If you cannot make it to "A Global Piano and Literary Salon: From Russia with Love" (tonight) or our event "An Evening of Russian Prose, Poetry, and Food" (Thursday night), then try to go to the following event, which will feature Igor Belov, Viktor Ivaniv, Ksenia Shcherbino and Fedor Svarovskiy! You have three opportunities to hear these prominent poets recite their work!

New Russian Poetry: A Bilingual Reading

Friday, April 29, 2011 at 6:30pm

The National Arts Club, Sculpture Court

15 Gramercy Park South

Free. Seating is limited. RSVP at http://www.cecartslink.org/wordpress/2011/03/31/new-russian-poetry/

Note: business casual attire is requested by the National Arts Club.

Join us for a beautiful spring evening of poetry with four of Russia’s rising literary talents, participants of the 2011 PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature. Igor Belov, Viktor Ivaniv, Ksenia Shcherbino and Fedor Svarovskiy will read selections from their work, with New York poets John Coletti and Laura Sims reading the English translations. Followed by a Q&A and light reception.

Presented by CEC ArtsLink as part of the Open World Cultural Leaders Program.

Reminder: PEN World Voices, Russian Events

PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature

HIGHLIGHTS FEATURING AUTHORS FROM RUSSIA

*A Global Piano and Literary Salon: From Russia with Love

When: Tuesday, April 26

Where: The Jerome L. Greene Space at WNYC, 44 Charlton St., New York City

What time: 7 p.m.

Igor Belov and Ksenia Shcherbino, two of Russia’s young, rising literary talents read from their latest works. Sip a glass of wine, and enjoy musical renderings by pianist Svetlana Smolina. A conversation about the global impact of Russian culture will follow. Hosted by Ina Parker. For more info

Tickets: ***$5 OFF: use code RUSSIA***

$25; includes a complimentary glass of wine. Call (866) 811-4111 or visit wnyc.org

Co-sponsored by HSBC, WNYC Jerome L. Greene Performance Space, and Fritt Ord. AOC Fine Wines is the exclusive artisanal wine provider of The Greene Space.

*In Conversation: Vladimir Sorokin and Keith Gessen

When: Saturday, April 30

Where: The Cooper Union, Frederick P. Rose Auditorium, 41 Cooper Sq., New York City

What time: 4:30–6 p.m.

Great Russian Vladimir Sorokin, considered by many to be the next Roberto Bolaño, discusses his work with young literary star Keith Gessen, editor-in-chief of the celebrated journal n+1. English translations of his masterpieces, Ice Trilogy and Day of the Oprichnik: A Novel, arrive in bookstores this year. Not to be missed! For more info

Tickets: $15/$10 PEN Members, students with valid ID. Call (866) 811-4111 or visit ovationtix.com

Co-sponsored by The Cooper Union

*Vladimir Sorokin: Ice Trilogy (Play Reading)

When: Saturday, April 30

Where: St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral Gymnasium, 268 Mulberry St., New York City

What time: 7 p.m.

See a live performance of Sorokin’s American debut, Ice Trilogy, a riveting suspense novel about the 20th century Soviet Union to modern-day Russia. Directed by the Hungarian film and theater director Kornél Mundruczó. For more info

Tickets: $10. Call (866) 811-4111 or visit ovationtix.com

Co-sponsored by Trust for Mutual Understanding and Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, CUNY Graduate School

*Russia in Two Acts

When: Sunday, May 1

Where: The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City

What time: 1 p.m.

With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.

Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl. For more info

Tickets: $25/$20 for PEN/Morgan Members and students with valid ID. Call (866) 811-4111 or visit ovationtix.com

Co-sponsored by The Morgan Library & Museum, New York Review of Books, and Fritt Ord

For a complete schedule of events, visit: http://www.pen.org/festival

Kazakh Artist, Almagul Menlibayeva's Exhibit in Chelsea, Showing Until May 14th

March 24 - May 14, 2011

Gallery hours: Tuesday through Saturday 11:00 to 6:00 PM or by appointment.

PRISKA C. JUSCHKA FINE ART

P R E S E N T S

Almagul Menlibayeva

Transoxiana Dreams

Priska C. Juschka Fine Art is pleased to present Transoxiana Dreams, Kazakh artist Almagul Menlibayeva’s fourth solo exhibition at the gallery. Menlibayeva films mythological narratives placed and staged in the vast landscape of her native Kazakhstan ravaged by 60 years of Soviet occupation. She leads her audience to the brutally changed region of the Aral Sea where its indigenous people live in the Aralkum, the desert of a once thriving region now entirely devoid of water due to radical Soviet irrigation politics...

In Transoxiana Dreams, Menlibayeva, a pictorial sorceress herself, breeds an eccentric storyline and fantastical imagery extracted deeply from her own atavistic repertoire, and leading visionally through an existing, yet unimaginable landscape in a distant and hypnagogic world.

For more information and a biography of the artist, click here.

A Birch Event!

Please join us THIS THURSDAY for an evening of Russian poetry, prose, and food. Help us welcome Fedor Svarovskiy, Viktor Ivaniv, and Igor Belov (see previous post), who will be participating in the PEN World Voices Festival. Visit us in Hamilton to hear a series of readings in both the original Russian and English. Professor Nepomnyashchy will moderate this event. Russian food and drinks will be provided.

THURSDAY, APRIL 28TH

702 HAMILTON

7:00 PM-9:00 PM

This event is co-sponsored by the Slavic Department, the Harriman Institute, the Arts Initiative at Columbia University, CEC Arts Link.

Guests will get a sneak peek of our SPRING 2011 ISSUE!

Poetry, Music, and Wine! This Tuesday!

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE: A Global Piano and Literary Salon, 7 pm (Tuesday) 


The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space
44 Charlton Street (At Varick) 



Join us as Igor Belov and Ksenia Shcherbino — two of Russia’s rising young literary talents — read from their latest works and piano virtuoso Svetlana Smolina performs. Hosted by Ina Parker. 

Presented in partnership with PEN World Voices Festival and PianoCulture.com. 
Sponsored by HSBC.



Tickets: $25 at thegreenespace.org 
includes complimentary glass of wine and a Russian-inspired snack

Events This Week (4/24)

Recent Fatwas from the Ulema Council of Afghanistan: the Role of Islamic Jurisprudence in Afghanistan in the Post-9/11 Era, 12:00 pm (Monday)

Please join the Harriman institute for a talk by Dr. Emily Jane O'Dell (Adjunct Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Columbia).

Since the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, the Ulema Council of Afghanistan has been playing an influential role in political affairs and civil society. Recent fatwas (religious opinions) from the Ulema Council of Afghanistan demonstrate the Council's influence over legislative and judicial matters, and illustrate how the Ulema Council attempts to reconcile Afghanistan's constitution with Islamic law. This talk will analyze how recent fatwas from the Ulema Council promote a distinct brand of Islam for the nation and adjudicate agendas of secularization and reform in domestic politics, international relations, human rights, and the media.

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Can Social Journalism Make a Difference in Russia? 707 SIPA, 6:15 pm (Monday)

Please join the Paul Klebnikov Fund along with the Harriman Institute and School of Journalism, Columbia University for a talk by Katya Kronhaus, Deputy Editor of Bolshoi Gorod—the popular magazine dedicated to modern life and culture in Moscow—as she discusses what it is like to investigate Russia’s pressing social issues with characteristic wit and humor. Previous articles of hers have covered a wide range, from cyber culture to neglect of aging veterans. Her satirical portrayal of able-bodied citizens trying to navigate city streets in wheelchairs prompted Moscow authorities to begin building much-needed access ramps. Katya will be in New York for two weeks as the newest winner of the Paul Klebnikov Fund Civil Society Fellowship, starting April 25th.

The Paul Klebnikov Fund was established in the memory of Paul Klebnikov, American journalist and editor of Forbes Russia, who was assassinated in Moscow in 2004. The Fund upholds the growth of civil society in Russia by supporting journalistic integrity, the rule of law and the preservation of its cultural heritage.

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Towards a New Architecture for Politico-Military Security in Europe: The Role of the OSCE, 1219 SIPA, 12:00 pm-1:30 pm (Tuesday)

Please join the Harriman Institute for a talk by Petros Efthymiou, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), member of the Greek Parliament, and Former Minister of Education of the Hellenic Republic.

Co-sponsored by the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation, USA.

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Strategic Security and Political and Military Threats in the Black Sea Region, 1219 SIPA, 12:15 pm (Thursday)

Please join the Harriman Institute for a talk by General Constantin Degeratu (Former National Security and Defense Advisor to the President of Romania).

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In Conversation: Vladimir Sorokin and Keith Gessen,
4:30 pm – 6 pm
(Saturday)

The Cooper Union, Frederick P. Rose Auditorium
41 Cooper Square
New York City



Tickets: $15/$10 for friends of The Harriman Institute, New York Review readers, PEN/Morgan Members or students with valid ID.

Use discount code "pen11"

Call (866) 811-4111 for tickets or for more information or to purchase tickets online visit http://www.nybooks.com/calendar/event-59/



Vladimir Sorokin is one of Russia’s most accomplished and well-regarded novelists and dramatists. NYRB Classics published The Queue and, in March 2011, the English translation,by Jamey Gambrell, of his masterpiece, Ice Trilogy. His novel, Day of the Oprichnik, also arrives in bookstores this year. Listen to Sorokin discuss his work with young literary star Keith Gessen, editor-in-chief of the celebrated journal n+1.





Vladimir Sorokin: ICE TRILOGY (Play Reading), 7 pm (Saturday)

Old Gym, 268 Mulberry Street, New York City

With Vladimir Sorokin and Kornel Mundruczo. See a live performance, directed by the Hungarian film and theater director Kornel Mundruczo, based on great Russian writer Vladimir Sorokin's American debut, Ice Trilogy, a riveting suspense novel about the twentieth century Soviet Union to modern-day Russia.

Tickets: $10

Call (866) 811-4111 for tickets or for more information or to purchase tickets online visit http://www.nybooks.com/calendar/event-59/

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Russia in Two Acts, 1 pm (Sunday)

The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall
225 Madison Avenue
New York City



With New York Review contributors Garry Kasparov, Jamey Gambrell, and Christian Caryl!Plus Vladimir Sorokin and Fedor Svarovskiy!!

Watch a world champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In part one of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed.



Tickets: $25/$20 for friends of The Harriman Institute, New York Review readers, PEN/Morgan Members or students with valid ID.
Use discount code "pen11"


Call (866) 811-4111
For more information or to purchase tickets online visit http://www.nybooks.com/calendar/event-60/

Movie Screening Tonight!!!

RIA was able to invite Nurbek Egen, who has come all the way from Kyrgyzstan to speak about his new movie "Manas Birth as a Premonition" in New York City. Manas is a great legendary hero, who united different Kyrgyz tribes and brought them peace and prosperity. His existence is accounted in an epic poem titled "Manas," which is 20 times longer than "The Odyssey" and "The Iliad" combined. While Kyrgyzstan has a rich cultural history, it is relatively unknown in the West. Most people know that it is a politically and economically unstable country, ousting two presidents in the last five years, one of which was last spring.

Tonight, you will get a chance to speak with the producers of the movie. In the movie, Nurbek Egen follows eight people from different social classes, who all hope that one day a great leader--a leader like Manas--will finally bring peace and prosperity to the nation.

Here are some links that may be of interest:

http://www.auca.kg/en/press_room/news_feature/news=603&PHPSESSID=979e1ab4ae78c88a4743a2f62f199f6f

http://bestkino.net/director/nurbek-yegen/

Please read more about the director here: http://bestkino.net/director/nurbek-yegen/

Please join RIA tonight in 304 Hamilton at 8 pm!

TODAY Careers in Human Rights: A Panel Discussion

Thursday, April 7th
6:00pm-7:30pm
Lindsay Rogers Room (707)
International Affairs Building, 420 W. 118th Street

What are the current professional opportunities available to human rights students? What skills, credentials, and experiences are valuable? What are the benefits and challenges of various types of human rights work?

Human rights professionals will discuss their current work and previous professional experiences, and offer insights and advice to students who are interested in pursuing and developing a career in human rights.

The panelists are engaged in various forms of human rights work and have focused on a range of issues, including children's rights, minority rights, immigration, humanitarian affairs, and development and human rights.

Panelists Include:

Dana Bancesco Human Resources Partner, International Rescue Committee

Meg Gardinier Director, Arigatou International

Elizabeth R. OuYang Civil rights attorney, President of OCA-New York Chapter

Jagoda Walorek Policy Analyst on Human Rights, UNDP New York, Democratic Governance Group/Bureau for Development Policy (DGG/BDP)

Don't Miss BIJELO DUGME Tonight!

Language in the USSR

"The Politics and Pragmatics of Translation in the USSR: The Daily Life of Language in a Multi-National Empire," 1512 SIPA (Thursday–Friday)

This conference will bring together scholars from various disciplines across the humanities and social sciences to discuss the politics of language and the pragmatics of language policy under state socialism in one of the most linguistically diverse regions of the world. Invoking “translation” in the broadest terms, the conference will address such topics as the art of translation of formal literary works from minority languages into Russian (i.e., Boris Pasternak’s use of cribs to translate Georgian literature without ever learning the Georgian language), practices of code-switching between official and local languages in informal conversation as well as formal literary contexts, and the mobilization of local language ideologies as a form of resistance against the hegemony of the Russian language in every aspect of daily experience. In an effort to understand the politics and pragmatics of translation in the USSR in comparative perspective, the conference program also features scholars whose work addresses similar problems elsewhere in the world and in other socio-historical contexts.

Keynote speakers: David Bellos, Princeton University and Nancy Condee, University of Pittsburgh.

For more information, contact Lauren Ninoshvili. Conference Program

Events This Week

"Roundtable on Emma Gilligan's Terror in Chechnya: Russia and the Tragedy of Civilians in War (Princeton University Press, 2010)," SIPA 1512, 4:25-6 pm (Monday)

"Terror in Chechnya is the definitive account of Russian war crimes in Chechnya. Emma Gilligan provides a comprehensive history of the second Chechen conflict of 1999 to 2005, revealing one of the most appalling human rights catastrophes of the modern era--one that has yet to be fully acknowledged by the international community. Drawing upon eyewitness testimony and interviews with refugees and key political and humanitarian figures, Gilligan tells for the first time the full story of the Russian military's systematic use of torture, disappearances, executions, and other punitive tactics against the Chechen population.

In Terror in Chechnya, Gilligan challenges Russian claims that civilian casualties in Chechnya were an unavoidable consequence of civil war. She argues that racism and nationalism were substantial factors in Russia's second war against the Chechens and the resulting refugee crisis. She does not ignore the war crimes committed by Chechen separatists and pro-Moscow forces. Gilligan traces the radicalization of Chechen fighters and sheds light on the Dubrovka and Beslan hostage crises, demonstrating how they undermined the separatist movement and in turn contributed to racial hatred against Chechens in Moscow.

This panel brings together a group of distinguished scholars and experts to discuss the arguments and findings of Gilligan's book.

Panelists:

Emma Gilligan, Assistant Professor of Russian History and Human Rights, University of Connecticut. She is also the author of Defending Human Rights in Russia: Sergei Kovalyov, Dissident and Human Rights Commissioner, 1969-2003.

Jason Lyall, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Yale University

Kimberly Marten, Professor of Political Science, Barnard College

Diederik Lohman, Senior Researcher, Human Rights Watch

This event is part of the “Human Rights in the Post-Communist World: Strategies and Outcomes ” series (Harriman Core Project 2010-2011, Co-Directed by Alexander Cooley and Jack Snyder). This event is free and open to the public. Please RSVP. Seating is on a first come, first served basis."

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"A Reading by Ludmila Ulitskaya," Seminar Room 1, Faculty House, 6:00 pm (Tuesday)

Renowned Russian author Ludmila Ulitskaya will give a reading from her new novel Daniel Stein, Interpreter (Overlook Press, 2011). Ulitskaya is the author of twelve fiction books, of three tales for children and of six plays staged by a number of theatres in Russia and in Germany. She is frequently called the most profound and far-reaching author of the contemporary Russian literature. She made her first appearance on the literary stage as a short-story writer; several collections of Ulitskaya's short stories published under various titles are full of rich color and psychological details. Then followed several novels, each having become an important event of Russian literature of our days. Ludmila Ulitskaya is one of the most published modern Russian writers abroad. This event is co-sponsored by the Institute of Modern Russia and the Harriman Institute.

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"From Belgrade to Cairo: The Strategy and Organization of Non-Violent Revolution," 1501 IAB, 12-2 pm (Tuesday)

"Over the past decade, organized non-violent resistance movements have been used to overthrow dictators from Serbia through to Georgia, Ukraine, and Egypt. Please join us to hear this distinguished panel of activists, writers, and academic experts as they discuss the advantages and problems confronting movements dedicated to non-violence in their attempts to promote democratic change. Participants include: Srdja Popovic, Tina Rosenberg, Kurt Schock, Jack Snyder, and Alfred Stepan. Registration for this event is mandator. To register, please go to: http://calendar.columbia.edu/sundial/webapi/get.php?brand=sipa_sa&id=48840&vt=detail&context=standalone."

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OASIES Presents: Mustafa Shokai (Kazakhstan, 2008)

Dir. Saltybaldy Narymbetov, 703 Hamilton, 7:30 pm (Tuesday)

Satybaldy Narymbetov's Mustafa Shokai is the first historical blockbuster of post-Soviet Kazakhstan. The recent film, Nomad (Kochevniki, Sergei Bodrov et al, 2005) could offer a kind of rival, but history is the focus of Mustafa Shokai rather than a frame for the action genre as in Nomad. Mustafa Shokai is designed to educate viewers, particularly Kazakhs, but the reality is that it fails as an informative historical drama, conflating an already complex and contradictory biography.

Mustafa Shokai (1890-1941) was born in Perovsk (now the village Aulie-Tarangyl) in the Turkestan Krai of the Russian Empire. He was not destined to be a peripheral figure; his maternal ancestors were part of a line of Kazakh khans of the Khiva khanate. He was a Turkestani nationalist when there was no longer a Turkestan, and he emerged as a key political actor at a moment of revolutionary transformation. He served at various times as a member of the Shura-i-Islamiya (Muslim Council), as the leader of the Provisional Government of Autonomous Turkestan (or Kokand Autonomy movement), and as a delegate to the First All-Kirgiz Congress in Orenburg where they created the first Kazakh political party, Alash Orda. Yet he ultimately lost touch with the political realities of Central Asia that centered on compromises between religious elites and Bolshevik officials and he left the Soviet Union for Europe. (Kinokul'tura)

[144 mins, in Kazakh with English subtitles]

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SCREENING of Bijelo Dugme (White Button), Altschul Auditorium, 4th floor SIPA, 7:00 pm (Thursday)

Bijelo Dugme was a legendary rock and roll band of the former Yugoslavia that is still enormously popular. The leader of the band was Goran Bregovic--today a globally acclaimed composer of film scores and world music. This documentary, full of exciting archival footage, great music and juicy confessions, deals with the specific time, culture, friendship and politics of the band, as well as the effect that Western popular culture had on the youth in this vibrant socialist country before it disintegrated.

The director, Igor Stoimenov, will be present to discuss the film.

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CONFERENCE: "

Healing Paradigms and the Politics of Health in Central Asia," Kellogg Center, 15th floor SIPA, 9:00 am to 6:00 pm (Friday)

Panel I:

Healing Paradigms: Biomedicine and Its Ethno-Religious Alternatives

Panel II:

The Politics of (Global) Health: Intervention, Control, and Institutional Power

Participants include:

Salmaan Keshavjee (Harvard University),

Devin DeWeese (Indiana University),

Danuta Penkala-Gawecka (Adam Mickiewicz University),

Jeff Sahadeo (Carleton University),

Alisher Latypov (University College London),

Erica Johnson (University of North Carolina),

Erin Koch (University of Kentucky).

Breakfast, lunch, and a cheese & wine reception will be provided. PLEASE RSVP: https://calendar.columbia.edu/sundial/webapi/register.php?eventID=48012

Columbia Global Centers, the Harriman Institute, and the Columbia University Seminar on Slavic History & Culture generously provided support for this conference.

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CONFERENCE: "Places and Perceptions: Space and Identity in Inner Eurasia," 1512 SIPA, 3-7 pm (Saturday)

Panel I: Textual Encounters Across Eurasia

Panel II: Place-making in Eurasia

Reception with Central Asian food provided.