins, 7th March 2005 £20 (US edition Boston: Houghton Mifflin, November 2005) Monday,
18th April 2005, 7:30pm D. Prigov will talk, read his poetry and answer questions, BOTH in Russian & English. Poet, artist, sculptor, and performer, Dmitrii Prigov was a key member of the Russian artistic underground. He participated in the formation of Moscow Conceptualism along with Ilya Kabakov, Lev Rubinstein and others. After years of underground avant-garde activity, Prigov's contribution to Russian literature was eventually acknowledged with the 1993 Pushkin prize. He is widely published in Russia, and has performed his poems all over the world. Prigov is a very impressive, unusual and creative 'performer' of his poetry. His poetry nights in Europe and America have always been a great success among the Russian communities, and tremendously popular. Entrance:
£2 (members & concessions), £3 (others). Saturday,
23rd April 2005 WHERE: Hayley
Wood - entrance is about halfway between Longstowe and Great Gransden
on the B1046. Wellies will be necessary. RUSSIAN POETRY NIGHT Monday,
21st March , 7:30pm. Come and
get engrossed in beautiful Russian poetry of the Silver Age, Blok, Mandelshtam,
Akhmatova, Tsvetaeva, Pasternak... Let us read our favourite poems together,
talk, and share our feelings and thoughts. CAMRUSS SOCIAL GATHERING & AGM, OCTOBER 2005 Cambridge Russian Speaking Society held its first gathering of the year at Fitzwilliam College on Saturday 1 October. The evening opened in the Gordon Cameron lecture theatre, with reports by Marina Burrell and Tanya Yurasova, who gave lively and colourful accounts of their recent trips to St. Petersburg and Moscow (Marina and her students) and the Crimea (Tanya and family), copiously illustrated with beautiful slides of the cities and towns of Russia and Ukraine. The talks were followed by a brief AGM, outlining the past year's activities, future plans, election of this year's committee and support group and the general division of responsibilities for the running of the society. The meeting was very well attended, with the lecture hall full to overflowing with both old faces and new. We then moved to the Common Room for drinks, delicious Russian food and some lively dancing - a very pleasant end to the evening and a wonderful start to our new year! 31st January 2005, 7:30pm Private life in Stalin's Russia: family stories and archives. Talk by Orlando Figes, in English Gordon Cameron Lecture Theatre, Fitzwilliam College, Storrey's Way, Cambridge Orlando Figes is a Professor of History at Birkbeck College, London. One of the most popular historians of Russia, the author of A People's Tragedy and Natasha's Dance, gives an exclusive preview of his next book. Many books describe the externals of the Terror - the accusations, trials, enslavements and killings. But what interior accommodations did people have to make in order to live in a moral vacuum? What was it like living in a state of permanent fear? What kind of ethic did you adopt, knowing your children or spouse might be informing on you? How could you be sure you were not one of the guilty? Review >>> 23rd
November 2004, Tuesday. 4th - 16th October 2004. Exhibition of local artists from the former USSR Michaelhouse
Cafe, Trinity Street (opposite Gonville and Caius College). This year
our society was delighted to organise an exhibition of local Russian artists
from the Cambridge area, which was held from October 4-16 at The Michaelhouse
on Trinity Street. The exhibition included diverse works by seven artists,
some professional and some amateur: Svetlana Baibekova, Rinat Baibekov,
Marina Burrell, Tamara Kulikova, Natasha Perry, Phillip Toesev and Vitalia
Zelenevskaia. This superb
exhibition was accompanied by a reception and talk on October 7.
14th September 2004 Annual General Meeting "Faberge,
Imperial Russia and Watski's antique collection" followed by refreshments and the AGM. Review (by Barbara Laughlin) 14th June 2004 Talk by Review (by Barbara Laughlin) 18th May 2004 "Horses for Courses": talk on Russian translation by Professor Andrew Jameson of Lancaster University Review (by Barbara Laughlin) Tuesday, 20th April, 7:00 pm.
Raisa
Nedashkovskaya - Russian poetry night Tuesday, 9th March,2004
HISTORY
OF THE NORTH PASSAGE.
A talk by Bob Headland (in English).
14 February 2004 19:30Trust Room, Fitzwilliam College, Huntingdon Rd, Cambridge
'REVOLUTIONARIES AND EVANGELICALS IN CONCERT: Alexander Herzen, Vasilii
Kel'siev, and the British & Foreigh Bible Society in London'. Monday,
15th December "Impressions of an outsider" by John Ashby ALISSA
FIRSOVA 8th
November 2003, 12 noon, Hinchingbrooke
Park, Huntingdon EXHIBITION:
We had a very pleasurable evening looking at Richard's amazing slides of his multiple journeys to Russia. Rostov and Borisoglebsk, Suzdal', Novgorod, Pskov and Izborsk, Uglich, Vladimir... Daring, giddy landscapes, translucent clouds, wavy fields of juicy cabbage, warmly breathing carved stones, honey-coloured onion domes. It was also fascinating to see some very old pictures dating as far back as 1959... Wednesday,
2nd July "KINGS OF THE KREMLIN" 14th June. Some of us took part in the Russian Day at Hills Rd Sixth Form College (on both sides of the barricade!) The day ended in imaginative and often exhilarating performances from the students.
Tuesday,
13th May
2003 Trust Room, Fitzwilliam College, Huntingdon Rd Cambridge Monday,
28th April 2003 Time: 19:30. The
Gordon Cameron Lecture Theatre, Wilson Court, Fitzwilliam College, Huntingdon
Rd, Cambridge 17th
March 2003, 19:30
"Karl Faberge: Goldsmith to the Tsars"; Trust Room at Fitzwilliam college.
Presented by Stephen Dale. Interesting links: http://www.faberge-exhibition.com/ http://users.vnet.net/schulman/Faberge/eggs.html 24th
Feb (Mon) 7:30 pm
- lecture by Prof. Angela Livingstone on Pasternak and Platonov "Dreams,
Seasons and Great Admirations" [SUBTITLE 'Early Poems by Pasternak and
How to Translate Them'] 7th Feb (Fri) 7:30 pm - Russian-Scottish dancing event; Fitzwilliam College. "There must have been nearly 60 people taking part, and although many of them weren't connected with RuSS, the mixture seems to have worked very well, and everyone had a great time trying to keep up with the instructions for both countries' dances! The atmosphere was brilliant - no one had time to think about whether they could do it or not, we all just got carried away and did it somehow! Pat who taught the Russian dances managed brilliantly - you'd need a big personality and presence to deal with such a big group. And Donald, the Scottish teacher, obviously knew exactly what he was doing too and led us through the Cumberland Reel and Dashing White Sergeant as well as other less well know dances with names like Butterscotch and Toffee! Those of us who attended decided it would definitely be worth trying another sort of dance - maybe Salsa? - in combination with the Russian next time - or maybe just more Scottish again, as it worked very well." Alison Wilson 27/01/2003 A lecture "The Birth and Early Years of a Capital City: St Peterburg, 1703-1830s" by Professor Anthony Cross Prof. Cross followed the history of the city's architecture from its very first steps to the beginning of the 19th century, presenting many slides of old watercolours and engravings, sometimes showing non-existing buildings, construction works still going on in the background, and even very first oil traffic lights. 18/01/2003
Traditional "Old New Year Party" 16/12/2002
History of SAMIZDAT 08/11/2002 - "The Quiz Night and Russian Rock Night" at Robinson College organised by Cambridge University Russian Society. 27/10/2002
MUSHROOM WALK
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