UK and Russia lift veil on 2014 cultural spectacular
Russia and the UK today unveiled a breathtaking list of events which will form the backbone of the 2014 UK-Russia Year of Culture
Together they will showcase some of the best of each country’s cultural heritage and will see some of the most famous historic exhibits from the space programme leave Russia for the first time.
The organisers say: “The scale of the programme across arts, education and languages is indicative of a huge improvement in cultural relations.”
The initiative would aim to “foster cultural exchange and the flow of ideas, whilst developing stronger relations between people, institutions and governments”.
Of the British Council-programmed events heading to Russia there will be a celebration of Shakespeare and a major retrospective of Young British Artists.
While the programme of events will run for the whole year the official launch will be in April when British film director Peter Greenaway curates The Golden Age of the Russian Avant-garde at Moscow Manage Museum. It will animate more than 400 masterpieces from Russian museums and private collectors, with Greenaway’s video installation due to return to London later in the year.
Other highlights heading to Russia from the UK include The Barbican’s Designing 007: Fifty Years of Bond Style and Akram Khan’s iTMOi (In the Mind of Igor), which was originally performed at Sadler’s Wells to mark the 100th anniversary of Russian composer Stravinsky’s groundbreaking ballet The Rite of Spring. Screenings of Hitchcock’s early works, The London Philharmonic Orchestra’s performance of Britten’s War Requiem and an exhibition of Wedgewood pottery will also travel to Russia.
Early works by Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin and Sam Taylor-Wood will form part of Russia’s first major retrospective of the YBA movement in September 2014 at the Ekaterina Foundation.
On UK soil the Tate Modern will host a groundbreaking exhibition of Russian artist Malevich’s work, the first major Malevich retrospective for almost 25 years. Other highlights in the UK include a visit from the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra and a Kazimir Malevich show at Tate Modern.
Russia’s Space Quest exhibition at London’s Science Museum in October will feature rare artefacts that have never been allowed out of Russia before.
The UK will host performances from the Russian Philharmonic Orchestra and The Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Musical Academic Theatre, one of Russia’s leading theatres, with more than 90 years of history.
Other events programmed by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the UK include a performance by the 600-year-old Sretensky Monastery Choir at Kensington Palace.
The Golden Age of Russian Avant-garde will animate more than 400 masterpieces
A UK theatre season will take productions from seven British theatres including the Young Vic, Royal Shakespeare Company and Scottish Ballet, supported by the Chekov International Festival.
Dressing the Screen: The Rise of Fashion Film will be Russia’s first ever exhibition of fashion in and on film, bringing together work by some of the world’s most innovative fashion designers and film-makers from the past 75 years.
Click here to read more and to see how the Year’s new logo was born
Last updated 18 November 2013 + show all updates
-
translation added
-
First published.