photo: Monika Rittershaus
If the devil came to Berlin he would not be able to scare a single soul. Because Berliners have real problems like rising rents, shitty jobs or not getting into Berghain (depending on priorities) and have no time for religious superstitions. It’s quite a different story in the small village of Sorochinsky in the middle of nowhere in the Ukraine where the devil is the cause for a lot of fear and trauma.
At least what I learned from the opera “The Fair of Sorochinsky” by Russian composer Mussorgsky which I had the chance to enjoy last weekend at Komische Oper Berlin. In between Russian folklore, impossible relationships and a devil’s feast with pigs on fire I had a musical enlightenment I would like to share with you.
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by Claudio | Theater
artwork: Katerina Belkina
This city has many communities of different nations from all over the world that all live together here mixing their cultures into the big juicy cocktail that is Berlin. One of these many communities are Russian artists living in Berlin. I think they are fairly quiet compared to other nationalities, but with the upcoming Russian Contemporary Art Week making some noise in the city.
The RCAW is taking place in 3 galleries which are The Ballery in Schönenberg that is showcasing the work of 3 highlighted artist, the LemoArt Gallery in Prenzlauer Berg that is showing a bigger selection of younger Russian talents and finally a project by UdK students presented at Panke. The whole thing gets kicked off this Friday (May 15, 2015) with the opening reception of the main exhibition at The Ballery that shows the amazing work of Katerina Belkina, Igor Skaletsky, and Vera Veritas Kochubey. On May 29th the second part of the RCAW starts at The Ballery with additional artists in their line-up. We have a little preview of that after the jump.
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by Frank | Art
Tilda Swinton raising the flag for LGBTs
Who said Bloggers could not change the world post by post. Actually I think everybody who has a certain following on the web should consider the responsibility of the daily messages we are sending out. Fortunately there are some of them out there: Fellow blogger Norman Röhling from i-ref used the full potential of his blog and his social network when he realized how homosexuals were treated in Russia after the passing of the current law that prohibits all homosexual “propaganda” meaning actually all kinds of homosexual behaviour in public and all kinds of homosexual communication – basically banning homosexuality from Russia. He triggered a movement called Enough is Enough which’s goal is to stop homophobia around the world. The basic idea is not to be another LGBT association but to really create a web-based international platform where not only communication is a tool for success, but also the intelligent use and exchange of professional resources. If you want to engage with them online I recommend to you to join the Facebook group or like the Facebook page which is the first step before the online platform is launched. But if you are willing to engage in real-live protest we invite you strongly to take part on the demonstration this Saturday in Berlin or the Global Kiss-In in front of your local Russian embassy on the 8th of September at 15h. The goal is to solicit the German government and all sponsors of the Olympic Winter Games 2014 in Russia to boycott the games under this humanitarian circumstances. An ambitious aim that needs a lot of support. After the jump you can see the trailer and flyer of the protest.
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by Claudio | People
