VDNKh by night

VDNKh, the Exhibition for the Achievements of the National Economy, opened in 1935 to be a sort of permanent Soviet state fair, where the state could show off the latest and greatest in agriculture, technology, physical culture and other spheres of Soviet achievement. In addition to pavilions for each major industry (including my favorites - meat and space), there are pavilions for each national republic and many autonomous regions, each intended to reflect the national architectural traditions of republics even when they did not have national architectural traditions to speak of, such as Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Nowadays the complex is sprawling, and most Russians spend their time in the front, rollerblading on the miles of pavement, showing off their motorcycles at the main gates, or playing amusement park games for plush toy prizes. I recently got past the first series of fountains and pavilions to discover a strange land of architectural ruin with an incongruous medley of design features, all surrounding a lagoon with a strange tower in the middle.

High modernist principles meet neo-classicism, all topped off with "ethnic" flourishes. Now the plaster crumbles and the insides are filled with boxed appliances waiting to be taken to showrooms, guarded by security men playing video games. In ten years' time I predict it will be filled with posh clubs as Moscow finally develops a taste for Soviet nostalgia...and is willing to hike in the two miles or so from the metro.

Volgograd - Stalingrad

Hi Folks,

Last post from Volgograd focuses entirely on the Battle of Stalingrad museum and panorama. Not only is it another very powerful and moving testament to the war-time experience of the Soviet Union in battle, it's also another example of stunning - or at least interesting - late-Soviet design. The museum could stand to be reorganized before 2018 World Cup. It has the sort of layout, hodgepodge of facts, figures, and maps that left this Russian-speaking Soviet historian scratching his head, saying, "so, what happened at Stalingrad again?" The battle is a perfect and dramatic narrative, and the museum should take the visitor through the narrative in a chronological march, in my opinion. Also striking for me were the arrangements of artifacts against red curtains and back lit in a way that lent them a semi-religious significance.

The museum is located on the ground floor and the top floor is an airy cylinder topped with a panorama. The panorama is a nice, military panorama that is quite fitting since it depicts the view from the top of the Mamaev-Kurgan hill, naturally with a 360 degree view. In addition to the pinched cylindrical shape, the lobbies, bathrooms, and cafe of the museum were all done in a spacious, late-Soviet modernist style, creating some intriguing spaces, and clearly with an unlimited budget for marble. As I did for the memorial hill complex, let me now take a moment to salute the architect, Vadim Efimovich Masliaev, who completed the museum in 1982. (If you aren't familiar with the book "CCCP: Cosmic Communist Constructions Photographed," check out the link: http://www.rferl.org/soundslide/1118.html ). I'm not sure if this museum makes it into the final book, but it probably deserves to.

Apparently the city planners of Stalingrad/Volgograd were faced with the decision of what to do with the ruins of the city when faced with the task of post-war rebuilding. Some wanted to leave the whole city center in ruined testament to the catastrophe, others wanted to retain only a ruined district. In the end, the choice was made to preserve only a few key buildings and to move forward proudly, confidently, and pragmatically like good Soviets. The ruined brick building below is one of the few structures preserved in place. It's a mill whose significance I fail to remember. The contrast between the cylinder of the panorama and its ruined brick is striking.

And with that, we bid adieu to Volgograd, until next time.



- museum at left; mill at right.

- bathroom lobby
- museum cafe
- former smoking area, next to the bathrooms.
- the panorama


- poster reading: "battle menu for the enemy, every day....starts with Russian hospitality and hors d'oeuvres.....then a little soup: navy-style borscht and okroshka.....for the second course: Cossack chops and Caucasians kebabs....and for dessert: fool" ("kisel'" in Russian is apparently "fool," but perhaps my Russian friends can explain this last bit).

- the battle was serious business, but that doesn't mean you can't poke fun at the enemies.
- with Soviet generals - iconastisis-like - in the background.
- Stalingrad was Hitler's....Stalingrad.

Volgograd - I'm on a boat

Hi Folks,

One thing you'll notice about Russia, if you haven't already, is the amazing propensity for women to pose for photos in suggestive, sultry, playful, or downright creepy manners. One thing you'll notice about Volgograd is that it's on a river, the Volga, one of the world's longest. (fun fact: it's the longest city in Russia) When you combine the two, and add a pleasure boat, you get amazing results.

Note, this post is best viewed with The Lonely Island's hit parody of Jay-Z, "I'm on a boat," in the background. Find it at: http://www.thelonelyisland.com/video/im-on-a-boat

So, meet you on the river during World Cup 2018, and we can be on a boat, together.


- city's main factory
- I'm not trying to make any larger statements about Russia with this photo, it just feels that way.
- father and son ponder (what I assume is) a WWII memorial.


- for best results: have mom take the photo and dad give creative directions

- we shared the boat with some excited institute grads



- Stalingrad battle museum with ruined mill

- the riverfront, quite a nice place for a stroll

Volgograd - the oblast'

- Bright colors and benches: you know you're in rural Russia.
- fabulous hay-containing shtuchka
- gaishnik and future gaishnik
- Lenin surveys Pokrushenko from the Dom Kultury
- kopyor
- kopyor
- beer? check. fish? check. other stuff? check.


Not only was fun time had by all within the Gorod-Geroi of Volgograd, but we also ventured deep into the greater region - oblast' - for a taste of rural Russian quietude. We traveled to the tiny little hamlet of Pokrushenko, where my friend Aliya spent summers as a girl. Perhaps "hamlet" is not the correct word. More like "former cossack stanitsa, haven for free-wheeling, law-shirking horsemen." However now it is indeed quiet, calm, and growing more and more forgotten as the population shrinks and shrinks. The slow decline of rural towns is a world wide phenomenon.

We camped a few nights with Aliya's friend, her husband, and their friends. Both guys work as traffic cops, i.e. "gaishniki" in Russian. I learned several things about traffic cops on this weekend, such as: "gaishnik day" is July 3, just before our national holiday, and is celebrated assiduously by those in the trade; gaishniki enjoy doing things that would be grounds for arrest on other days, like drinking beer behind the wheel, in a car of six people drinking beer, where max capacity is probably only three to begin with; that "den' gaishnika" is best spent spread out during three days of copious celebration; and that if a gaishnik's campfire is deemed illegal by the local forest patrol, he may offer to one day look the other way during a traffic stop. Such are the agreements and understandings that help weave together close-knit communities.

Other interesting factoids: in this part of southern Russia people "hekhat." That is, instead of pronouncing their G's they make them H's, just like in parts of Ukraine. So for instance, although we celebrated den' gaishnika with real gaishniki. In fact, we also celebrated den' haishnika with real haishniki. There are other assorted cossack vocabulary: khutor for small town, and kopyor for little stream. So one might say we spent the weekend at the kopyor near teh khutor of Pokruchenko. And one would be exactly right.