Category: Moscow

Flipping through the film catalog… looking for something relevant… Oh! Here’s something: the 1937 film “Bílá nemoc” (The White Plague), directed by and starring Czech director Hugo Haas  and based on a play by Czech writer Karel Čapek. It’s about a bellicose, nationalist leader whose plans to invade a smaller country are complicated by a…

As the only remaining independent, English-language news source reporting from Russia, The Moscow Times plays a critical role in connecting Russia to the world. Editorial decisions are made entirely by journalists in our newsroom, who adhere to the highest ethical standards. We fearlessly cover issues that are often considered off-limits or taboo in Russia, from…

Today marks what would be the 143rd birthday of Prince Felix Yusupov. Although the aristocrat is most often remembered as the assassin of Grigory Rasputin, his hedonistic yet charitable nature made him a notable character among his royal contemporaries.  Yusupov was born in Saint Petersburg to a princess and a count. The family was wealthier…

One of Russia’s most distinguished opera and ballet companies has an innovative solution to prohibitions on public gatherings over the coronavirus: playing to an audience of one. The Perm Opera and Ballet Theater, a Urals city company famed for its cutting-edge projects, said it would be launching the “One on One” performances from the end…

So, you’ve cornered the grechka market.  Well done. Now what? You picked an excellent grain to stockpile. Buckwheat packs an incredible nutritional punch: it promotes heart health and is a superb source of many key vitamins and minerals (including thiamin, niacin, and folate) as well as protein and fiber.  Buckwheat is one of those foods…

Russian museums are not just museums; they are hubs of culture, lectures, tours, films, plays, concerts and other special events. One of the most active is the Marina Tsvetayeva house museum, founded in 1992. For decades one of the residents, Nadezhda Katayeva-Lytkina, fought to preserve the house and legacy of the poet. Marina Tsvetayeva had…

Today marks the 98th birthday of art historian Irina Antonova, former director of the Pushkin Museum and the longest-serving director of any major museum to date. In her directorial stint from 1961 to 2013, Antonova was responsible for bringing the works of major artists to Soviet and Russian audiences.  A native Muscovite, Antonova graduated from…

As the only remaining independent, English-language news source reporting from Russia, The Moscow Times plays a critical role in connecting Russia to the world. Editorial decisions are made entirely by journalists in our newsroom, who adhere to the highest ethical standards. We fearlessly cover issues that are often considered off-limits or taboo in Russia, from…

Garage Museum of Contemporary Art is launching a series of online events and activities today with an unusual concert. The St. Petersburg group Verevka Ensemble will give an online concert of microtonal improvisation. The 90-minute concert, which begins at 7 p.m. Moscow time, will be performed on acoustic guitars with bows. It’s part of the…

As the only remaining independent, English-language news source reporting from Russia, The Moscow Times plays a critical role in connecting Russia to the world. Editorial decisions are made entirely by journalists in our newsroom, who adhere to the highest ethical standards. We fearlessly cover issues that are often considered off-limits or taboo in Russia, from…

On March 17, writer and political activist Eduard Limonov died in Moscow of cancer at age 77. It was reported on the site of the political party, The Other Russia, that Limonov headed. Limonov was born Eduard Veniaminovich Savenko in 1943 in Dzerzhinsk. He began to write poetry in 1958 and took part in his…

As the only remaining independent, English-language news source reporting from Russia, The Moscow Times plays a critical role in connecting Russia to the world. Editorial decisions are made entirely by journalists in our newsroom, who adhere to the highest ethical standards. We fearlessly cover issues that are often considered off-limits or taboo in Russia, from…

As concert halls, museums, galleries, theaters, and movie theaters close their doors in Moscow until April 10 (or longer), a few are moving to online or virtual tour formats. Zaryadye Concert Hall is marking it’s first “day of silence” by not being silent at all. The hall will livestream “The Seasons” tonight at 7 p.m.…

On this day in 1890, Solomon Mikhoels, ne Shloyme Vovsi, was born in a small town in Lithuania. After studying in a Jewish religious school, he went to a secular school in Riga and then moved to Kiev to study at the Kiev Commercial Institute. After his expulsion for political activity, he moved north to…

Moscow has traditionally been a magnet for the best and brightest. People move to Moscow for career advancement, better opportunities and high salaries. According to the Federal Service for State Statistics (Rosstat), at the end of 2019 the average salary in the capital was 89,129 rubles. But, of course, that is just the average, and many salaries are…

Today marks the 80th anniversary of the signing of the Moscow Peace Treaty, an agreement which signaled the end of the “Winter War” between the Soviet Union and neighboring Finland. Although the agreement required Finland to cede 11% of its territory, it was a rare instance of a small country successfully resisting Soviet conquest.  The…

During his 1959 visit to the United States, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev was famously denied a visit to Disneyland. Upon returning home, he vowed that the Soviet Union would have its own theme park, and set about designing an elaborate fantasy kingdom large enough to compete with Disneyland. The plan was abandoned after Khrushchev’s ouster,…

In the late Soviet period, urban children played a game called sekretiki — little secret treasures. Children — mostly little girls — would gather little objects: flowers, leaves, pretty candy wrappers, ribbons and the like. Then they would search for a nice piece of glass —part of a broken bottle, green, pale blue or transparent.…

Everyone knows Maria Sharapova and Catherine the Great, but what about some of the singers,  scientists, artists, and other brilliant women who have left an indelible mark on Russian and Soviet history? This Women’s Day, we bring you five lesser-known Russian women whose legacies continue to inspire. Anna German, 1970s TASS Anna German (1937-1982) One…

Restive Russian-speaking minorities, contentious memory politics, and turbulent Europeanization.  No, we are not talking about Ukraine, but the Baltic states: Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia, and these are just some of the themes that Aliide Naylor covers in “The Shadow in the East: Vladimir Putin and the New Baltic Front.”  In this riveting debut, Naylor combines…

Today marks the 83rd birthday of Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space. She remains the youngest woman to ever venture into space (at age 26) and the only woman to embark upon a solo mission. Tereshkova was born in 1937 in the Yaroslavl region. Her parents were collective farmers, although her father would die…

Yevgenia Markova dreamed of being a truck driver all her life. There was just one problem — working as one would have been against the law. “I’ve loved everything that can be driven since childhood — cars, river boats, trains. But these were all forbidden,” she told The Moscow Times. For decades, women in Russia…

Passerby, a new exhibition at Garage museum, presents a visual and social history of the humble shop mannequin. This mass-produced everyday object is revealed to be a surprisingly rich social phenomenon; the clothes mannequin is, on one hand, a disposable life-sized coat hanger, but in Passerby it is reimagined as an art object, a human…

Although competitive figure skating is a relatively young sport, Russia is already well-established as a powerhouse of the icy stage. In the lead-up to International Women’s Day and as skater Adelina Sotnikova has just announced her retirement, we look back on some of the women who have defined Russian and Soviet skating in the past…

Garage Museum of Contemporary Art is almost just as famous for its architecture as its art; first housed in a disused public bus garage from the 1920s, now it is in a former Soviet café in the middle of Gorky Park, an iconic cuboid of steel, glass and sharp corners. This famously austere space, however,…

In the New Tretyakov Gallery, a boxy structure designed in the 1960s that is the epitome of Soviet modernist style, there is a small model of Vladimir Tatlin’s “Monument to the Third International.” Designed in 1919-20 but never built, the monument exists only in miniature form. Its double helixes spiral upward above girders and arches…

Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the U.S.S.R., celebrates his 89th birthday today. He is best-known for his policy of reforming the Soviet political and economic system (“perestroika”), as well as for his expansions of freedom of speech and press (“glasnost”). Abroad, he is remembered for his efforts to withdraw the Soviet Union from its…

The two capitals, Moscow and St. Petersburg, are hosting some must-see events in March that should appeal to every taste, be it a predeliction for contemporary feminist body decoration or fin de siècle sensibilities. Here are our picks for Moscow. Golden Mask: Feb.-April Golden Mask is Russia’s largest festival devoted to theater, which plays an…

Craftsman Sergei Murza runs his fingers over the pink satin of a pointe shoe he has just finished making. Then he gives it the final test: the ballet slipper balances perfectly on its tip. Murza produces the shoes in the Moscow workshop of Grishko, a company born in the chaos of the collapse of the…

As the only remaining independent, English-language news source reporting from Russia, The Moscow Times plays a critical role in connecting Russia to the world. Editorial decisions are made entirely by journalists in our newsroom, who adhere to the highest ethical standards. We fearlessly cover issues that are often considered off-limits or taboo in Russia, from…

As the only remaining independent, English-language news source reporting from Russia, The Moscow Times plays a critical role in connecting Russia to the world. Editorial decisions are made entirely by journalists in our newsroom, who adhere to the highest ethical standards. We fearlessly cover issues that are often considered off-limits or taboo in Russia, from…

In 2018, the controversial Russian art project “DAU” scandalised Germany with its plans to rebuild the Berlin Wall and offer visitors an immersive experience of daily life behind the Iron Curtain. Eighteen months later, “DAU” has again caused shock and outrage in the German capital with the world premiere of its film “DAU: Natasha” at…

Spring has almost begun — but it feels like it’s been here for months in Moscow. Instead of mountains of snow, freezing noses and massive puffy coats, the capital got a season filled with dark, gray, rainy days. Some people blamed this winter, which scientists say was one of the hottest in Russia’s history, on…

This weekend marked the opening of the Tretyakov Gallery’s latest exhibit, “The Russian Fairy Tale: From Vasnetsov to the Present,” which promises to be a crowd-pleaser. In mediums ranging from oil painting to film to taxidermy, this mixed-media collection highlights the role of fantasy in the Russian imagination, and demonstrates the various ways in which…

Moscow is currently in the midst of one of Russia’s most fun and light-hearted holidays — Maslenitsa, better known as Pancake Week. Maslenitsa has its roots in pagan tradition, marking the end of winter and the beginning of spring with brilliant bonfires. Today, Maslenitsa is a widely celebrated folk holiday with plenty of blini —…

The Moscow Times Offline kicked off its first event of 2020 last week at a new venue, the Hyatt Regency Petrovsky Park. An audience of about 40 people, both expats and Muscovites, came to hear three journalists, Evan Gershkovich (The Moscow Times), Nataliya Vasilyeva (Daily Telegraph) and Anton Troianovski (The New York Times) talk about…

It’s that time of the year again: Today, women all across Russia will be giving socks, shaving cream and more to the fathers, brothers and husbands in their lives. For Russia, this is the one day a year when men can receive a little extra credit and attention: Defender of the Fatherland Day, or as…

Geraint Rhys, a musician and videographer from Wales, made a short film called “In the Footsteps of Ghosts” with the artist Pavel Otdelnov, whose show last year at the Moscow Museum of Modern Art was covered here. The Moscow Times talked with the filmmaker about how he discovered this Russian painter from Dzerzhinsk and why…

As the only remaining independent, English-language news source reporting from Russia, The Moscow Times plays a critical role in connecting Russia to the world. Editorial decisions are made entirely by journalists in our newsroom, who adhere to the highest ethical standards. We fearlessly cover issues that are often considered off-limits or taboo in Russia, from…

The private Museum of Russian Impressionism opened its 2020 season with yet another blockbuster exhibition entitled “Yuri Annenkov: Revolution Behind the Door.” Yuri Annenkov (1889-1974) is a Russian-born artist, whose career spanned most of the 20th century.  “Revolution Behind the Door” is a truly unique exhibition, since Annenkov’s works are scattered in many collections all…

The Berlin Film Festival, which showcases a wide variety of films from all corners of the globe, opens today. The Moscow Times has assembled a list of the most prominent inclusions by Russian directors, which are among the most anticipated features of the festival.  “Gunda” Saint Petersburg-based director Victor Kosskovsky has produced a documentary with…

On February 20, 1877, the Bolshoi Ballet premiered what would become one of the most famous ballets of all time. Although the sweeping music, tragic narrative, and iconic costumes have all contributed to the lasting popularity of “Swan Lake,” its creators could never have imagined that a story of dancing swans would become a multigenerational…

As the only remaining independent, English-language news source reporting from Russia, The Moscow Times plays a critical role in connecting Russia to the world. Editorial decisions are made entirely by journalists in our newsroom, who adhere to the highest ethical standards. We fearlessly cover issues that are often considered off-limits or taboo in Russia, from…

This Valentine’s Day marked the first time in 36 years that the epic Rimsky-Korsakov opera “Sadko” has been staged at the Bolshoi Theater. Directed by Dmitry Chernyakov, the sold-out premiere was a much-anticipated event in the Moscow arts scene.  Chernyakov is known for his audacious directorial style, which over the years has earned him both…

On Feb. 17, 1852, the State Hermitage Museum was opened to the public. The second-largest museum in the world (topped only by the Louvre), the Hermitage collection contains over 3 million objects, which are stored and displayed in the historic buildings of Saint Petersburg’s Palace Embankment.  The museum was founded almost a century prior to…

Any serious study of Russian cuisine begins with Darra Goldstein.   For more than three decades, Darra Goldstein has led readers to the far-flung corners of the Soviet Empire and back in time to the opulence and abundance of the nineteenth century. Her authoritative 1983 “A La Russe: A Cookbook of Russian Hospitality” wove together strands…

As the only remaining independent, English-language news source reporting from Russia, The Moscow Times plays a critical role in connecting Russia to the world. Editorial decisions are made entirely by journalists in our newsroom, who adhere to the highest ethical standards. We fearlessly cover issues that are often considered off-limits or taboo in Russia, from…

“This artwork is an act of international terrorism.” “This text converts you to Islam.” “This artwork makes you want to hijack an airplane.” Russian artist Andrei Molodkin’s newest exhibition shouts out these statements in loud, bold, blood-red letters. And the blood comes from real humans. Opening at Dublin’s Rua Red art space on Valentine’s Day,…

Valentine’s Day is a relatively new holiday for Russia, but it has been embraced wholeheartedly. Wondering how it’s being celebrated in the Russian capital? We’ve gathered some events ranging from romantic to wacky that will give you a taste of how Russians are spending the holiday of romance. Moskva News Agency Insta-worthy On February 14th,…

February 12, 2020 marks what would be the 139th birthday of prima ballerina Anna Pavlova. The originator of several iconic roles and styles, Pavlova’s name remains synonymous with brilliance in the world of ballet. Despite her legacy as a pioneer of dance, Pavlova was far from a natural talent. Born prematurely in St. Petersburg of…

Moscow’s extravagant New Year’s decorations have only been taken down for a few weeks, but the city is already preparing for its next big holiday: the Maslenitsa folk festival, better known as Russia’s “pancake week.” Maslenitsa has its roots in pagan traditions, when people marked the end of winter and the beginning of spring with…

February 11, 2020 marks the 40th anniversary of the release of one of Russia’s most beloved films, the Soviet drama “Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears.”  The film, which chronicles 20 years in the lives of three women in Moscow, is considered a modern classic for its enduring themes of hope, disappointment, and unexpected happiness.…

As the sun filters through thick winter clouds over Vladimir, a city located 200 kilometers to the east of Moscow, the residents go about their business as tourists wander through the center of the city, taking photographs of the Golden Gates, stepping into the pedestrian Georgievskaya Ulitsa to drink some Suzdal mead and buy souvenirs…

On this day in 1890, the writer Boris Pasternak was born into an affluent and cultured Russian-Jewish family. His father, Leonid, was a renowned artist and professor at the Moscow School of Painting; his mother Rosa, nee Kaufman, was a concert pianist. His parents’ social circle included notable figures of the day such as Sergei…

Zelfira Tregulova, the director of the Tretyakov gallery, vividly recalls the first time she saw Kazimir Malevich’s iconic 1915 painting “Black Square.” “It was in 1974, I remember the shock.” As an art history student at Moscow State University, she first encountered the painting in the Tretyakov Gallery, albeit not hanging in the airy exhibition…

Since the 15th century, the Kremlin’s Dormition Cathedral has been the main church of the land, where first grand princes were crowned, then tsars, and finally emperors and empresses. It was also the church where Metropolitans and Patriarchs were enthroned, and where they were interred. The church was built 1475-1479 under Grand Prince Ivan III…

Russia has become home to the world’s largest digital archive of decorative patterns.  The archive, Ornamika.ru, was launched by Maria Loleyt, a former project manager and marketing expert. It contains more than 7,000 authentic decorative patterns created by the national groups that have lived in Russia, the Soviet Union, and the Russian Empire. The ornamental…

“Peasant” has become the highest-grossing domestic film in the history of Russian cinema.  Directed by Klim Shipenko, the comedy has raked in over 3 billion rubles (roughly 45.5 million USD). Only the 2009 Hollywood blockbuster “Avatar” grossed more in Russia.  The film is about a spoiled rich boy who is sent back in time to…

Teodor Shanin, a renowned scholar and president of the Moscow School for the Social and Economic Sciences  — “Shaninka” —  died on Tuesday in Moscow.  Shanin, 89, was credited as the originator of peasant studies, a field which combines sociology, economics, history, and other academic disciplines to form a comprehensive understanding of modern peasant lives. …

Now that January is over and the New Year’s resolutions have worn off, it’s harder than ever to find the motivation to stay active. Luckily, an anti-cafe in central Moscow has come up with a way to tackle the problem. As everyone knows, maintaining a healthy lifestyle is easier when you have a partner —…