Celebrating all that is unique about Russia, the 8th Festival of Russian Culture will run from 19 to 26 February in various locations throughout the city of Dublin. The festival has become a traditional feature of vibrant Dublin cultural life, with concerts, literary talks and readings, children’s art competition, music master class, children’s activities, lively performances, lectures and talks taking place during the week.
The festival will encompass a selection of venues across the city, with activities certain to suit all cultural tastes, in the Dublin City libraries, Trinity College, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin City Gallery the Hugh Lane and other venues. A children’s art competition for primary schools in the Dublin area was held last year, based on Pushkin’s fairy tale The Goldfish. The winning pictures will be displayed in the Education Section of the Hugh Lane Gallery. Hugh Lane Gallery will also host a guided tour with Russian interpreting, a film and Russian Art.
The Festival Committee has successfully secured renowned Irish artists to perform at the concert of Russian classical music in the Hugh Lane Gallery on Sunday the 19 February at the official launch of the festival. Fionnuala Moynihan, Paul Roe, Deirdre Moynihan, Owen Lorigan, Sylvia O’Brien, Helene Hutchinson, Lance Coburn and Eoin Flood will perform at the concert along with Anna Kiselyova.
The Department of Russian and Slavonic Studies at Trinity College will be holding a number of events, organised by the lecturers and students of the department, while the National Concert Hall will have two concerts that include Russian classic Music. RTE National Symphony Orchestra and Nikolay Khozyainov (piano) will perform Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No.3 in D on Friday the 17 February. On Friday the 24 February Barry Douglas (piano) and RTE National Symphony Orchestra, with conductor Alexander Vedernikov, will perform Tchaikovsky’s The Tempest Fantasy Overture, Piano Concert No.3 in E flat, Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor.
A number of events will take place in the Dublin City libraries. The Central library will host a master class with Anna Kiselyova on 235th anniversary of the Irish composer John Field, who settled in Russia and gave piano lessons to many famous Russian composers. Pearse Street Library will be hosting Russian with Fun and sing-along session for children with Svetlana Maximova.
In Terenure Library, poet Dermot O’Brien presents In Original and in the Russian Translation. This is a unique opportunity to experience Russian and Irish poetry in the original language and in Russian followed by a talk on the challenges of literary translation.
The National Gallery of Ireland will host a lecture by Wanda Smolin on Russian Avant Garde and the influence of traditional Russian folklore, woodcuts and icon painting on the work of many artists of the time.
With the support of the Royal Irish Academy of Music a concert of young and emerging pianists, the students of the academy, will take place in the Hugh Lane Gallery on Saturday the 25th of February.
The festival will traditionally conclude with the Family Day, held on Sunday the 26 February in the National Show Centre, Swords. For the second time Moscow State Academic Theatre of Dance Gzhel will perform along with the local dancers, singers, traditional Minstrels. There will be a food and crafts market, children’s entertainment and much more.
The Festival of Russian Culture is organised by the Russian community in Ireland and is supported by Dublin City Council, the Russian Embassy, Dublin City Libraries, National Gallery of Ireland, Royal Irish Academy of Music and Department of Russian and Slavonic Studies in Trinity College. It’s a great way for the vibrant Russian community in Ireland to share their history and heritage with local people as well as visitors from around the world who wish to learn more about the proud culture of Russia.
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