Episoder

  • Zsolt Bodoni is a Romanian artist, who experiments with a range of media in his paintings to create dimension. His latest venture are semi-transparent multi-layered works with light. In late 2021, his exhibition viewed in darkness at David Kovats London, introduced the artist to the UK. We were really excited to talk to him about his process, the evolution of his practice and what comes next.

    Find Zsolt:https://davidkovats.com/artist/zsolt-bodoni/https://www.instagram.com/zsoltbodonid/?hl=enhttps://davidkovats.com/artist/zsolt-bodoni/

    Find Ksenia:https://www.instagram.com/essentialaspects/https://kseniakazintseva.wixsite.com/fineart

    Find us via:https://www.russianartandculture.com/https://www.instagram.com/rusartculture/https://twitter.com/RusArtCulturehttps://www.facebook.com/RusArtCulture/

    Music by Alexandr Solodchenko

  • Irina is from Moscow and takes much of her creative inspiration from Russian cultural references that she discusses in this episode, especially film, art, and literature. Irina got her MA in graphic design at the Stroganov Academy of the Applied Arts, the alma mater of Rodchenko and Mayakovsky. She moved to Antwerp, Belgium to study Dutch and then to Moscow to work as a designer and art director at magazines such as Harper’s Bazaar and Empire. After 10 years in the industry, she took the leap in 2020 to set up her own business, a sustainable e-commerce brand called Kikina Designs aimed at Gen-Z and Russian culture lovers. On her website you can expect to find futurist manifestoes hand-painted on silk scarves, post-Soviet cult classic movie heroes on t-shirts, and silver age poetry on hoodies. In this episode, Irina describes her favourite Russian food, films, and literature with a passion that would make anyone want to eat, watch, and read all of the above.

    Find Kikina designs here: https://irinakikina.com/ and here: https://www.instagram.com/kikina_designs/Find Zviagintsev’s quote here: https://www.indiewire.com/2004/02/return-of-the-prodigal-father-andrey-zvyagintsev-talks-about-the-return-79164/Find Pozner’s interview (in Russian) with Zviagintsev here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gS7oTyY__zsFind the film “I am Twenty” part 1 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5NzS4h4MOgFind the film “I am Twenty” part 2 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFmPXhadAHkFind the film “July Rain” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohakjwIYkrE

    Find us via:https://www.russianartandculture.com/https://www.instagram.com/rusartculture/https://twitter.com/RusArtCulturehttps://www.facebook.com/RusArtCulture/

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  • Saffy talks about her research into the influence of literary legend Fyodor Dostoevsky on African American literature and the Blackness of Alexander Pushkin. Saffy talks about her favourite novels and recommends the best way for newbies to Russian literature to get into Dostoevsky. She also discusses the existential themes of suffering, salvation and oppression that appear in Dostoevsky’s work and subsequently relate to African American slave culture in African American literature. Saffy also explains why it is argued that Pushkin had an affinity to black culture through his own suffering and feeling like an outsider due to his heritage. Tune in to hear more of Saffy’s fascinating perspective on Russian literature and her and recommendation on how to get a well-rounded insight into Russian culture. Saffy is in her second year of her PhD and hopes to contribute a valuable piece of scholarship to an otherwise not hugely written about topic. She has ambitions to pursue either academia or creative writing or both once her thesis is done.

    Find Saffy here: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ssees/saffy-mirghaniFind Slovo, UCL SSEES’s academic journal here: https://student-journals.ucl.ac.uk/slovo/Find Nabokov’s lecture on Dostoevsky here: https://www.nytimes.com/1981/08/23/magazine/nabokov-on-dostoyevsky.htmlFind the SRB podcast here: https://srbpodcast.org/

    Find us via:https://www.russianartandculture.com/https://www.instagram.com/rusartculture/https://twitter.com/RusArtCulturehttps://www.facebook.com/RusArtCulture/

  • This episode is about Music and War.While preparing I came across an mazing work by Brent Thomas Yorgason who wrote a dissertation on the subject in 1997 for Utah State University. I found it very informative and complete, so todays episode is based on this work.

    War has always had a powerful influence on music. At times it has the ability to motivate composers even more than love, religious belief, or money. Throughout the ages, both war and music about war have changed dramatically. The destructive power of war has reached its ultimate capabilities -- the potential to eliminate all life. As war has become more and more horrible, and has caused unprecedented amounts of needless deaths, the world's view of war has changed completely. This change in attitude toward war is evident also in the development of war music.

    Find Olga:https://www.facebook.com/OlgaJegunovahttps://www.olgajegunova.com/https://www.instagram.com/olgajegunova/

    Find us via:https://www.russianartandculture.com/https://www.instagram.com/rusartculture/https://twitter.com/RusArtCulturehttps://www.facebook.com/RusArtCulture/

  • Jess is a Canadian born and raised, Elmira a Muscovite. Both currently reside in Vancouver and met for the first time when they became flatmates. Jess is an illustrator and Elmire a piano teacher and copywriter. Jess had lived in Siberia for a few months and speaks Russian, meaning that Elmira and she would talk often about Russian language and culture, including swearing. Together over lockdown they decided it would be fun to create and Instagram account of the most inventive Russian swearwords to entertain their friends. Suddenly their account became an internet sensation and people from all corners of the globe were sharing their content.

    Now, the pair have released 3 volumes of their favourite curses and are working on volume 4. Listeners beware, there will be a fair amount of effing and blinding on this week’s episode so if that’s not your cup of chai, move on to episode 3. However, we strongly suggest you get acquainted with the most creative swearing you’ve ever heard and enjoy the curses in all their glory.

    Follow @curselikearussian on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/curselikearussian/Purchase Curse Like A Russian volumes 1-4 here: http://jesspollard.squarespace.com/new-productsWatch a clip from Не горюй! here: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=198965181961597Find Jess here: http://jesspollard.squarespace.com/Find Yuri Dud here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMCgOm8GZkHp8zJ6l7_hIuAFind Redaktsiya here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1eFXmJNkjITxPFWTy6RsWgFind Ivan Bilibin here: https://visualmelt.com/Ivan-Bilibin and here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Bilibin

    Find Yuri Dud here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMCgOm8GZkHp8zJ6l7_hIuAFind Redaktsiya here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1eFXmJNkjITxPFWTy6RsWgFind Ivan Bilibin here: https://visualmelt.com/Ivan-Bilibin and here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Bilibin

    Find us via:https://www.russianartandculture.com/https://www.instagram.com/rusartculture/https://twitter.com/RusArtCulturehttps://www.facebook.com/RusArtCulture/

  • Many of Rita’s students remember her luminous nature, her laughter and positivity, which is very rare amongst music teachers. Often, too often teacher’s authority is based on fear, humiliation and suppression of a student. But how is it related to Rita?

    In this episode I’ll tell you how Rita (probably totally unconsciously) broke a cliché of dominant teaching method and introduced a loving, kind and patient approach. You will also hear various people talk about Rita: amongst them pianist sir Andras Schiff, cellist Steven Isserlis and her students. At the end you’ll hear a composition dedicated to Rita by classical pianist and composer Prach Boondiskulchok.

    Find Olga:https://www.facebook.com/OlgaJegunovahttps://www.olgajegunova.com/https://www.instagram.com/olgajegunova/

    Find us via:https://www.russianartandculture.com/https://www.instagram.com/rusartculture/https://twitter.com/RusArtCulturehttps://www.facebook.com/RusArtCulture/

  • Listen in to Serian’s Russian journey, starting with her teaching post in Chelyabinsk leading her to dedicate years of study to the field of Russian cinema, particularly Soviet-era youth cinema and the crossover of the themes of bodies, gender, health, and nationalism on screen. What a way to start the new series!

    Find Serian and Dr Rachel Morley’s chapter here: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-45160-8_12Find the Soviet Sex Podcast here: https://sovietsexpodcast.wordpress.com/Find Slovo, UCL’s postgraduate-run academic journal on the SSEES region, here: https://student-journals.ucl.ac.uk/slovo/

    Find Lara: https://www.instagram.com/lolszowska/

    Watch ‘I Can't Say Goodbye’ (about the paralysed man) by Boris Durov here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4lfA4wE7T8&t=7sWatch ‘Bed & Sofa’ by Abram Room here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNipP_F4MxIWatch ‘Commissar’ by Aleksandr Askoldov here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoJIhadFY1QWatch ‘One Day Twenty Years Later’ by Yuri Egorov here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lvgauEmdMgRead Lara’s blogpost about ‘The Irony of Fate’ here: https://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/slovo/2020/12/31/the-irony-of-fate-or-enjoy-your-bath-the-quintessential-soviet-new-year-film/Watch ‘The Irony of Fate’ by Eldar Ryazanov here (part one): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVpmZnRIMKs&t=29sand here (part two): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TmGPeowN-0&t=3138sWatch ‘Chic’ or ‘The Suit’ by Bakhtyar Khudojnazarov here: https://mubi.com/films/the-suitWatch ‘Luna Papa’ by here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tb78tIQxiY

    Find us via:https://www.russianartandculture.com/https://www.instagram.com/rusartculture/https://twitter.com/RusArtCulturehttps://www.facebook.com/RusArtCulture/

  • In the conversation with classical cellist and life coach Tatiana Bejenari we try to find the way to carry on while the East and the West are in the state of a major conflict.

    How can we eat, sleep, shop, be creative, make love and smile without feeling guilty and responsible?

    We must start with looking after ourselves, our children, partners and parents. We must work and socialise. Because now and here we need to control what we can still control and look after things that are still in our reach. But will this keep us going? Will this keep us alive?

    The talk will consist of 7 chapters. Like 7 notes in. From A to G:A - art and aggressionB - beauty & bombsC - culture & crisisD - diplomacy & dramaE - emotions & enemyF - freedom & fearG - glory & guilt

    The music will be there at the end of each chapter to conclude, summarise and reflect.

    Find Olga:https://www.olgajegunova.com/https://www.instagram.com/olgajegunova/https://www.facebook.com/OlgaJegunova

    Find Tatiana:https://www.instagram.com/tatiana_bejenari_/https://www.facebook.com/tatianabejenari.coach/

    Find us via:https://www.russianartandculture.com/https://www.instagram.com/rusartculture/https://twitter.com/RusArtCulturehttps://www.facebook.com/RusArtCulture/https://www.youtube.com/RussianArtCulture

  • This episode is about one of the greatest compositions of the 20th century - a piano concerto in G by French composer Maurice Ravel.

    So why is it great ?

    It is a known fact that Mozart could create works of a great length in the matter of days (the famous example is the Linz symphony which was composed in 4 days) and could hear the symphony instantly in a matter of seconds before putting it on paper. The other composers take longer time to come with original and non-trivial music. It took Ravel 4 years of sleepless nights and struggles.

    It is written for solo piano and symphony orchestra and consists of 3 movements. First and the third create a virtuosic and musically diverse arc in the middle of which the slow second movement shines like a rare diamond of pure beauty. Here the main theme 36 bars long, it doesn’t repeat itself once and is received on one breath as one big gesture.

    In this episode I won’t only tell you how this concerto is linked to the Basque culture and jazz, but will also share with you my favourite recordings of it.

    Find Olga:https://www.olgajegunova.com/https://www.instagram.com/olgajegunova/

    Find us via:https://www.russianartandculture.com/https://www.instagram.com/rusartculture/https://twitter.com/RusArtCulturehttps://www.facebook.com/RusArtCulture/

  • Episode 5 of Talking music with Olga Jegunova podcast is about Stage fright or Performance anxiety. It is a common state of mind before or during performance and public speaking. Symptoms of it can vary from cold hands, stuttering to nerve ticks and dizziness. If not taken under control, state fright can destroy a performance. Many artists suffer from it. Frederic Chopin, for example, played only 10 concerts because of the stage fright. There is also cellist Pablo Casals, soprano Rene Fleming and pianist Glenn Gould, who has even decided to fully concentrate on recording sessions, and so many more.

    Find Olga:https://www.olgajegunova.com/https://www.instagram.com/olgajegunova/http://www.olgarhythm.com/

    Find us via:https://www.russianartandculture.com/https://www.instagram.com/rusartculture/https://twitter.com/RusArtCulturehttps://www.facebook.com/RusArtCulture/

  • The 4th episode of podcast “Talking music by Olga Jegunova” is about friendship.You may wonder why a podcast on classical music suddenly touches upon a relationship theme? Plato said that music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. Indeed, music is about life as everything that we do and think, fear and dream, has already been expressed through music. Friendship amongst it, of course. Not to mention the recent Harvard research saying that happiness is all about successful relationships. Also, there are great examples of strong friendships in music, such as between Mozart and Haydn, Debussy and Satie, Brahms and Schumann, ravel and Gershwin, Mahler and Strauss. But today’s episode is fully dedicated to the main expert of friendship, a Roman philosopher Cicero.

  • In this episode we will discover theory, mystery and beauty of Indian Classical music. Freny Nina will be playing sitar while talking about Raga and Dhrupad - the most important genres of Indian Classical Music. Although so very diverse, Eastern and Western cultures are very similar as they touch upon same values such as meaning of music, its content and impact on the listener.

    Guest - Freny Nina

    Editor - Matylda Dymek

    Photographer - Roman Drits

    Visual designer - Christian Moehring

  • This episode is all about tempo in music. How to define and interpret it? Who decides on the tempo : composer or performer? Do we practise with or without metronome? You will learn about 4 main ways how composers express their will and how subjective it can be.

    Host: Olga Jegunovahttps://www.olgajegunova.com/

    Editor: Matylda Dymek Visual design: Christopher Moehring

    Music excerpts used in this episode:

    F. Händel - Water music. Minuet. The English Bach Festival orchestra, Christopher Hirons

    J.S.Bach - Aria from Goldberg variations. Glen Gould (1981)

    J.S.Bach - Aria from Goldberg variations. Murray Perahia

    W. A. Mozart - Symphony No 41 in C major, Allegro vivace. Zubin Mehta & Wiener Philharmoniker

    W.A.Mozart - Piano concerto No 21 in C major K.467. Vladimir Ashkenazy & Philharmonia orchestra

    S. Barber - Adagio for strings Op. 11. & Sergiù Celibidache & Munich Philharmonic Orchestra

  • This week Lara interviews PhD student Anoushka Alexander-Rose about her research on one of Russia’s most well-known émigré authors: Vladimir Nabokov. Anoushka is looking into the themes of Jewishness and antisemitism in Nabokov’s life and work and has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the subject. Tune in to learn more about the well-known author who has much more to him than his famous novel Lolita and find out Anoushka’s recommendations on Russian books you need to read!

    Find Anoushka:https://twitter.com/AAlexanderRose?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

    Find Lara:https://www.instagram.com/lolszowska/https://uclpimedia.com/online/the-window-seat-st-petersburg

    Find us via:https://www.russianartandculture.com/https://www.instagram.com/rusartculture/https://twitter.com/RusArtCulturehttps://www.facebook.com/RusArtCulture/

    Music by Alexandr Solodchenko

  • This week Lara interviews Phil Cavendish of SSEES, UCL about Soviet and Russian film, though the conversation veers in wonderful directions, even leading to a comparison of Lady Gaga and Britney Spears. Tune in to hear why Phil thinks he could write an entire module on just one Tarkovsky film and why he hates Love Actually and Irony of Fate (one of Lara’s favourite Soviet films!). Phil also shares a number of talented filmmakers from Russia, Ukraine and East Europe that listeners are recommended to explore.

    Find Phil:https://www.linkedin.com/in/phil-cavendish-2aa7518/?originalSubdomain=uk

    Find Lara:https://www.instagram.com/lolszowska/https://uclpimedia.com/online/the-window-seat-st-petersburg

    Find us via:https://www.russianartandculture.com/https://www.instagram.com/rusartculture/https://twitter.com/RusArtCulturehttps://www.facebook.com/RusArtCulture/

    Music by Alexandr Solodchenko

  • Interviewer: Olga JegunovaEditor: Matylda DymekVisual design: Christopher Moehring

    Find Vladimir:https://www.instagram.com/vladimir_jurowski/

    Find Olga:https://www.olgajegunova.com/https://www.instagram.com/olgajegunova/https://www.facebook.com/olga.jegunova.9

    Music excerpts used in this episode:

    Introduction:A.Scriabin - Nocturne for the Left Hand (Leon Fleishner)

    Interview:D.Schostakovich - Symphony No 6 (Russian National Orchestra & V.Jurowski)I.Stravinsky - Soldier’s tale (Boston Symphony Chamber Players)W.A.Mozart - Don Giovanni (MET opera, Stefan Kocan)G.Mahler "Das klagende Lied" op. 1 (London Philharmonc Orchestra & V.Jurowski)J.Massenet -Thais Meditation (Classic FM M-Tel Radio Symphony Orchestra - M.Vengerov & Luciano Di Martino)R.Wagner - Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg: Prelude (London Philharmonic Orchestra, The Glyndebourne Chorus & V.Jurowski)J.S.Bach - Air on the G String (Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin & V.Jurowski)

  • Tune in to this week’s episode of Kusochek to hear Lara interview Muscovite Denis Stolyarov, a PhD graduate of The Courtauld institute, London who is active in the contemporary art world and knows all there is to know about late Soviet and early post-Soviet artistic movements. Denis describes how he went from studying the London Victorians in Moscow to the Moscow Conceptualists in London and gives his optimistic predictions for the art world and creative production post-corona. Denis also gives a fantastic Russian recommendation for the week which could be talked about for an entire separate episode!

    Find Denis:https://www.instagram.com/denis_stlr/

    Find Lara:https://www.instagram.com/lolszowska/https://uclpimedia.com/online/the-window-seat-st-petersburg

    Find us via:https://www.russianartandculture.com/https://www.instagram.com/rusartculture/https://twitter.com/RusArtCulturehttps://www.facebook.com/RusArtCulture/

    Music by Alexandr Solodchenko

  • This week Lara interviews Ieva Blazeviciute, a Lithuanian art director at Vice who has recently designed and published a photography book exploring the meaning of the label Post-Soviet and what this concept means to people from former Soviet states, not just Russia. Ieva discusses how her understanding of identity has been impacted by learning new languages, travelling abroad alone and witnessing the sudden trend in the West of adopting Soviet aesthetics. She shares the story behind her artwork and has a great recommendation for non-Russian speakers who want to experience some modern poetry of an authentic Russian soul.

    Find Ieva on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ieva_blzvct/And her illustrations etc. https://www.instagram.com/gloomy_business/Find Ieva’s book here https://ievablzvct.bigcartel.com/product/post-soviet

    Find Lara:https://www.instagram.com/lolszowska/https://uclpimedia.com/online/the-window-seat-st-petersburg

    Find us via:https://www.russianartandculture.com/https://www.instagram.com/rusartculture/https://twitter.com/RusArtCulturehttps://www.facebook.com/RusArtCulture/

    Music by Alexandr Solodchenko

  • Talking music with Olga Jegunova

    Editor: Matylda DymekVisual designer: Christian MoehringPhoto: Roman DritsSpecial thanks to Bernard Oppetit

    Find Olga:https://www.olgajegunova.com/https://www.instagram.com/olgajegunova/https://www.facebook.com/olga.jegunova.9

    Find us via:https://www.russianartandculture.com/https://www.instagram.com/rusartculture/https://twitter.com/RusArtCulturehttps://www.facebook.com/RusArtCulture/

  • In this week's installment of Kusochek, Lara interviews Liudmila Tomanek, a chartered translator and PhD student of polyphony in translation. Tune in to hear about Liudmila's memories of the collapse of the USSR and the wild 90s, her analysis of Nobel Peace Prize winner Svetlana Alexeivich's works of literature and a bit of etymological trivia about French and Russian. Liudmila also reads an excerpt from her Russian recommendation of the week and explains why you might find onions sprouting above her dishwasher at home!

    Find Lara:https://www.instagram.com/lolszowska/https://uclpimedia.com/online/the-window-seat-st-petersburg

    Find Liudmila:https://translation-world.org.uk/

    Find us via:https://www.russianartandculture.com/https://www.instagram.com/rusartculture/https://twitter.com/RusArtCulturehttps://www.facebook.com/RusArtCulture/

    Music by Alexandr Solodchenko