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05 DISPATCH:

July 8, 1998

12 Midnight, white night
view from London's hotel window 12 Midnight view from London's hotel window Morning view, same hotel window
The ship at anchor is the Aurora, a monument to the 1917 Communist revolution.
A blast from its deck gun launched the Bolsheviks to the attack.

As painter Sergei Bugaev "Afrika" tells the story, the democratically elected Duma, which had replaced the Czar, was holed up in the Hermitage. As Duma members bickered, they could see the Communists charge across the Hermitage Palace Square.

View of the Palace Square from the Hermitage
The troops defending the Duma had formerly worked for the Czar. These elite soldiers were women. Bugaev sees the encounter as a curious gender battle: Men fighting for a new order clashed with women defending democratic ideals.

Early in the Soviet era, the painter Kasimir Malevich organized exhibitions of contemporary art. He wished to educate his comrades, to mate the revolution in modern art with the new society imagined by Communism. When the regime instituted the dictatorship of Social Realist art, Malevich's program languished and the works of contemporary art were banished to museum basements. In recent years the paintings have been dusted off. Malevich's paintings about early 20th-century art are currently on exhibit at the State Russian Museum. Bugaev guided London through the extensive collection.
Bugaev on the problems facing art in Russia
(3:11 min. Real Video)

Like Malevich in his day, Bugaev is active in promoting Russian contemporary art. He hosts a radio program; appears regularly on TV; and works the political arena.

Bugaev observes that ten years ago, people lined up around the block to view modern art. Today the museum is nearly empty.

As matters now stand, if not for foreign interest in the Russian avant-garde, Malevich, Rodchenko, Tatlin, and their comrades might once again be carted away to the dust bin of history.

ALEXANDER BOROVSKY heads the Department of Contemporary Art at the State Russian Museum. His is the only museum in Russia actively collecting contemporary art.

near the museum's professionally stored art works Borovsky near the museum's professionally stored art works
The Museum supports itself by publishing art books and arranging traveling exhibitions. Occasionally a bank supplements their income. In November of this year at New York's Zalman Gallery, Borovsky will curate a show of the Russian sculptor Kostya Simun.

12 Midnight, white night view from London's hotel window	Morning view, same hotel window
The ship at anchor is the Aurora, a monument to the 1917 Communist revolution. A blast from its deck gun launched the Bolsheviks to the attack.

As painter Sergei Bugaev "Afrika" tells the story, the democratically elected Duma, which had replaced the Czar, was holed up in the Hermitage. As Duma members bickered, they could see the Communists charge across the Hermitage Palace Square.
View of the Palace Square from the Hermitage	The troops defending the Duma had formerly worked for the Czar. These elite soldiers were women. Bugaev sees the encounter as a curious gender battle: Men fighting for a new order clashed with women defending democratic ideals.

Early in the Soviet era, the painter Kasimir Malevich organized exhibitions of contemporary art. He wished to educate his comrades, to mate the revolution in modern art with the new society imagined by Communism. When the regime instituted the dictatorship of Social Realist art, Malevich's program languished and the works of contemporary art were banished to museum basements.	In recent years the paintings have been dusted off. Malevich's paintings about early 20th-century art are currently on exhibit at the State Russian Museum. Bugaev guided London through the extensive collection. Bugaev on the problems facing art in Russia (3:11 min. Real Video)
Like Malevich in his day, Bugaev is active in promoting Russian contemporary art. He hosts a radio program; appears regularly on TV; and works the political arena.	Bugaev observes that ten years ago, people lined up around the block to view modern art. Today the museum is nearly empty.

As matters now stand, if not for foreign interest in the Russian avant-garde, Malevich, Rodchenko, Tatlin, and their comrades might once again be carted away to the dust bin of history.
ALEXANDER BOROVSKY heads the Department of Contemporary Art at the State Russian Museum. His is the only museum in Russia actively collecting contemporary art.		Borovsky near the museum's professionally stored art works
The Museum supports itself by publishing art books and arranging traveling exhibitions. Occasionally a bank supplements their income. In November of this year at New York's Zalman Gallery, Borovsky will curate a show of the Russian sculptor Kostya Simun.