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photographic journeys

Old Friends: St. Petersburg's Oldest Residents Come Home to Their Past

After Covid lockdowns, a charity helps older people revisit their past - and remind everyone how quickly time goes by.

fashion forward

St. Petersburg Fashion Concierge Makes Dreams Come True

Need a new image? Need a wardrobe overhaul? Or do you just love haute couture? We've got the fashion guide for you.

Iconic Soviet Rock Star Viktor Tsoi's Heroic Path Traced at Manege

Iconic Soviet-era rock musician and songwriter Viktor Tsoi gets a biopic exhibition in Moscow’s Manege.

out of this world

'The Sounds of Science' Where Composers and Scientists Meet

Russian composers and scientists joined together in one of the year's most unusual collaborations.

down with bullies

'Fat Lyuba' Fights Schoolyard Bullying in Russia

This intimate one-person play gives audiences hope that they, too, can overcome childhood bullying.

performance art

Modern Dance in a St. Petersburg Garment Factory

Do you ever wonder who made your clothes? After seeing this performance, you will.

meditative mood

'Peace and Joy' at a St. Petersburg Exhibition

A show of Russian Old Masters at the Manege Exhibition Hall is intentionally not cutting-edge.

Angelin Preljocaj’s Unorthodox ‘Swan Lake’ Premieres in St. Petersburg

In this version of the classic ballet, the swan is an expression of the fragility of nature.

art for the masses

Russia's Breakthrough Contemporary Art Market

How Russia's contemporary art market has gone from zero to booming in less than 30 years.

Stroll Through St. Petersburg in a Dream Play

A new kind of theater takes to the streets to immerse the audience in a dreamlike reality.

dress up in style

Uncovering the Secrets of Russian Costume

The Hermitage show mixes folk costume and haute couture — which were sometimes almost the same.

breaking with the past

'Context.Diana Vishneva' Shatters the Classical Dance Wall

Yes, Russia is still a classical dance country, but not for long, if Diana Vishneva has her say.

This Isn't Your Grandma's Russian Museum

Russian history meets cutting-edge technology in a new breed of immersive amusement parks.

St. Petersburg Start-Ups Make It Easy to Go Green

Ecodays showed converts and skeptics how to live an environmentally responsible lifestyle.

The Art Group Recycle Works Between the Virtual and the Real

Bring your cell or tablet to see beneath the surface of reality at St. Petersburg’s Manege.

fashion statement

The Ancient Russian Kokoshnik Is Having a Moment

From the singer Manizha to brides to fashionistas, women are covering their heads magnificently.

pavlovian reaction

Ivan Pavlov Museum Gets a High-Tech High-Art Makeover

The Ivan Pavlov Memorial Museum gets a new life, where personal memorabilia meets experimental art.

culture delivers

Arts Played a Starring Role at 'Russian Davos'

For the first time the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum focused on the creative industries.

The 2021 Russian National Bestseller Award Goes to Alexander Pelevin

Russian literary reality is a world of addicts, NGOs, texting and Russia’s trademark search of justice.

Cutting-Age Contemporary Russian Art Comes to the Urals

To see the latest in Russian art, you once had to come to Moscow or St. Petersburg. Not any more.

center of the storm

Filmmaker Vitaly Mansky on Artdocfest and Russia on Film

Galina Stolyarova talks with Vitaly Mansky about films, being attacked, and why he won't film Putin.

innovative arts

Diana Vishneva Dances Through History in the Pushkin Museum

A film made with five choreographers, five composers, and five halls of the Pushkin Museum.

opera + sculpture

Sculptures Sing Opera at St. Petersburg's Manege

Russian sculpture meets opera to make traditional academic art come alive.

new russian art

Millennials on Exhibit at the Russian Museum

Russian Museum curators regard millennial artists as a special group.

celebrating celebrity

Cecil Beaton Comes ‘Home’ to Russia

The legendary fashion photographer is still unknown to the general public in Russia.

literary and cinema giants

Roma Liberov Debuts New Film on Writer Andrei Platonov

Director Roma Liberov, translator Robert Chandler and producer Alexander Mamontow on Platonov.

artists to watch

'Consciousness Without Borders': New Russian Art

Two young artists with similar backgrounds create wildly different art of memory and fantasy.

Elisabeth Anisimow Is Living Art

The 13-year-old artist is painting up a storm around the world.

modern ancient art

Alexander Sokurov, Rembrandt and 'The Prodigal Son'

A powerful retelling of the Biblical return of the prodigal son.

Take an Art Trip to Russian Provinces at St. Petersburg Manege

The show at the Manege is part of a series of exhibits on contemporary art from all over Russia.

vivid portraits

Magnum Photographs at St. Petersburg Manege Exhibition Hall

A show of brilliant photographs from 73 years of Soviet and Russian life.

quarantine culture

A Dream Hotel Comes to the (Small) Screen

From blog to book to TV series, a hotel full of stories goes online.

‘WE FIGHT TOGETHER’

Russian WWII Veteran Uses Wartime Memories to Raise Money for Coronavirus Medics

Inspired by Captain Tom Moore in the U.K., 98-year-old Zinaida Korneva is more than halfway to her 3-million-ruble target.

calm before the storm

Waiting for the 'Coronavirus Tsunami' to Hit St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg hospitals have been spared huge influxes of patients — so far.

Ralph Fiennes on Nureyev, Russia and Crows

When Ralph Fiennes came to St. Petersburg, The Moscow Times' Galina Stolyarova sat him down for a talk.

In the Emperors' Closets

The new Costume Gallery at the Hermitage Museum brings old clothes to light.

Insider Shopping in St. Petersburg

Traditional souvenir shops selling matryoshka dolls, amber jewelry and fur hats are easy to spot in St. Petersburg. But where do the locals go to find...

On the Streets Where They Lived

Take a trip into the lives of Alexander Pushkin, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and other renowned St. Petersburg residents.

A Guide to St. Petersburg’s Most Beautiful Religious Buildings

Russia's second largest city is home to many religions, and each has left a mark on its architectural landscape.

Gatchina: St. Petersburg's Unknown Palace

The most private and mysterious of St. Petersburg's former imperial residences, the playful and unusual estate now hosts a series of summer festivals.

From Don Quixote to Rudolph Nureyev

Dancer and choreographer Johan Kobborg is in St. Petersburg with a new Don Quixote ballet and a new Nureyev film.

St. Petersburg Marks its Revolutionary Centenary With Caviar and Circuses

In St. Petersburg, the centennial of the Russian Revolution has gone largely commercial and populist

Hermitage Puts on First Ever All-Digital Exhibition

For the first time, the Hermitage Museum is hosting an exhibition without a single original item.

From the Archive: The Hermitage Hosts Architect Zaha Hadid

The avant-garde Pritzker Prize-winning architect Zaha Hadid is enjoying a retrospective display in St. Petersburg — one of the most architecturally...

Yekaterinburg: Russia's Next Capital of Culture

If you ask the average person what comes to mind when they think of Yekaterinburg, they'll probably say that it's a highly polluted industrial city...

Taking Tchaikovsky to Small Towns in the Urals

A new outreach effort is bringing the arts to some of Russia's more rural areas, much to the joy of eager locals.

'Gangland' Writer Sees Russia's Shifting Underworld

From gang wars to the avalanche of counterfeit goods, this is the transition that St. Petersburg's criminal underworld has made over the past two...

Provincial Media Attempts to Extort Eifman Ballet

It is well-known that the Kremlin has tightened its grip on the dissemination of all news, to the point that it is questionable whether any objective...

Prizewinning 'Bribe' Monument Seeks a Site

A nationwide competition began in June of last year for the design of the best monument commemorating bribes. However, with the competition now finished...

St. Petersburg Sculpture Park Seeks Owner

The St. Petersburg miniature sculpture park, which contains small versions of some of the city's architectural marvels, from Alexander's Column and the...

Book Reveals Plight Of Female Prisoners

A group of St. Petersburg sociologists have published their insights into the lives of Russia's imprisoned women.

Italian Director Brings 'Don Carlos' to Mariinsky

Video art meets period costumes and psychological drama in the new production of "Don Carlos," one of Giuseppe Verdi's darkest operas, which premieres...

Fur Fashion Brand Kaminsky Hitting New Heights

A former bomb technician and an ex-taxi driver are now running Kaminsky, an avant-garde fur fashion brand that is arguably Russia's most eccentric....

150 Years on, Clock Will Sing Once More

The State Hermitage Museum's legendary Johann Strasser clock, also known as "the mechanical orchestra," is to be restored by 2014 as part of the museum's...

Serbian Filmmaker Vows 'Love and War' for St. Pete

Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica, who this year is presiding over the jury at the St. Petersburg International Film Festival, has always had fraternal...

St. Pete Volunteers Form Program To Ease Visa Regulations

"The Russian passport is a curse!"
This bitter exclamation is well-known to just about any Russian who has spent several hours waiting — in all...

Photo Competition for Foreigners' Pics of Russia

The Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library is calling on photographers to enter its annual Foreign View competition.

St. Petersburg Skyscraper Approval Prompts Protests

A group of local politicians and city heritage activists have appealed to City Governor Georgy Poltavchenko, asking him to reduce the height of the...

Reformer Stolypin Held Up as Model for Putin

As Russia marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Pyotr Stolypin, the pre-revolutionary interior minister and chairman of the imperial Council...

Composer Brings Persian Influence to St. Pete

Running a contemporary classical music center in Russia may seem like an unlikely occupation for a Persian composer brought up in the traditional...

New Mariinsky to Open in 2013

Mariinsky II, the second stage of the world-famous Mariinsky Theater, will receive its first spectators in May 2013, Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky...

Grand Celebrations Begin for 1812 Battle

On Aug. 1, 1812, Russia gained its first victory during the Napoleonic wars, and that victory was crucial.

Ambitious Rodin Exhibit Pays a Visit to St. Pete

The art of Auguste Rodin, arguably the most sensual sculptor of all time, whose works emphasize the connection between the physicality and the spirituality...

Gergiev, Russian Acts to Rule at Edinburgh Festival

Russian art will take center stage at the upcoming Edinburgh International Festival, which is to take place from Aug. 9 through Sept. 2. More than one...

Riot Police, Hipsters Star in Charged 'Boris Godunov'

Looking at one's reflection in the mirror can be a most sobering sight. This is certainly the case with British director Graham Vick's daring new production...

Stars Head to St. Petersburg for White Nights Fest

Modest Mussorgsky's opera "Boris Godunov," which has arguably become the most popular operatic piece by a Russian composer on the international stage...

Stalin Era Fashion, During Wartime And At Parties

How can you make a fashionable coat when the only fabric available is a piece of coarse felt used to make military overcoats? A possible solution...

Mariinsky Stages Dark, Brooding Debussy Opera

Claude Debussy's 1902 opera "Pelleas et Melisande" has been turned into a thriller fused with irony and trash esthetic by American director Daniel Kramer...

Mariinsky Ballet Fest To Draw Dance Stars

Dance talent from the Bolshoi Theater, London's Royal Ballet, New York City Ballet, the Wiener Staatsoper, Het Nationale Ballet and the Bejart...

Sokurov: 'Faust' Perfect for Russia's Empty Hearts

Pure evil reigns in Alexander Sokurov's new film "Faust," which won the Golden Lion at last year's Venice Film Festival and starts screening in Russian...

Barkhatov's Drunk, Mad Hoffman at Mariinsky

Director Vasily Barkhatov's fondness for Mariinsky Theater tenor Sergei Semishkur is manifested in two ways. One is that the singer tends to appear...

Russia’s Tallest Man Dead At Age 52

Alexander Sizonenko, Russia's tallest man, who once appeared in the Guinness Book of World Records as the tallest basketball player in history, died...

Long-Lost Songs by Romanovs Surface

Taking 15 years to put together, a recent concert at Tavrichesky Palace in St. Petersburg could have claimed a place in "The Guinness Book of World...

TV Film About Prison Camps, Honor Shelved

Russian director Viktor Buturlin is one of the country's most talented and successful filmmakers, the man behind the award-winning 2004 TV series "Chest...

Fears for Lenfilm as Studio Gets Ready to Move

Lenfilm, one of Russia's oldest and most venerable motion-picture studios, looks set to pack its bags and leave its central location as it faces being...

Gergiev: Theater Stage on Time

Mariinsky Theater artistic director Valery Gergiev has dismissed rumors that the opening of the theater's second stage would be delayed until 2015. Gergiev...

Interview: Tamahori on Hussein and War

Lee Tamahori, director of the Bond movie "Die Another Day" and "The Devil's Double," the tale of Saddam Hussein's Caligula-like son Uday and his double...

Nastassja Kinski on Film, Polanski, Love

Аctress Nastassja Kinski can be seen on the big screen Friday in "Maria's Lovers," the 1983 film by Andrei Konchalovsky about a soldier returning...

Solti a Hit With Britten Opera

A twilight atmosphere, with random shades enveloping the stage, tinted mirrors and elves fluttering about all abounded at the Mariinsky Theater Concert...

'Aida' Wins Plaudits in Minimalist Show

A minimalist and deeply philosophical show is perhaps not quite what most people would expect from a production of Verdi's "Aida" directed by a man...

Buchbinder to Play Beethoven Sonatas

The ability to perform every one of Ludwig van Beethoven's 32 sonatas puts a pianist in a special club. No connections will open its doors; talent...

Daughter of Gagarin Denounces Musical

The daughter of the first man in space, Yury Gagarin, denounced a St. Petersburg musical production that uses her father's name as its title. Yelena...

Mariinsky Stages Opera on Gogol's 'Dead Souls'

The Mariinsky Theater has triumphed again with a revival of Rodion Shchedrin's 1978 opera "Dead Souls," inspired by Nikolai Gogol's legendary work...

Tour, New Albums For Terem Quartet

They adapt classical jewels such as Chopin's nocturnes and Schubert's "Ave Maria" for a quartet of Russian folk instruments. They mix J.S. Bach's Toccata...

Opera Star Netrebko Revisiting Mariinsky Theater

ST. PETERSBURG — Glamorous opera diva Anna Netrebko comes to her alma mater this week for two performances in the role of Adina in a new production of...

Mariinsky's Kondaurova on 'Tormented Heroines'

Somewhere at home Yekaterina Kondaurova still has her first pointe shoes, soaked in blood. Back in Moscow, where she was born, she joined a dance class...

St. Pete's Arts Square Fest Highlights the French

The French connection is key to this year's international Arts Square Festival, St. Petersburg's premier classical arts winter event. Performers will include...

Mariinsky Is Grammy-Nominated

Russian musicians have seized four nominations at this year’s prestigious Grammy awards, presented every year by the American Academy of Recording Arts...

Venice Film Success Tells of Old Rituals, Love

The heroine of Alexei Fedorchenko’s new movie “Ovsyanki,” or “Silent Souls,” — a tender, subservient woman from provincial Russia — is a...

‘Makropulos’ at Mariinsky Is Resounding Success

Opera singer Emilia Marty oozes so much enigma and drama that men fall at her feet after one glance, regardless of their age. It is not so much her stunning...

Lungina Doc, Internews Scandals at TEFI Awards

Russia’s equivalent of the Emmys, the TEFIs, have been marred by scandal as a winning filmmaker accused members of the jury of obstructing his award-winning...

Bid for Sharia Court in St. Petersburg Fails

A Muslim lawyer's attempt to create St. Petersburg's first sharia court flopped just weeks after the court opened amid a storm of criticism from local...