Dear friends and colleagues,

This season BOZAR launches new interdisciplinary cycle of encounters with famous Russian artists and intellectuals from all disciplines titled Russian Turn. Amid signs of growing tensions within and outside Europe, BOZAR is joining forces with artists and intellectuals from across Europe to develop a renewed vision of Europe and its future. Where and when does Europe begin and where does it end? What are the boundaries of the European cultural space? We maintain that Russia is part of European history and its culture part of our common European heritage. We therefore feel we cannot work towards the European project without the creative input of Russian artists and intellectuals. Rather than limiting our scope to contemporary politics, Russian Turn aims to engage them in a conversation about shared aspirations and current fears.

Since its foundation in 1928, BOZAR has maintained close ties with the Russian art world. Despite the frictions between east and west, some of the leading Russian artists and musicians have been invited to perform at BOZAR over the years, including the dancers of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, Dmitry Shostakovitch and Igor Stravinsky, Grigoriy Sokolov and Valery Gergiev. In 2014, amid fears of a new Cold War with Russia, BOZAR held a major exhibition, titled Facing the Future: Art In Europe, 1945-1968, which challenged the notion of a divided continent, in the past and present. In the same vein, Russian Turn proposes to discover unique places, ideas and people of contemporary Russia. Working with Russian artists and intellectuals, we turn our gaze to the Europe of tomorrow, examining Russia’s role in it.

We are pleased to invite you to the first event of Russian Turn cycle on Wednesday, 11th of October, 20:00 – a screening of the renowned film October (1928), Sergei Eisenstein, accompanied by a live interpretation of the original soundtrack by Shostakovich, performed by Matsenoto Trio, Granvat. Prior to the screening, at 19:00 Ilya Kalinin, an editor-in-chief of the Moscow-based intellectual journal Emergency Ration: Debates on Politics and Culture and Associate Professor at St.-Petersburg State University, will discuss the meanings of October Revolution in Russia today.

We look forward to seeing you again,

Paul Dujardin and BOZAR team