Oleg Kotov and Sergei Ryazansky took the unlit version of the silver-and-red torch through the hatch of the International Space Station. While gripping the torch in the gloved fist of his spacesuit, Kotov crawled out of the hatch and waved it triumphantly 261 miles (420 km) above the planet Earth. Continue reading »
Tagged with Russia …
PRO VS. CON #DUMPSTOLI | How does the boycott of a Latvian vodka change Putin’s anti-gay laws and save lives of Russian LGBT youth?
The #dumpstoli campaign has been a global public-relations success. But have the protests for public awareness of repressive anti-gay laws in Russia been misdirected and unfairly targeted a long-time ally of the LGBT community? Will the Dump Vodka protests actually change the minds of the Russian parliament? Here is my on-the-ground investigation of yesterday’s protest in front of the Russian Consulate in New York. Continue reading »
NAKED DIPLOMACY | 450 naked runners race as part of Free Pussy Riot campaign
The prompt to begin the naked run in the Netherlands was given 14:30 via Skype from Russia by a Pussy Riot member. Runners wearing nothing but helmets and sneakers in the Netherlands show support for Russian punk band Pussy Riot. Continue reading »
DEADLINES | Cambridge university calls for papers on “Cultural Exchange: Russia and the West” by Aug. 30, 2013
Proposals for papers are being requested for a symposium. The focus will be on the visual arts in Russia during the 19th and 20th centuries, both periods of revolutionary and ideological change. Continue reading »
RADIO INTERVIEW | Speaking about politics and world culture on SiriusXM’s “Pia Lindström Presents”
In October 2012, I was invited to be a guest on “Pia Lindström Presents” She asked me to speak about politics, the arts and world theater. She also asked me personal questions. Continue reading »
FILM-FLAM DIPLOMACY | Will you accept a post of culture minister in Siberia if you were Gérard Depardieu?
The Siberian region is notorious for its Stalin-era gulag prison camps. It is also the same area where one of the members of the punk band Pussy Riot is presently serving a two-year sentence for reciting an anti-Putin prayer in a Russian orthodox church in February 2012. Continue reading »
IRAN REPORT | Tehran gears up for annual Fajr International Theater Festival
In a press conference at the headquarters of the 31st Fajr International Theatre Festival, the judge of the playwriting competition Borhani-marand stated that he hopes that Iranian plays, which are mostly unknown, will be given an opportunity for publication: “The works of the play-writing competition were about today’s social issues in the most modern form. I hope that all of them will be published. The release of such kind of works can enrich our stage. I hope that the officials will play more attention to today’s playwrights.” Continue reading »
ON PHOTOGRAPHY | Russia’s and Ukraine’s juvenile prisoners glimpsed in Michal Chelbin’s photography
The logistics alone is a story worth telling. The photographer and her husband used their connections, a network that had built for more the 10 years of working in the region, to gain incredibly rare access to these facilities. Continue reading »
FESTIVAL WATCH | Iranian version of “Macbeth” wins top prize in Moscow
The musical comedy blends the Zar ritual of Iran’s southern Bushehr Province with Shakespeare’s famous tragedy. Continue reading »
Putin’s Pussy problem | As world awaits Russian court’s verdict, “Free Pussy Riot” protest actions become global
Activists in more than 40 cities around the world (Dublin, Odessa, Melbourne, Barcelona, Tel Aviv, San Francisco, Vienna, London, Paris, Moscow and so forth) have joined forces on this very same day to organize political and performance actions that demand the freedom of Pussy Riot. A complete list of events around the world during “Free Pussy Riot Global Day” appears here. Continue reading »
Putin’s Pussy problem | Feminist punk group Pussy Riot calls Vladimir Putin’s Russia “repressive” and “totalitarian”
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, one of the three women, said, “If this political system throws itself against three girls … it shows this political system is afraid of truth.” She called the charges against them a “political order for repression” and denounced Putin’s “totalitarian-authoritarian system.” Continue reading »
Putin’s Pussy problem | Amnesty International demands that Russia release anti-Putin punk singers detained after church performance
Three young women are being detained by Russian authorities for allegedly performing a protest song in a cathedral as part of a feminist punk group Pussy Riot. If found guilty, they could be jailed for up to 7 years just for exercising their free speech. The three women are currently in pre-trial detention, which has been extended to January 2013. Continue reading »
Press release | Policing practices put sex workers and HIV services at risk in Kenya, Namibia, Russia, South Africa, USA and Zimbabwe, says Open Society Foundations
The report, “Criminalizing Condoms,” surveyed sex workers in Kenya, Namibia, Russia, South Africa, the United States, and Zimbabwe and found that police practices made it more likely that sex workers would have unprotected sex with their clients. Condom possession is used by some prosecutors as evidence of criminal activity Continue reading »
Russian law seeks to label foreign-funded nonprofits “foreign agents”
Civil and human rights activists note that Russian donors are afraid to support nonprofit organizations that criticize the government, which leaves those nonprofits dependent on foreign funding. Continue reading »
GPS | Belarus: Vladimir Lenin Monument on Independence Square in Minsk
GPS| EUROPE: Minsk was totally destroyed during World War II and rebuilt in classical social realist style by the Soviets after the war. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, this statue of Vladimir Lenin still stands proudly in front of the House of Government in central Minsk. This statue is both a metaphor … Continue reading »