When it comes to doing culture we, the British, do it best. Hands down. We are the land of Shakespeare, Byron and Keats, to name but a few. The world over the stereotype of being British is to be polite, well-mannered and, above all else, cultured. End of discussion. Or is it? Is our culture really the best?
In my many years of studying Russian I have asked many people what they think of when they think of Russia. Most say vodka, Putin, bears and snow. Some say communism and at a push some say, Tolstoy or Dostoevsky. Rarely do the people I ask mention culture.
To me this is odd as Russia has a cultural heritage as rich as ours. The literature includes poets such as Pushkin, Mayakovsky and Akhmatova, and authors such as Bulgakov and Gogol. The Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow holds works by great such as Kandinsky and Sushkin. Lest we forget Russian cinema! To quote Trotsky ‘The cinema amuses, educates, strikes the imagination by images’ and was held in great importance by the Soviet Union. The Mosfilm studios may not be as well-known as their Hollywood counterpart but they have created some cinematic masterpieces – Moscow does not believe in tears, Strike, and Little Vera, to name but a few.
In this the Year of Russian-English Culture maybe it’s time to put aside the stereotypes and have a closer look. The Tretyakov Gallery has loaned some its works to the National Portrait Gallery for a special exhibition, Russia Beyond the Headlines has compiled some Russian walks around London, and the Russian Film Festival is set to take place later this year. Time to become a proper culture vulture and have a look at something new.
By Laura Rose Saunders
Image Credits: ketsu | Shutterstock
