Russia Report: Moscow Metropolis

Moscow has changed drastically in the past decades. Once known for its drab Soviet apartment buildings, massive traffic jams and an overcrowded metro, Moscow is now portrayed as a fashionable world city where cosmopolites enjoy the nightlife, engage in healthy sports and follow the latest fads and trends. This evening focuses on Moscow’s metamorphosis. How does this modern city’s progressive character relate to the Kremlin’s conservative, sometimes repressive policies? We concentrate on the most dynamic and conspicuous aspect of the new Moscow: the cultural life. With experts from in- an outside of Moscow we read the cultural map of Moscow.

With a.o.

• Peter Mansilla-Kruz, director of the Bulgakov Museum in Moscow. The Bulgakov Museum tries to preserving the special atmosphere of this place, where the writer Bulgakov lived and which became a cross-point of three different epochs of Russian history: pre-revolutionary Russia, the Soviet era and the Post-Soviet reality.
•  Architect Bart Goldhoorn specializes in post-communist architecture and founded PROJECT Russia in 1995; a renowned magazine about Russian architecture, city-building and design. He curated the first edition of the Moscow Architecture Biennale and is the director of the Block City Institute.
• Eva Hartog works in Moscow as a correspondent for Dutch magazine Vrij Nederland and the daily The Moscow Times. She has also published about Russia for a.o. TIME Magazine.
• Maria Privalova is the director of the Nekrasov Library and the Moscow Institute for Social and Cultural Programmes in Moscow.
• Tom Vennink (Correspondent Russia De Volkskrant) will show us his own view of Moscow.
• Moderator: Lennart Booij

After the programme, there will be music and drinks in Russian style. We'll be serving Moscow Mules and Coke Black Russians and we'll celebrate old Russian New Year! Tickets available via the website of De Balie.

Russia Report:
The evening is part of a larger series of Russia Reports, organised monthly to explore political, social and cultural themes in contemporary Russia. The evenings that DutchCulture organises with De Balie focus on three themes: literature and publishing havens, documentaries, and urban development. Through these themes we seek to highlight the diversity, progressiveness and dynamism present within the Russian cultural sector. The principal question is whether there is room for alternative voices in today’s Russia. We offer the public a fresh perspective on Russia, and provide a platform for a new generation of Russian cultural professionals.