Book fair at dawn
The Rassvet (Dawn) Palace of Culture near the 1905 metro station has been putting on interesting literary and other evenings lately. This weekend they have decided to jump the gun, as it were, on the big Non-Fiction Book Fair coming up in early December and throw their own book fair this weekend. Called “Smart Book,” it will have books from more than 70 publishers, including several dozen publishing houses that produce children’s books. On Friday evening (Oct. 15) at 8 p.m., four poets will read their works. Entrance to the fair and reading is free, but you need to register on their site. The book fair will be open from noon to 8 p.m. both weekend days. Registration, directions and more information can be found on the Palace of Culture site.
Take your kids to the dark ages of Apple technology
If you want to impress upon your children that information and entertainment or even the ability to do simple office and school work was not always accessible at a click, take them to the Apple Museum. Put together in an old manor house not far from Taganka by collector Andrei Antonov and re:Store founder Yevgeny Butman, it contains hundreds if not thousands of Apple products, from an Apple II made in 1977 to the latest glasses, all with lots of photographs, press materials and documentation. Almost everything works, and almost everything can be tested. For more information and reservations, see the museum site here.
Visit (painted) village life
Alexei Venetisanov (1780-1847) was a mostly self-taught painter who was largely scorned by the Academy of Arts artists of the time. The son of a Moscow merchant, he bought an estate in the country and dedicated himself to capturing the country life, and most particularly the country people, all around him. His paintings of a nurse and baby, two teenage girls talking, a young woman in the fields with farm animals are romantic, warm, and intimate. He was considered the first Russian painter to dedicate himself to the countryside and peasant life. More than 80 paintings and graphics from a number of Russian museums are now on display in the Engineering Building of the old Tretyakov Gallery. Stop in for a blessed break from bustling urban modernity. For more information and tickets, see the museum site.
And if you are in a museum mood, check out the museums offering free admission this weekend during Museum Week. Today you can visit the apartment-museums of Turgenev, Pushkin and Bely. On Saturday visit the Museum of Naïve Art. On Sunday there is a long list of house museums, science and history museums, and space museums. All free. Check, however, for pandemic requirements.
See Russia’s jazz great in person
Alexei Kozlov is a jazz saxophonist who has been playing music — forbidden, half-permitted, and now celebrated — since the 1960s. He was the founder of Arsenal, still considered to be the best jazz-rock group in the country. Now 86 years old, he is still going strong, and going to put on a series of concerts to celebrate his birthday at his club. He is playing tonight at 8 p.m. with Arsenal. Saturday night you can hear Cuban Carlos Hechavarria and Jazz Park, or you can go to one of the club’s Tribute Nights where some of the best Russian musicians play tribute to their icons. Late, late at night on Saturday and into the wee hours of Sunday, you can go to a Dire Straits Tribute night by Brothers for Nothing. For more information about these and other concerts and ticket purchases, see the site here.
A night at the movies
Several new foreign language films are debuting this weekend in Moscow, although not in English. But German speakers will be interested in “The Royal Game,” about a lawyer being held by the Gestapo who saves himself in the world of chess, playing at Pioner. French speakers might like “Eiffel,” about the creation of Paris’ famous landmark, at Pioner and other theaters. English speakers might want to take a trip into the past with “Play Misty for Me,” directed by and starring Clint Eastwood and Jessica Walters. Made in 1971, it is psychological thriller about a stalker. No spoilers. Otherwise, you can see “Dune,” “No Time to Die,” “Annette,” and “Venom2.”
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