People and events:

• THE LAND OF TYUMEN: PAST AND PRESENT (a new exhibition at the State Historical Museum)
• ETERNAL VALUES COME IN TO FASHION
• PAINTER BORIS ZABOROV
• KOLOMENSKOYE: MILESTONES OF HISTORY
• THE KNIGHT OF RUSSIAN JAZZ (tribute to jazzman Alexander Varlamov)

THE LAND OF TYUMEN: PAST AND PRESENT
(a new exhibition at the State Historical Museum)

Moscow's State Historical Museum has launched an exhibition marking the 60th anniversary of Tyumen Region and 40th anniversary of the development of its rich oil and gas deposits.
Over a thousand exhibits displayed in 4 rooms tell about the ancient and modern history of that Western Siberian province. Russia's third largest region, Tyumen Region occupies 1,4 million square km. That's more than Germany, Britain, France and Italy put together.
Opening the exhibition is the skeleton of a mammoth. "It was found in the late 19th century near Tyumen by Ivan Slovtsev", said the exposition's curator, founder of Tyumen's Local History museum, Stanislav Belov. "The fullest skeleton of a mammoth in Russia, it's more than 30 thousand years old. Another rarity is the skeleton of a huge ancient bear found two years ago. All of the exhibits on display were brought from the region's various local history museums and weigh a total of 700 tons. It took several dozen containers to transport them."
The earliest human settlements appeared in Tyumen region more than 17 thousand years ago. The first hall features archeological finds - primeval tools of the Bronze Age, ornaments, kitchenware, totems and ritual objects.
The exhibits of the second hall tell about the main tribes inhabiting the region - the hanty, mansi, nentsy and Siberian Tatars. Here one can see their national costumes, adorned with multi-color patchwork, winter clothes made of animal skins, hunting and fishing gear, household utensils, wicker baskets, birchbark jars, shaman's tambourines and rattles, and even musical instruments… In the center stands a birchbark chum (a nomad's summer tent). During a harsh Siberian winter chums made of deerskin were used.
In the late 16th century Russian troops led by ataman Yermak conquered Siberia. The "land of snows and frosts" became part or part of the Russian Empire. The third hall showcases Yermak's personal belongings and the first Orthodox icons Russian church missionaries brought to the remote land. A separate section is devoted to Decembrists - Russian noblemen exiled to Siberia after the December 1825 mutiny. Most of them stayed there for the rest of their lives. They set up schools, sowed the seeds of enlightenment, propagated education and culture. Chemist Dmitry Mendeleyev, cartographer Semyon Remezov, writer Pyotr Yershov, and many other outstanding Russians were born in Siberia.
The fourth hall features Tyumen Region's natural wealth: ore and coal deposits, precious and semi-precious stones, and much more… The exhibits include one of the first oil pumps, special anti-heat clothes for oil workers, a small-size copy of a floating radio station, and a drop of crude from the region's first borehole.
For a long time scientists argued about the existence of oil in Tyumen. The first oil prospecting expedition was launched in the 1930s. But it was not until September 1953 that an oil and gas jet spurted out to the height of 15 meters on the outskirts of Beryozovo village. That's how the first oil deposit was discovered. At present Tymen Region is Russia's chief supplier of oil and gas.

ETERNAL VALUES COME IN TO FASHION

A new original project entitled "Mobilization of Eternal Values" was presented in Moscow in late July.
Who shapes fashion? Couturiers, pop singers, or young marginals? Three solid institutions - St. Petersburg's Hermitage Museum, Infon mobile communications company and Rosbalt news agency - decided to approach the matter from a different angle, namely to attract the attention of young people to world cultural treasures using up-to-date communication technologies. The project stipulates a new form of interaction between Hermitage and cell phone users.
Almost all young people both in large and small cities have cell phones now. Often a received call is accompanied by some classic tune, say Mozart or Beethoven. Why not supplement it with a visual image of some well-known artwork from the world-famous Hermitage collection? You can choose a cover picture for you cell phone from a special catalog. The price of this service is one dollar. Of course, young cell phone users may be tempted to spend it on something else, hence the importance of creating new standards of socializing, or a new fashion, if you like. Much here depends on mass media, but not all. The organizers of the project examined such issues as whether the new forms of art presentation can improve the cultural background of young people. How will they receive the new fashion? Finally, are mass media fully aware of their responsibility foe shaping the cultural values of young generations?
Hermitage's director Mikhail Piotrovsky remarked: "The venture promises to be interesting and successful. Hermitage employees are selecting best paintings and artworks for cell phone users. A phone with a famed masterpiece as a cover picture will betray the good taste of its owner. What else is important is that we should try to surround our daily life with culture, create a certain atmosphere and help people understand beauty."
President of Russia's Art and Culture Club, member of the Russian Artists' Union Natalia Golitsina welcomed the project. "All new know-hows seem to have something adventurous about them at first. Yet, I am sure we will succeed. To my mind, the project is especially important for people living in the provinces where there are no rich art collections. Provincial cell phone users can choose a picture they like plus information about on special request. Perhaps after that they will to see the original."
Alexei Nagovitsin, professor of philosophy with Moscow State University, is sure that all his students would like to install such pictures on their cell phones. "I teach several subjects, including the history of world culture, sociology and ethno-psychology, and see how interested students are. Once we went to the Museum of Oriental Arts and they spent five hours there. They need certain information about literature and the arts, something that, in my opinion, every normal, well-bread person needs. As for the role of business in upgrading cultural values, I think I know why businessmen do that. Real businessmen want people to respect them. Addressing himself to cultural problems, a businessman enhances his solidity and stability. Besides, the funding of cultural projects partially exempts businessmen from tax payments. So it pays twice, which has long been understood across the world. It's time our businessmen too come to realize that helping culture is a good thing in all respects."

PAINTER BORIS ZABOROV

For four full months a personal exhibition of contemporary Russian painter Boris Zaborov was open to the public, first at St. Petersburg's Russian Museum and then at Moscow's Tretyakov Gallery.
"Despite living in France over the past 25 years, I remain a Russian artist," Zaborov said in an interview. "Here I was born, grew up, received education, fell in love… Those were the best years of my life. So naturally, I wanted to exhibit my works in Russia. Besides, it's a wonderful opportunity to meet my friends."
In Russia Zaborov made a name as a graphic and stage decorator. Paris marked a new stage in his artistic career. He began studying vintage photographs of the late 19th-early 20th centuries. Their greyish-brownish, almost monochrome gamut inspired him to create paintings in "old photo" style distinguished by rough-textured surfaces and dim contours as in watercolors. Their compositional structure too resembles a photograph. These are mostly solo or group portraits filled with mysterious poetry and having no definite time framework - in what year, century and even millennium they were created is of no importance.
"I emigrated in the age when one's habits, nature and affections don't change," Zaborov recalls. "I 43, a risky age for a painter to start from a blank sheet. But I liked it. I followed the principle defined by a Shakespearean character who said "Be faithful to yourself". At first I was dismayed because I couldn't find my niche, but then stuck upon something that was perfectly in tune with my soul. To me the past has always seemed more real than the present. So I turned my gaze to the past and kept working for years, and at some moment people began taking interest in my works."
Critics compare his works with mirrors that have grown dark. Yet, this comparison is only partially true. Mirrors like photographs reflect existing reality, while Zaborov's paintings are magic mirrors showing things long gone. Some say his art is nostalgic and idealizes the past. However, Zaborov's ghost-like portraits are devoid of documentary realism inherent in photos, rather they convey the drama of hopelessness and the transience of human life.
"My interest focuses on man, a sitter for my portraits and the most enigmatic object," Zaborov explains. "Unlike most contemporary artists who take little interest in man as a theme of their artworks, I strive to emphasize man's eternal enigma. One of my ambitions was to find a connection in our uncomfortable art world between what was masterfully done before us and what appeared in the 20th century. I assign myself a very modest role of a footbridge or relay baton, if you like. There are young painters who follow my way and may be even try to imitate me, and it feeds me and makes me more confident of myself."
In his new "Document" cycle of portraits Zaborov extensively uses collages. Double and triple paintings imitate archive manuscripts written in various languages, vintage postcards, and not just old photographs. "The Life of Maria Petrovna" drawing on Old Russian traditions resembles an icon: the central figure is fringed along the perimeter by small "windows" depicting scenes from that woman's life."
Of special interest are Zaborov's sculptures devoted to books which he says face extinction. His sculptural works feature half-ruined bronze folios, tattered albums, printing tools, and imitation icon settings.

KOLOMENSKOYE: MILESTONES OF HISTORY

In a picturesque place on the steep bank of the Moskva River offering a panoramic view of the Russian capital lies the Kolomenskoye museum and nature preserve. Starting from the 15th century, Kolomenskoye, a former village near Moscow, was a residence of Russian czars. The "Kolomenskoye: Milestones of History" exhibition under way in the newly-restored Prikazniye and Polkovnichii Chambers connected by an arched gateway gives an insight into what the village looked like five centuries ago.
Kolomenskoye boasts several ancient churches, the most significant of them being the Church of Resurrection dating back to the 16th century. The first tent-roof church to appear in Russia, it has been included into UNESCO's world heritage list.
The peak of Kolomenskoye's glory fell on the 17th century during the rule of Czar Alexei Mikhailovich (1645-1676), the father of Peter I. It was at that time that the unique architectural ensemble comprising a magnificent wooden palace, churches, lots of other edifices, and gardens came into being.
After restoration the Chambers housing the exposition regained their smart historical facade. The building is finished in its authentic color - turquoise green. Bright colors were quite typical of the 17th-century Kolomenskoye.
One of the key exhibits on display is a small-size replica of the famous wooden palace built in the second half of the 17th century. A unique example of Russian wooden architecture, it was dubbed the eighth wonder of the world for its unparalleled beauty. The palace consisted of separate chambers connected by galleries. The roofs of the chambers featured a variety of forms - tent-roofs, barrel and onion-shaped roofs, and even cuboid roofs. The asymmetrical composition made the palace look like a toy-like fairytale town.
Unfortunately, in the 18th century the decaying Kolomenskoye palace was dismantled: restoration was too expensive. But before tearing it down, all its edifices were carefully measured and exact blueprints were made.
The exhibition boasts icons, books, and utensils from Czar Alexei's palace. One of the rooms in the Prikazniye Chambers restores the interior of the palace's office.
"Everything here is the way it was under Czar Alexei Mikhailovich," says chief museum-keeper Olga Polyakova. "The walls draped in red fabric are lined up with benches. In the center stands a large table with books, documents, ink-pots and a candle-stick on it. There are Orthodox icons in the corner, wooden boxes of all sizes in which documents were kept, the windows have mica instead of glass. Only very rich people could afford mica windows.
The engraving and photographs on display in the Polkovnichii Chambers depicted changes that took place in Kolomenskoye in the 18th and 19th centuries. Here you can also admire fine decorative items cut of white stone.
Kolomenskoye is one of the most favourite places of Muscovites. In summer its white architectural monuments are enveloped in greenery, and in winter they make perfect harmony with the white of the snow.

THE KNIGHT OF RUSSIAN JAZZ (tribute to jazzman Alexander Varlamov)

This year marks the birth centennial of the legendary Russian jazzman, the veritable "knight of Russian jazz" Alexander Varlamov. His name ranks along with the names of jazz patriarchs Leonid Utesov, Alexander Tsfasman and Victor Knushevitsky. Jazz gained foothold to Russia in the 1930s and took two main avenues: there was Utesov's "TeaJazz" and instrumental jazz propagated by Varlamov and Tsfasman. The public adored Varlamov's refined jazz miniatures that won him the undying admiration of jazz lovers.
Alexander Varlamov was born on July 19, 1904, in Simbirsk on the river Volga. His great-grandfather was a well-known composer, the author of popular romance songs, a contemporary of Mikhail Glinka. His grandfather was an actor with the imperial Alexandrinsky Theatre, and his mother was an opera thinger.
In the late 1920s an American jazz band came to Moscow on tour. Enthralled by the powerful energy and improvisational freedom of jazz, Varlamov left the actor's department at the Institute of Theatrical Art where he was studying and entered a professional music school. Professors Mikhail Gnesin and Reynold Glier, Varlamov's first teachers, backed his tests of strength in jazz stylistics.
In 1934 Varlamov received a conductor's diploma and set up an orchestra dubbed the "Hot Seven", with which he recorded most of his pre-war songs and compositions. Although not being a professional singer, he often sang during concerts if there was no other singer. His "sweet tenor" soon became very popular. In the late 30s Varlamov was invited to conduct the National Radio Orchestra and later - the State Jazz Orchestra.
Russia's leading jazz historian Alexei Batashev wrote in the post-perestroyka 1990s: "Ask any veteran Russian jazz celebrity and he will say that his infatuation with jazz began with Varlamov."
However, his life wasn't a bed of roses. Varlamov knew not from hearsay what Stalinist reprisals meant. In 1943 he was arrested on a false denunciation report. "We know about your intention to emigrate from Russia about a British cruiser," they told him during the interrogation. Varlamov didn't like to talk about those nightmarish 13 years: humiliations, beatings, imitation execution by shooting and finally exile… It wasn't until 1956 that he was able to return home.
Varlamov regretted that those 13 years had been virtually lost for him. "They undermined my health," the 85-year-old, half-blind jazzman recalled in an interview shortly before his death. "But I keep struggling for beauty and try to express it in the language of music."
For decades jazz was virtually banned in the former Soviet Union. Back to normal life after his 13-year ordeal, Varlamov wrote music to more than 70 films but most regrettably, there was no jazz orchestra for him to direct. Even so, his legendary name will always remain a guiding star and the voice of freedom and happiness in the hearts of grateful jazz lovers.
08/23/2004