SRF Events
Forthcoming SRF events listed here. All welcome. Times, venues and other details vary - please check carefully.
Summary of past events 2003-9: see Annual Reports. Since 2009: 2009-10
Friday 3 February: Byzantium: Splendour perfected.
A short talk on the history of Byzantium, the role of women in society and the role of the court by Vesna Petkovic.
Vesna Petkovic, director of ProArt, is the curator of the exhibition “Byzantium. Gateway between East and West” (Scotland-Russia Institute 4 Feb-17 March: see Exhibitions). At the opening of the exhibition she will give a short talk, with a focus on the restricted lives of women in Byzantium. They spent the greater part of their life in their homes, did not sit at table with men, unless they were close relatives, and their education was limited, although almost all were literate.
6-8pm: Exhibition preview and talk at the Scotland-Russia Institute, 9 South College St, Edinburgh EH8 9AA. Open to all, no charge but booking essential due to restricted space. Light refreshments.
Associated exhibition 4 February -17 March at the Scotland-Russia Institute "Byzantium. Gateway between East and West". See Exhibitions. These events are supported by MESP (the Edinburgh International Festival of Middle Eastern Spirituality and Peace)
Wednesday 8 February: Cinema Club. Two Films by Mariya Saakyan / Мария Саакян
Farewell / Прощание (2003, 25min) and The Lighthouse / Маяк (2006, 75min)In Russian and Armenian with English subtitles
The two films so far by Armenia's first female director, Mariya Saakyan, have been warmly received as the announcement of a major new cinematic talent. The Lighthouse, her debut feature film made when she was 26, and scripted by Georgian screenwriter Givi Shavgulidze, is a poetic exploration of a young girl's visit to her family and attempts to convince them to return with her to Russia from their Armenian home. It will be accompanied at our screening by her earlier short film Farewell, an almost entirely silent exploration of similar themes which earlier showed Saakyan’s already assured approach to filmmaking. Programme begins at 8:00pm (with an introduction and a discussion to follow)
£1 donation requested (includes snacks!). Scotland-Russia Institute, 9 South College Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9AA
Contact Marc David kino@scotlandrussiaforum.org or phone the Institute on 0131 668 3635
Wednesday 22 February: Cinema Club.Three Films by Evgenii Bauer / Евгений Бауэр
Twilight Of A Woman's Soul / Сумерки женской души (1913, 48min)After Death / После смерти (1915, 46min)
The Dying Swan / Умирающий лебедь (1916, 49min)
Silent films with Russian and English intertitlesArguably the first great Russian filmmaker and greatly influenced by classic Russian literature - After Death is an adaptation of Turgenev's 'Klara Milich' - Evgenii Bauer (1865-1917) directed some eighty films (only twenty of which survive) in the last five years of his life. We will be showing three of the greatest of his novella-length films, all centred on his favourite intertwining themes of love and death, and each highlighting the great skill and sensibility which he brought to the developing cinema of his day.
Programme begins at 8:00pm (with an introduction and a discussion to follow)
£1 donation requested (includes snacks!). Scotland-Russia Institute, 9 South College Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9AA
Contact Marc David kino@scotlandrussiaforum.org or phone the Institute on 0131 668 3635
Thursday 23 February: Чай н Чат
11am, Scotland-Russia Institute, 9 South College St, Edinburgh EH8 9AATel. 0131 668 3635
All welcome to join us for sparkling conversation in Russian and English and delicious cakes. No charge but contributions of cakes and help with washing up appreciated
Friday 24 February: Icons in the Early Christian and Byzantine world.
A talk by Maria Andipa, owner of the “Maria Andipa & Son Icon Gallery” in London which houses a collection of Byzantine art. She will discuss the history and spiritual role of icons within the Orthodox tradition. This talk accompanies our exhibition "Byzantium. Gateway between East and West". See Exhibitions.
6.30pm, The Scotland-Russia Institute, 9 South College St, Edinburgh EH8 9AA. NB venue may change – contact us to check. Tel. 0131 668 3635. Email info@scotlandrussiaforum.org.Booking essential due to restricted space. Donations requested - £2 (SRF members), £5 (non-members), payable at the door. Light refreshments
Associated exhibition 4 February -17 March at the Scotland-Russia Institute "Byzantium. Gateway between East and West". See Exhibitions. These events are supported by MESP (the Edinburgh International Festival of Middle Eastern Spirituality and Peace)
Wednesday 14 March: Richard Rose "Where Are We Now? A Post Election Look at Russia."
A talk in the wake of the Russian Duma and Presidential elections by Prof Richard Rose, co-author of : the Changing Views of Russians (Cambridge University Press, 2011). Professor Rose is director of the CSPP (Centre for the Study of Public Policy) which has recently moved back to Popular Support for an Undemocratic RegimeStrathclyde University from Aberdeen. Since the launch of the Russian Federation in January1992, the CSPP has been conducting Barometer surveys monitoring mass response to transformation across Central and East Europe and the former Soviet Union. Their “Russia Votes” website, www.russiavotes.org, presents up to date monthly results for monthly Russian surveys; trend analyses from August 1999, a month before Vladimir Putin became prime minister; and information about the Russian elections.
Copies of Popular Support for an Undemocratic Regime (paperback £18.99) will be available for sale and signing after the talk, courtesy of Blackwells.
Provisional dates: either 7 or 14 March.
Date 7 OR 14 March - to be confirmed. Watch this space or contact us (0131 668 3635, info@scotlandrussiaforum.org)
Lecture Theatre 270, Old College, University of Edinburgh
The lecture will start at 6pm.
Donations requested - £2 (SRF members), £5 (non-members), payable at the door. No charge for Edinburgh University staff or students
A joint event with Edinburgh University Politics Dept, the Dashkova Centre and Edinburgh University Politics Society.
Thursday 19 April: Chekhov the Humorist. A talk by Harvey Pitcher
Chekhov's reputation in the West as 'that gloomy Russian playwright' has meant that the comic stories he wrote in his twenties have been consistently overlooked. Harvey Pitcher has long been campaigning for their wider appreciation. In his talk he will outline the different kinds of humour that Chekhov deployed - comedy of situation, comedy of subversion, comedy of surprise, and surreal comedy - illustrating each genre with readings of favourite passages from his own translations. He describes his latest book, Responding to Chekhov: The Journey of a Lifetime (Swallow House Books, 2010) as "a kind of debriefing after a long and varied journey".
After a short but distinguished academic career (incl. the foundation of the Russian Dept. at St Andrews University) Harvey Pitcher retired early for a second career as a prolific writer. He is the author of several works on Chekhov, histories of Russia, and novels. He is also well known for Muir & Mirrielees, a history of the Scottish founders of the department store now known as TsUM, and for the recently republished When Miss Emmie was in Russia: English Governesses before, during and after the October Revolution. Copies of Responding to Chekhov and When Miss Emmie was in Russia will be on sale after the talk.
[photo: Chekhov in 1882, www.my-chekhov.ru]
6.30pm, Scotland-Russia Institute, 9 South College St, Edinburgh EH8 9AA. Donations requested - £2 (SRF members), £5 (non-members), payable at the door. Booking essential.