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Articles by Joy Neumeyer
Astronaut's Wife Reveals Hidden Life After Launch
21 April 11
By Joy Neumeyer
In May 2009, Lena de Winne stood on a barren steppe in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, as she watched her husband, Belgian astronaut Frank de Winne, launch into space. Struggling to remain the composed wife amid cameras and a crowd of observers, she alighted on an unexpected source of emotional support: 1980s power ballad "The Final Countdown," which she played on her iPod as the shuttle disappeared into the atmosphere.
'Beauty' Contest Seeks Out Provincial Bachelor
28 March 11
By Joy Neumeyer
Since the country's first perestroika-era pageant, Russia has welcomed the beauty contest as a stage to showcase the glamour of its women. But in Moscow's most recent pageant, crew cuts and tuxedos replaced curlers and swimsuits, as 10 finalists fought to be named most eligible bachelor from Russia's regions.
Moscow River Artists Look to the Country
31 January 11
By Joy Neumeyer
A floor below the sprawling Soviet-themed exhibits at the State Museum of Contemporary History, a group of landscape painters is offering glimpses of a Russia seemingly untouched by the 20th century.
Exhibits Grapple with Gorbachev, Yeltsin’s Legacies
28 January 11
By Joy Neumeyer
This spring, the Moscow House of Photography commemorates the 80th birthdays of Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet Union’s last head of state, and Boris Yeltsin, Russia’s first president, with a pair of exhibits on the two leaders’ lives and legacies.
Metro Stickers Take On Fascists
19 January 11
By Joy Neumeyer
Among the usual barrage of ads, commuters on Moscow’s metro may be noticing images with a social mission more urgent than selling shoes or sushi.
Cosmoscow Brings Modern Art World to Russia
16 December 10
By Joy Neumeyer
Prominent art galleries from around the world will take over Krasny Oktyabr, the Soviet chocolate factory-turned-gallery space, for the Cosmoscow modern art show.
'If Only I'd Known!' Makes Modern Art Easy
15 December 10
By Joy Neumeyer
Museumgoers befuddled by Kazimir Malevich’s “Black Square,” rejoice: The Moscow Museum of Modern Art has come to the rescue in an interactive new exhibition.
Movie Festival Shows Brazil Beyond the Beach
13 December 10
By Joy Neumeyer
Former football players reminiscing about their glory days, a shy copy-machine worker who falls in love with his neighbor, and a man combating the vestiges of slavery are among the stories at this year’s Brazilian Film Festival, which runs through Wednesday at the 35MM movie theater.
Student Art Fair Offers Russian, French Works
09 December 10
By Joy Neumeyer
Moscow’s most talented art students will offer their work to the public at Artplay Design Center’s Student Art Fair this Dec. 18 and 19. Out of 1,000 competitors, the exhibit’s curators chose 105 students to have a shot at selling their paintings, drawings and photographs.
'The Victims Return' Looks at Life After the Gulag
06 December 10
By Joy Neumeyer
In the 1950s, millions of people reappeared in Soviet society, like ghosts returned from the dead. They had been revolutionaries, scientists, petty criminals and bureaucrats; some were their children. Some had been gone for months; others, for decades. But they all shared a common fate.
Meet the ‘Russian Arnold Schwarzenegger’
01 December 10
By Joy Neumeyer
After 15 minutes of talking, Alexander Nevsky — aka “Mr. Universe” — is hungry. Really hungry. “Mind if we take a break?” he asks, his fork hovering eagerly over his brunch.
Tolstoy Tale Takes Literary Prize
25 November 10
By Joy Neumeyer
Writer Pavel Basinsky has claimed the 2010 Big Book award for his work “Leo Tolstoy: Escape from Paradise.” Basinsky’s book traces Tolstoy’s life after his flight from Yasnaya Polyana, his childhood home and literary sanctuary, before his death.
Memories of Soviet Emigres, Dissidents Go on Show
18 November 10
By Joy Neumeyer
In an installation at the XL Gallery, Moscow conceptual artist Igor Makarevich returns to an intimate memory from his past — saying goodbye to his friends Konstantin and Tatiana Erastov and their seven children as they emigrated to the West in 1979.
School Stages Music Marathon
11 November 10
By Joy Neumeyer
International School of Moscow students will hold an all-day music marathon Friday in support of disadvantaged children. The event’s proceeds will go to BBC Children in Need and Diema’s Dream, a Russian charity that provides support to disabled orphans.
Turn-of-Century Russia in Color
09 November 10
By Joy Neumeyer
In the “Russian Empire in Color” exhibition at the Photo Center, photographs by Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky reveal the churches, landscapes and inhabitants of the late Russian Empire in brilliant whites, sharp blues and rich purples.
Remembering the Pain of Shtetl Life Under Siege
02 November 10
By Joy Neumeyer
Meir Axelrod’s simple drawings, on display at Winzavod’s Proun Gallery, allow visitors to see a long lost way of life, of Jews in the Russian empire at the start of the 20th century.
Singer Defends His Medvedev Meeting
21 October 10
By Joy Neumeyer
Andrei Makarevich, lead singer of rock band Mashina Vremeni, has complained about “numerous distortions and inaccuracies” in the coverage of his and other musicians’ meeting with President Dmitry Medvedev in a letter to the St. Petersburg Times.
Shteyngart Aims at Collapsing U.S., Not Russia
18 October 10
By Joy Neumeyer
Author Gary Shteyngart, who was in Moscow promoting his new book "A Super Sad True Love Story," is no stranger to mocking Russia’s foibles. The Russian-born author skewered fellow emigres in his earlier novels.
