Summer Reading, Perhaps?

The SEELANGS (Slavic and Eastern European Languages and Literature List) listserv connected us with these fascinating books on Russian Criminal Tattoos.

Product Description from Amazon.com:

"Occasionally a book is published that reveals a subculture you never dreamt existed. More rarely, that book goes on to become a phenomenon of its own. The 2004 publication of the Russian Criminal Tattoo Encyclopaedia was such a phenomenon, spawning two further volumes and alerting a fascinated readership worldwide to the extraordinary and hermetic world of Russian criminal tattoos (David Cronenberg, for example, made regular use of the Encyclopaedia during the making of his 2007 movie Eastern Promises). Now, Fuel has reprinted volume one of this bestselling series, whose first edition already fetches considerable sums online. The photographs, drawings and texts published in this book are part of a collection of more than 3,000 tattoos accumulated over a lifetime by a prison attendant named Danzig Baldaev. Tattoos were his gateway into a secret world in which he acted as ethnographer, recording the rituals of a closed society. The icons and tribal languages he documented are artful, distasteful, sexually explicit and sometimes just strange, reflecting as they do the lives and traditions of Russian convicts. Skulls, swastikas, harems of naked women, a smiling Al Capone, medieval knights in armor, daggers sheathed in blood, benign images of Christ, sweet-faced mothers and their babies, armies of tanks and a horned Lenin: these are the signs by which the people of this hidden world mark and identify themselves. With a foreword by Danzig Baldaev, and an introduction by Alexei Plutser-Sarno, exploring the symbolism of the Russian criminal tattoo."

Events This Week

CONFERENCE: Nonconformism and Dissent in the Soviet Bloc: Guiding Legacy or Passing Memory? 1501 SIPA, (Wednesday-Friday)

The conference will focus on political and cultural nonconformism in Ukraine, Russia, and Poland in the 1960s to 80s. It will bring together an international assemblage of scholars studying that period of time as well several noteworthy dissidents and artists. The conference will offer a historical overview of the period and will present the latest research conducted on the subject. Additionally, the conference will provide an analysis of the political and cultural legacies of these movements in today’s Ukraine, Russia, and Poland.

The conference will examine these issues through a series of scholarly panels as well as roundtable discussions featuring prominent Soviet-era dissidents and nonconformist artists. The three-day conference will begin with an evening keynote address by Dr. Myroslav Marynovych, former Ukrainian dissident and prisoner of conscience and, currently, Vice-rector for the University Mission of the Ukrainian Catholic University (L'viv, Ukraine); the address will be followed by a reception. Days two and three will include panels and roundtables followed by cultural programming in the evenings showcasing achievements in nonconformist film, music and literature of this era. The conference will conclude with a special North American concert by Victor Morozov, a legendary nonconformist cultural figure in Soviet Ukraine and a major recording artist in Ukraine today, at the Ukrainian Museum (222 East 6th Street).

Participants: Myroslav Marynovych, Pavel Litvinov, Henryk Wujec, Vitaly Komar, Ewa Wójciak, Volodymyr Dibrova, Mykola Riabchuk, Peter Reddaway, Ann Komaromi, Benjamin Nathans, Alexander Motyl, Justyna Beinek, Ksenya Kiebuzinski, Michael Bernhard, Jeri Laber, Mark Andryczyk, Catharine Nepomnyashchy, Anna Procyk, Christina Isajiw, William Risch, Anna Frajlich-Zajac, Yuri Shevchuk, Timothy Frye, Tarik Amar, Frank Sysyn, and Victor Morozov.

The conference is presented by the Ukrainian Studies Program at the Harriman Institute, Columbia University. It is organized in collaboration with the Columbia University East Central European Center, the Polish Cultural Institute–New York, and The Ukrainian Museum.

This event is free and open to the public. For more information please contact Mark Andryczyk at 212-854-4697 or at ukrainianstudies@columbia.edu.

CONFERENCE PROGRAM: http://www.harrimaninstitute.org/MEDIA/01946.pdf

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MOVIE: GROMOZEKA (2010), VLADIMIR KOTT, FRIDAY APR 1, 6:00 PM (MOMA), SAT APR 2, 3:45 (FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER)

Q&A WITH DIRECTOR!

The title of writer-director Vladimir Kott’s deft, engrossing follow-up to The Fly (ND/NF 2009) comes from the name of the band in which the film’s protagonists played during their high-school days—briefly glimpsed in the film’s opening shots. Today, these three middle-aged men—a surgeon, police officer, and taxi driver—inhabit distinct levels of Moscow’s socio-economic structure. Aside from their annual reunions, their lives intersect only glancingly and unknowingly.

Kott follows their respective personal discontent and professional troubles as they reach a crisis point, and presents the contrasting ways in which each of the characters tries to cope—and the unpredictable outcomes. The three interwoven narratives provide a compelling and very human portrait of the moral dilemmas of modern life and reveal an urban experience that defies some of the bleaker visions of life in 21st-century Russia.

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MOVIE: Ivan the Terrible Part I (Sergei Eisenstein, 1944) Film Society of Lincoln Center, 1:00 PM (Thursday)

"The Soviet master’s phantasmagoric magnum opus follows the newly crowned Tsar through marriage, Tartar wars, near death, and triumphant resurgence. Score by Sergei Prokofiev."

MOVIE: Ivan the Terrible Part II (Sergei Eisenstein, 1958) FSLC, 3:00 PM (Thursday)

"Disapproved of by Stalin, the second part of Eisenstein’s feverishly expressive final masterpiece turns to Russian court intrigues as Boyars attempt to unseat Ivan."

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Russian Dinner and Conversation by Harriman Undergraduate Initiative, SIPA 1219, 7:00 PM (Thursday)

"Appetizers will be blini and caviar, pirogki, and assorted salads. Entrees will be kotlety, stuffed cabbage, and potatoes. We will have dark Ukrainian and Lithuanian bread as well as kvas to drink. It is sure to be a great time. As usual, we encourage discussion in Russian but all are welcome. Best of all, it is completely free. Invite your friends and see you Thursday!

Check out the Facebook page here to rsvp or invite more people."

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EXHIBIT: Georgians in American History: A Photo Narrative, Harriman Institute Atrium, 12th Floor IAB, 420 West 118th Street, NYC (Friday-Saturday)

This exhibition is the culmination of a decade of research by film director Irakli Makahradzeintended to uncover the role played by Georgians in shaping American history. Photographs will introduce viewers to a series of little-known individuals whose contributions to American history date as far back as the Civil War. The project will trace a genealogy of significant Georgian-American biographies to the present day.

The entire collection of photos and materials will be made available in the form of printed catalogues. This exhibit is co-organized by the Georgian Democratic and Political Club.

Nonconformism & Dissent in the Soviet Bloc

The Ukrainian Studies Program, Harriman Institute at Columbia University, is presenting a conference entitled "Nonconformism and Dissent in the Soviet Bloc: Guiding Legacy or Passing Memory?" to be held at Columbia University March 30th - April 1st, 2011. The conference is being presented twenty years after the fall of the Soviet Union, a time of continued uncertainty in Eastern Europe.

The conference will focus on political and cultural nonconformism in Ukraine, Russia, and Poland in the 1960s to 80s. It will bring together an international assemblage of scholars studying that period of time as well several noteworthy dissidents and artists. The conference will offer a historical overview of the period and will present the latest research conducted on the subject. Additionally, the conference will provide an analysis of the political and cultural legacies of these movements in today’s Ukraine, Russia, and Poland.

Among the questions the conference aims to address are: Where are the dissidents and cultural leaders of the Soviet era underground today? Are they in positions of power? Are they influential political figures or gurus in contemporary culture? Do they represent their people in the world as they once did? What media forums are available for their voices? Do Ukraine, Russia, Poland, and the world need them today?

The conference will examine these issues through a series of scholarly panels as well as roundtable discussions featuring prominent Soviet-era dissidents and nonconformist artists. The three-day conference will begin with an evening keynote address by Dr. Myroslav Marynovych, former Ukrainian dissident and prisoner of conscience and, currently, Vice-rector for the University Mission of the Ukrainian Catholic University (L'viv, Ukraine); the address will be followed by a reception. Days two and three will include panels and roundtables followed by cultural programming in the evenings showcasing achievements in nonconformist film, music and literature of this era.

"Nonconformism and Dissent in the Soviet Bloc: Guiding Legacy or Passing Memory?" will feature presentations by over twenty individuals: Myroslav Marynovych, Pavel Litvinov, Henryk Wujec, Vitaly Komar, Ewa Wójciak, Volodymyr Dibrova, Mykola Riabchuk, Peter Reddaway, Ann Komaromi, Benjamin Nathans, Alexander Motyl, Justyna Beinek, Ksenya Kiebuzinski, Michael Bernhard, Jeri Laber, Mark Andryczyk, Catharine Nepomnyashchy, Anna Procyk, Christina Isajiw, William Risch, Anna Frajlich-Zajac, Yuri Shevchuk, Timothy Frye, Tarik Amar, Frank Sysyn, and Victor Morozov.

The Conference will conclude with a special North American concert by Victor Morozov, a legendary nonconformist cultural figure in Soviet Ukraine and a major recording artist in Ukraine today.

The conference is free and open to the public.

All conference panels and roundtables, as well as the keynote address, will be held in Rm. #1501, International Affairs Building, 420 West 118^th St., Columbia University, New York, New York 10027. The keynote address and reception will take place on March 30th at 7PM. The panels and roundtables will begin at 9:30AM on March 31^st and at 10AM on April 1^st.

The film presentation will be held on March 31^st at 8PM in Rm. 717 Hamilton Hall.

The Victor Morozov concert will be held on April 1^st at 8PM at the Ukrainian Museum, 222 East 6^th Street, New York, NY 10003.

The conference coincides with an exhibit of works by artist-dissident Opanas Zalyvakha and a display of literature and documentary materials of the shistdesiatnyky at The Ukrainian Museum. See www.ukrainianmuseum.org for more information.

The conference is presented by the Ukrainian Studies Program at the Harriman Institute, Columbia University.

It is organized in collaboration with the East Central European Center (Columbia University), the Polish Cultural Institute (New York), and The Ukrainian Museum.

For more information please contact Mark Andryczyk at 212-854-4697 or at ukrainianstudies@columbia.edu.

Gender, Hierarchy, and Representation in Kyiv's Cathedral of the Holy Sophia

Music at the Ukrainian Institute

An Invisible Rope: Portraits of Czesław Miłosz

Democracy, Violence and Authoritarianism in Post-Communist Romania: A Reassessment

The Romanian Cultural Institute in New York and the Institute for Investigation of the Communist Crimes and for the Memory of the Romanian Exile in Bucharest (IICCMRC) present on April 8, in RCINY's Gallery, a special event in conjunction with “Civic Resistance and State Violence” - a memorial photo exhibition about the violent transition from dictatorship to democracy in post-communist Romania. The exhibition brings together personal testimonies of the witnesses and photographs about the violence brought against the civilians during the miners coming to Bucharest in June 13-15, 1990.

The critical assessment, 20 years after, of this violence, illustrated by some of the exhibition photographs, will be the starting point for a comparison with the violence against civilians that has been inflicted in Egypt, other North African countries and the Middle East as a result of civil upheavals in 2011.

The panel will be chaired by Vladimir Tismăneanu (professor of politics and Director of the Center for the Study of Post-communist Societies at University of Maryland - College Park), and will bring together Cătălin Avramescu (Ph.D. Professor at the University of Bucharest), Grigore Pop-Eleches (Assistant Professor of Politics and International Affairs, Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University). Moderator: Mihai Neamţu (Scientific Director, IICCMRC, and exhibition co-curator). READ MORE

FRI, April 8, 7 pm
RCINY - The Gallery [Carturesti Book Exhibition]
573-577 3rd Avenue (at 38th Street), New York, NY 10016
FREE ADMISSION