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The Netherlands holds a unique place in the Russian imagination. This is how our country, and we, are viewed through Russian eyes.
An interview becomes legendary when it gets its own page on
Wikipedia. On February 6, 2024, Tucker Carlson spoke with Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin. The report (127 minutes) offers a good, or at least broad, opportunity to hear the Russian perspective on the war against Ukraine.
GOPNIK AND THE SLAV SQUAT
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What we would call ’tokkies’ or ‘gabbers’, and what elsewhere might be referred to as white trash or hooligans – in Russia, these are called gopniki. Folk culture in a tracksuit.
Photo: Igor Mukhin
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Since the age of sixteen, Игорь Мухин (1961) has been taking photographs. Armed with a
Смена-8М camera, he started his journey. So, when he found himself among artists and musicians in the 1980s, he already had a trained eye – and a better camera. Mukhin (sometimes Moukhin) witnessed major changes and began documenting them.
Samizdat (Down with Big Tech)
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Freedom of speech is decreasing everywhere, though the reasons vary by region. Meanwhile, Big Tech’s power is growing, along with its interference. In this new era, a nearly forgotten Soviet answer is reemerging: samizdat, the underground DIY press and distribution network.
Every country has a flag and a coat of arms. The Netherlands has a lion, France has a rooster, New Zealand has a kiwi, and the United States has a bald eagle. In Russia, it’s an eagle with two heads and three crowns, and a man on a horse who has just killed a dragon with a spear.
When you see the current Russian flag, it’s easy to also think of the Dutch one. This puts you immediately on the right track about the origin of the Russian tricolor: the white-blue-red of the Russian Federation directly stems from the red-white-blue of the Netherlands.
Russia has strict laws when it comes to drug possession and trafficking. Severe penalties too. So the dealer doesn’t deliver to your house, but a кладмен (kladman) hides the order, which the customer then has to find.
Joeri Gagarin (1934-1968)
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A Russian Hall of Fame can only begin one way: by launching it with none other than Yuri Gagarin. On April 12, 1961, at the age of 27, this humble young man stepped into the
Vostok 1, was shot into space, and returned two hours later as a global icon.
Nobody in the West drives a Russian car or uses a Russian computer. You’d have to be crazy: even Russians prefer BMWs and Apple. But if you’re smart, your smartphone is powered by Russian technology. That is, if you’re using Telegram.
Photography: Sergei Lobovikov
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Orphaned early, Sergei Lobovikov (=
Сергей Лобовиков, 1870-1941) was sent at the age of 14 from a village to the provincial town of Vyatka (now
Kirov), where he would later become an honorary citizen. He was meant to be trained as a shopkeeper and photographer. The rest is history that you should mostly see (he never became a shopkeeper).
Buildings you know from sight but don’t know the official name of. If this were a competition, this one would win: the Pokrov or
St. Basil’s Cathedral on Red Square in Moscow, consecrated in 1561, better known as the
Cathedral of the Intercession of the Mother of God on the Moat.
Of all the Russian holidays and traditional days, and there are many, New Year or
Novy God is perhaps the most important. Also, a holiday of at least two days: it starts on 12/31, with
Christmas, the Fourth of July, and Thanksgiving, All Rolled Into One (The New York Times, 2018).
Three friends. Four trips to Russia. Moscow in spring,
Kamchatka in the fall, and in winter to the
Baikal Lake,
Murmansk,
Salekhard, and Saint Petersburg. You have to see what those three came back with. ‘Whatever man wishes to see in our Mother Russia, is there to find.’
Many Russians live in other countries. The numbers are significant here too: estimates range between
20 and 30 million. Meanwhile, the number of people wanting to leave Russia, especially young people, is increasing. This undoubtedly says something about the climate in the broadest sense of the word.
The largest country in the world (
Size Matters) holds a very different position when it comes to population size. The number 1 in surface area is only
number 9 in population and is on the verge of falling out of the top 10. Russia’s population is shrinking.
Russian Matryoshka Yes
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You need to know at least two things about one of the classic symbols of Russia. First, the
matryoshka (матрёшка) has only been made in Russia since the late nineteenth century (around 1890). There’s something Japanese in it too (some claim Chinese), and it was originally a children’s toy. Second, and take note, a matryoshka is a matryoshka.
Photo: Alexey Titarenko
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After the Soviet Union
collapsed (1991), Alexey Titarenko (1962) took what may be his best photographs in his hometown of St. Petersburg. At least, many of his most famous works, found in series like City of Shadows (Город теней). There was much to document, but Titarenko did more than that.
Russia and LGBT etc.
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Russia doesn’t have the best reputation when it comes to LGBT rights and acceptance. However, it’s not impossible or illegal to live your life with any orientation there. What is banned (since 2013) is propaganda of non-traditional sexual relationships (
Wikipedia).
Russian Ruble (₽)
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In Russia, you pay with rubles. And kopeks. Which you’ve probably never seen if you’ve never been to Russia. But now we have the internet, and soon planes will be flying again. Here’s an overview of the money you’ll need then. And where the words for the currency come from.
‘Encounters with Russians from six different generations help us get to know a Russia beyond Moscow and the Kremlin. Away from the 75th Victory Day parade and displays of military might, we meet the people of Russia. They tell us of a nation poised between tradition and the future.’
A tattooed hand or neck, no one is shocked or surprised anymore. Tattoos have become normal. Maybe even boring. It’s a bit different with the face tattoo. Very in your face. Or maybe not (anymore)? About the circles (Russian, of course) where the face tattoo has become normal and about the people who live with it every day.
Photo: Gosha Bergal
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Photographer, model, and author, with a past that didn’t immediately suggest such a career. A portrait of Gosha Bergal (Гоша Бергал) on
Zen Yandex, and more recently in
Paws for thought: a heartwarming photo diary about a rescue dog and his owner (The Calvert Journal, 2020). About how a knee injury and a dog led to new paths.
Short documentary film (11 m) from 2013 about love love love, or Любовь x 3. Love. Love. Love. is about love in all stages of life, from a female perspective. ‘A Sundance-winning short on the many shapes of Russian affection’ (more on
IMDb), made with love.
In
Chess in Russia Is Like Baseball in America (Big Think, 2011, 2 m),
Anatoli Karpov (1951) describes the status and position of chess in Russia. “Chess became a national game,” he says. “Like you have here in America, you have baseball. And so, Russia has chess.”
September 1st: Knowledge Day
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A Russian may not see it as a holiday, but September 1st is certainly a special date. On this День Знаний (Day of Knowledge, since 1984), knowledge is honored and celebrated—but of course, knowledge is not gained easily. So, September 1st is also the day when Russian children return to school (or go for the first time). Accompanied by festivities, but once the первый звонок (first bell) rings, freedom and vacation are truly over.
Russian Superstitions
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Don’t whistle in the house. Sit down before embarking on a journey. Look in the mirror when you have to return home because you’ve forgotten something. Just a few random rules to bring good fortune or ward off misfortune. Russia has a whole arsenal of such beliefs.
As many non-Russians as there are in the world, there are just as many stereotypes about the Russians. They drink vodka like water and survive on pickles and beetroot soup. All women over fifty look like farmers or grandmothers, and men over fifty don’t exist. Oh yes. Russians love
Adidas, Russians
don’t smile, and Russia is
impossible to understand, and so on. More stereotypes here, and there’s much more to come.
It may not seem like an exciting topic, but three productions released recently (between April and July 2020) offer an insightful look at Russian villages that you should watch. Varlamov, RussianPlus, and Russian from Russia explore the заброшенные (abandoned), revived, and уснувшими (sleeping) villages, reflecting on the state of the Russian countryside.
Boris Ryzhy (1974-2001)
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A poet whose death is often discussed more than his life or work. Just shy of joining the
Club of 27, but only by a little. In September 2001,
Boris Ryzhy would have turned 27, but in March, he took his own life. From his Завещание (Testament): Договоримся так: когда умру, ты крест поставишь над моей могилой: let’s agree on this: when I die, you will place a cross over my grave.
Dmitry Markov (with an iPhone)
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Described as (and see especially)
The photographer using an iPhone to document life on the margins of Russian society (rferl, 2020) and
Photographer Documents the Gritty Streets of Russia With an iPhone (My Modern Met, 2018). Photos can also be seen in a collage (4 m) below, with something similar but longer (13 m) in
Dmitry Markov – Дмитрий Марков #Черновик (Arthur Erhan, 2018).
Переверни Пластинку = flip the record. In English, Flipside. Documentary (2016) about vinyl in Russia. And about records when vinyl was either unavailable or banned: pressed onto X-rays. See
How X-rays were used to smuggle banned music into the Soviet Union (Vice/Noisey, 2017) and
When Rock Was Banned in the Soviet Union, Teens Took to Bootlegged Recordings on X-Rays (Smithsonian Magazine, 2015).
Yury Dud’s Kolyma
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Колыма – родина нашего страха = Kolyma – birthplace of our fear. Documentary (made for YouTube) about Russia’s darker (or missing) pages. It did not go unnoticed, nor unchallenged. See, for example,
Gulag Documentary Takes Russian YouTube by Storm (The Moscow Times, April 30, 2019).
Russian National Anthem
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Admittedly,
God Save the Queen is not bad. And our own Wilhelmus could have become something, if at least that German blood and Spanish king had been left out. But the national anthem with the most grandeur is, of course, the Russian one. And to quote the closing words (так было, так есть и так будет всегда): so it was, so it is, and so it will always be.
Crime and Punishment
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A Russian book that everyone should read at least once is Преступление и наказание (Crime and Punishment) by Fyodor Dostoevsky. As
Jordan Peterson also says (
here and
here), along with many others, though perhaps less eloquently.
Cold, Colder, Coldest: Oymyakon
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Siberia probably ranks high on the list of places where people would rather not live. Because yes, it’s cold there. Not everywhere (Siberia is quite
large), but in some parts, it’s extremely cold.
Oymyakon (in
Yakutia) is famous for this. The thermometer has dropped to minus 71 degrees Celsius, making it the world record holder for the coldest inhabited place.
Davie504 in Moscow
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Jokes about Russians and Russia
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A Russian speaking English sounds like a criminal (starting at 1:00). And Russian, according to
Trevor Noah, ‘sounds like someone’s playing a vinyl backwards’ (imitation starts at 4:06). Plus more humor about Russians, Russia, and the Russian language, by comedians like Louis C.K. Followed by jokes from the Russians themselves, shared by Ronald Reagan.
Russian Tattoo Tour
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Tattoo artist Herman IX from Moscow (
website,
VK) and filmmaker Stepan Vetoshnikov (
Vimeo) travel in two months from
Kaliningrad to
Vladivostok (over 7000 kilometers), funded by the money Herman earns along the way. Documentary, art, and road movie: it’s all of these combined and never too much.
Smiling is for fools
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Russians are not known as a people who are generous with smiles. Smiling at people you don’t or barely know is more for fools, suspicious, or simply unnecessary. Смех без причины – признак дурачины (laughter without reason is a sign of foolishness). You could also say: Russians save their smiles for when they are truly sincere.
State Funeral
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In 2017, you could see The Death of Stalin in theaters. More about it on
IMDB,
Filmkrant,
VPRO Cinema and
Wikipedia; trailer on
YouTube. See also
In Russia, nobody’s laughing at Iannucci’s The Death of Stalin (The Guardian, 2017).
Adidas
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Russians love Adidas. This goes back to the
1980 Olympic Games (Moscow) – the reasons behind it can be read through the links below. Watch: Why Slavs wear Adidas, and two more about the brand with the три полоски (tri paloski) – three stripes.
Photo: Aleksey Myakishev
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There’s little color to be seen or needed in the work of photographer Aleksey Myakishev (Алексей Мякишев). Born (1971) in
Kirov (or Киров), formerly called Vyatka until 1934 and still sometimes referred to as such. Vyatka is also the name of one of Myakishev’s most famous projects, the
photo series (2014) in which he captured the people and life of his home region.
Not in Russia
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Guidelines, advice, and warnings: clips about what not to do in Russia. Many common-sense tips and things you could probably figure out yourself. Still, it’s useful to take note of, especially for those traveling eastward.
Russian Design
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The Modern Russian Design (or новый русский дизайн) is about graphic design in Russia. Cyrillic letters and symbols in creative forms, from the last 20 years. Beautiful works and entertaining stories, by colorful designers.
Putin 3x
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Владимир Владимирович Путин is Vladimir Vladimirovich
Putin. Born in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) on October 7, 1952, президент (= president) since Boris Yeltsin stepped down with this
speech on December 31, 1999. For the entire 21st century, Putin has been босс or the boss, even when
Medvedev was officially in charge for a short time.
Not to be understood
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Russians themselves say Умом Россию не понять: the mind cannot comprehend Russia. These are the words (and the title) of a
poem (1866) by
Fyodor Tyutchev (in Russian
Фёдор Тютчев):
Умом Россию не понять,
Аршином общим не измерить:
У ней особенная стать –
В Россию можно только верить.
Size Matters
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Judging Россия (Rossiya, that’s Russia) is something anyone is free to do. But (= но, which sounds like no) most Russians will barely understand it and care even less. Moreover, there’s a good chance you’ll offend the Russians who do understand it, and make yourself look like a дурак (durak) or fool.
