Nicholas Roerich

Before coming to Russia I read a short story by H P Lovecraft called ‘The Mountains of Madness’. In it he mentioned strange paintings by a man named Roerich. One of the great things about the internet is you can look up this sort of obscure and miscellaneous reference straight away, before you have forgotten about it.

I checked out a small collection of Roerich’s paintings soon after arriving in Moscow at the Museum of Oriental Art and had thought that was all there was on display in this city – many of his works being in the Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York. That is, until the other day when I was going through my guidebook looking for new places to go and realized that the Rerikh Museum in in the guidebook index was actually another transliteration of the more usual Roerich.

Nicholas Roerich

One could be forgiven for thinking Nicholas Roerich was the original New Age guy. Possessing a powerful intellect (he is said to have spoken 30 languages, whereas I can still barely manage to get a cappuccino with my Russian), he was an excellent artist; an explorer, spending much time on archaeological expeditions in the Himalayas; and something of a mystic.

Roerich was born in Saint Petersburg in 1874. Originally involved in post-Revolution arts, he rapidly grew disillusioned with the authoritarianism and repression of the Bolsheviks and emigrated to Finland. Soon after he moved to London, and then to the United States, where he lived in New York. Over several years in the 1920s and 30s he spent a considerable amount of time in Tibet, India and other parts of Asia. In 1929 he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Today I visited this really quite excellent museum/gallery. If you ever intend opening a New Age shop in downtown San Francisco (maybe sell a few crystals and tarot cards), parts of this place might provide some helpful décor hints.    

Roerich Museum

The museum is located not far from the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, in Mylinki Znamensky. Take the Metro to Crackpotskaya (OK, it’s really Kropotkinskaya, but I'm not Roerich and I need some way of remembering these awkward Russian names). Please be aware that there are signs with maps on the main road outside the station which show the museum in the wrong location (it is not on Bolshoi Znamensky).

My apologies for the image quality today –they are scanned from a book and some prints I bought in the small museum shop. My only complaint (apart from the hefty 650 rouble admission fee) is that you are not allowed to take photos in the museum. Elderly ladies diligently watch to make darned sure you don’t. I was in the museum on my own and it was quite disconcerting to be followed from the entrance of a room to its exit, only to be met at the door by the guardian of the next room, and the next, and the next...

Some examples of Roerich's art

 

The other market at Izmaylovo

A couple of posts ago I wrote about the tacky (but interesting) tourist market at Izmaylovo, accessed from Partizanskaya Station. One stop along is an even more enjoyable market. It is, at any rate, more useful for an expat needing groceries rather than another couple of matryoshka dolls.

The train briefly emerges from its burrow after Patizanskaya and the next station - Izmaylovskaya - is one of the few above ground. On the southern side it adjoins Izmaylova Park. To the north are the ubiquitous towering and somewhat shabby Moscow apartment blocks. But also on this side, a couple of hundred metres east, is a shopping mall.

Unlike the glitzy mega-malls that have sprung up around Moscow, this humble place is more like an open air market moved indoors (speaking of open air markets, I am annoyed that our local weekend street market at Novoslobodskaya seems to have fallen victim to the city government's campaign to close them - it has disappeared since New Year).

The lower floor consists of grocery stalls - you name it, they've got it (though not vegemite or ovaltine - that would be asking too much) - at very reasonable prices. It also smells of spice. Nice.

Upstairs is the clothing section. When we arrived my wife bought one of those full length down-filled coats popular with women here for 8000 roubles (about $250 Aus) - about 2/3rds the price in regular Moscow shops. If you are living in Moscow and haven't seen this place, its worth taking the train and a shopping bag for an afternoon out.

A short aside - it has become quite cold the past week or so, dropping down to about minus 15 to 20. Prior to that we had something of an extended autumn. I can tell when its getting really cold as the Moscow women stop wearing down coats and dust off their furs. Anti-fur activism has made no impact whatsoever here.

Christmas 2014

Today, January 7, is Christmas in Russia. It also happens to be my birthday. Which means that my birthday has always fallen on a public holiday during my stay in Russia. Nice, as it means Wendy and I have the day off. 

Winter has been very mild so far this year. Some snow fell in mid-December, but since then the temperatures have been hovering around zero and the footpaths are generally clear of snow and ice. There is also green grass visible in some parks. 

The adults had their fun over New Year, and Christmas is about kids. I don’t typically see many children about in Moscow, but they were much in evidence when we went walking this morning. I think they head off to visit babochka (granny) and see kids shows at the theatres. Unlike Christmas in Australia, most of the shops and cafes seemed to be open. 

From what I can see, Muscovites are not unaware that Christmas in most of Europe is celebrated on 25 December, so they do tend to double dip the celebrations a bit. 

Moscow is pretty quiet this time of the year. Many people have left the city and, for a couple of weeks, it is almost always possible to get a seat on the Metro.

Whoever is in charge of such things has decided that this year many of the trees in the parks in central Moscow would be covered in blue and white fairy lights. An extraordinary amount of effort has gone in to these decorations. The park at Kitai Gorad, through which we walk to on the way to work, is lit up like a fairyland – as it is dark until about 10am at the moment, these lights are a welcome delight on what might otherwise often be a gloomy morning trudge. 

Christmas lights in Kitai Gorad park

Many more Christmas markets, somewhat similar to the Weihnachtmarkts of Germany & Austria, have also been introduced. A welcome touch, though they need to work on their Gluhwein – it’s more like soft drink.

Pushkin Square

More decorations in Pushkin Square

When too much is never enough

Christmas lights in Revolution Square, opposite the Bolshoi Theatre (centre). TSUM (with the sign on the right) is an expensive department store.

Christmas shop window display in TSUM

Izmaylovo Market

All expats, and many tourists, find their way to this flea/craft/art market. We have been there many times.

I’ve not been able to find much about its history. Apparently an art market started here in the 17^th century. I have no idea how it fared during the Soviet years.

Izmaylovo market entrance

 We always bring visitors here and it can be hard to drag them away.

Think of a Russian souvenir and you can pick it up at Izmaylovo, and generally at better prices than the souvenir shops in the city. The stall holders often speak some English and are open to bargaining – some more than others. Your best bet is to buy several of something and ask for a bulk discount.

Of course, you will want to take home some Matryoshka dolls. These hand-painted dolls depicting rural workers are better quality than the glossy things most retailers sell. They cost a little more, but they are the only sort my wife will buy.

This is about the only place expats can pick up English language movies on DVD – pirated – they make no pretense – the disks often don’t have any label at all. Of course, I wouldn’t buy such a thing...the mere thought...tsk tsk.

 Catch the metro to Partisanskaya station (which is also worth seeing) on the dark blue line number 3 from Ploschad Revolutsi (which is near Red Square). When exiting Partisanskaya turn left and follow the trail of people about 500 metres towards what looks like a Russian theme village. There’s a gold coin entry of 10 roubles (I think you can manage 30 cents).

Partisanskaya metro station. It contains some wonderful Soviet post-war sculptures

 

Best to come on the weekends. Not all the stalls are open during the week. Wednesday, in particular, is not good as this is when many stall holders visit their wholesalers and much is closed.

Art for all tastes...

...or perhaps you prefer painted boxes (these are very good and quite reasonably priced)...

...not interested?...okay, well perhaps a furry hat?..no?...

...what's that?...you'd prefer a helmet to a furry hat...and some munitions to go with it? Well, you might have some difficulty with Australian customs...

...perhaps a hand made Azerbaijani carpet would be a safer bet. We've bought a number of carpets from this friendly chap at a fraction of the price we'd pay in Australia.

VDNK

This fascinating place, which is located about 8 kilometres north of Red Square, was established in 1935 as an agricultural exhibition centre. Failure to met deadlines and falling foul of ideological fashion got the architect and Commissar for Agriculture responsible for the project thrown in the slammer for a few years. Eventually the centre opened in 1938, but was closed during the war.

Entrance archway

Post-war, it reopened in 1954. Some industrial pavilions were then added and in 1959 the revamped centre became known as the Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy (abbreviated VDNK). This large park and its many pavilions was much used during Soviet times for exhibitions and conferences.

Today the official name is the All Russian Exhibition Centre (VVC), though I think of it as VDNK (Vay - Dey - En - the K is pronounced like the ch in loch), as the nearby Metro station has retained that name.

The Armenian pavilion

There is no charge to enter the park and wander around. It makes for a great afternoon exploring. A wonderfully eclectic and quirky collection of pavilions, fountains, statues and a Vostok rocket - together with a fairground (Muscovites are very fond of these). Often busy on weekends, those pavilions that are open tend to contain tacky markets, temporary exhibitions, fast food stalls and the odd show.

Very close to the Cosmonaut Museum and Monorail this park is certainly worth a visit.

Charming golden dancers surround the 'Friendship of the Nations' fountain. All the fountains in Moscow are shut down during the winter. Ostrankino Tower in the background. 

Pavilion of Ukraine

Detail of the Pavilion of Leningrad

Vostok rocket and the tail of a Tupolev aircraft.

The Stone Flower fountain. Central Pavilion in the background.

Moscow Monorail

A few months ago the Sydney monorail was dismantled. Having grown up in Sydney, I was always in two minds about that monorail. Obscuring some of the city's beautiful building facades at first floor level with a length of thick steel girder never seemed a very good idea to me. It also didn't serve any serious mass transit purpose - it was basically just a toy. And expensive to ride. So I'm sort of glad it's gone, though I will miss the occasional enjoyable jaunt on it around Darling Harbour.

The Moscow monorail was completed in 2004 and there is no danger of it obscuring any beautiful building facades. It is located about 8 kilometres north of Red Square in an area of apartment blocks, roads and parks.

Monorail view near Timirazevskaya.
Not much chance of people like me complaining about the track ruining the architectural ambiance out here.

The line is 4.7 kilometres long and links the grey Metro line (9) at Timirazevskaya (which I think of as Timmy-skaya) with VKND on the yellow line (6). So it serves some useful transportation purpose, though I suspect many of the people riding it are still just having a jaunt.

The monorail is integrated in to the urban transit ticketing system, so a regular ticket covers the journey (the public transportation ticketing system is something Moscow does seem to have got right).

Moscow monorail coming in to VDNK station

The monorail can be included as part of a fun day out. Catch the Metro to Timirazevskaya. Then catch the monorail (which goes right past Ostrankino Tower). Get off at VDNK (the monorail goes on one more stop). Visit the Cosmonaut Museum (see my last post) and have a wander around the VDNK Exhibition Park (see next post). End the day by catching the metro at VDNK metro station.

Sergeya Eisensteina Ulitsa station at the eastern end of the line. The train is just completing a small loop at the end of the track to commence its return run.

Monorail carriage interior

Telesenter monorail station. More utilitarian than attractive. As the station name suggests, there is a large television broadcasting station nearby (the gray building just visible in the background)