Monthly Archives: October 2017

Glimpses of Russia’s Revolutionary Past


Walking around Moscow, one can occasionally spot the old Soviet past peeping out from behind the landscape.  Take, for example, the Marx memorial which has now become a tourist destination. At the State Central Museum of Contemporary History of Russia, visitors take in old anti-capitalist posters from the revolutionary period.

Russian Revolution at 100: Welcome to Historic Pavilions


Outside Moscow’s city center, visitors are greeted to the curious site of the Soviet-era All Russian Exhibition Center.  The site itself is vast, sporting multiple pavilions touting supposed ethnic harmony in the Soviet Union. Other oddities at the Exhibition Center include old Soviet facades touting the authorities’ prowess in animal […]

Russian Revolution at 100: Gorky House


In Moscow, patrons may visit the original art nouveau house of writer Maxim Gorky which has been refashioned into a museum.  As Russia marks the 100th commemoration of the revolution, Gorky is worth reconsidering.  A keen social observer, Gorky himself worked at many menial and proletarian jobs during his youth.  […]

Russian Revolution at 100: What Constitutes “Revolutionary Art”?


At the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg, patrons are greeted with the site of Soviet-era art. What constitutes “revolutionary art” one hundred years after the Russian Revolution?  At Pushkinskaya-10, a local art museum in St. Petersburg, patrons may take in a degree of somewhat subversive art. On the outskirts of […]

A Tour of Russian Hipsters


Judging from appearances, Russian hipsters don’t differ substantially from their U.S. counterparts in terms of underlying tastes.  In St. Petersburg, youth congregate at Etaji, a series of shops with trendy foods such as “black ice cream.” Etaji started as a squatted building.  Today, shops are located in improvised compartments. At […]

Russian Revolution at 100: Glimpsing the Soviet Era


In St. Petersburg, the visitor can still get a glimpse of what life was like for the old Soviet elite.  Take, for example, Lenin’s old desk at the Museum of Political History. Nearby is the Kirov museum, the original art nouveau home of Sergei Kirov, a prominent Bolshevik leader. Nearby, […]

Russian Revolution at 100: St. Petersburg Statues


Though some might choose to forget the former Soviet Union, some of the old architecture still peeks out in St. Petersburg.  Take, for example, the old Finlyandskiy railway station.   Walking outside the city center, the visitor comes upon the old Soviet Monument to the Heroic Defenders of Leningrad.

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