Russian Ethnological Museum

A few weeks ago I went to the Russian Ethnological Museum, which is a branch of the Russian Museum. The Ethnological branch mainly consisted of costumes belonging to various nations or regions belonging to the USSR. Other things were also on display, such as objects of daily life (i.e. tools, household objects, etc. etc.) As an artist and an illustrator influenced by my Russian/Armenian background to a great degree, I find it very important to have real life reference of what life looked liked in the world of pre-revolutionary Russia.

Fairy tales, folklore and legends come from a time far before the revolution and all literature stems from legends which are its building blocks. These legends which in turn inspire authors of old who then, in their turn, inspired authors of the new generations, are what inspires artists as well. As we look at what came before us we learn what has been done and we make new things, sometimes better, sometimes worse sometimes tremendously different, but always informed with what has already been created.

While I do not assume that all artists look to legends and literature for subject matter inspiration, I do think that much art comes from a sense of wanting to tell a story. My story begins within the country I was born in. Who knows where the story of my art will go to next, but for now I am still evolving and making sense of where I began.

While I was in the Ethnological Museum I took more than 400 photos. I will post them on my blog, a few at a time, for personal reference and of course if any other fellow artists or just curious viewers are interested, they will be available for your viewing pleasure.

In this posting I have selected all costumes from he Lithuanian region.

Life in St. Petersburg

Here's some stuff about what it's like to live here. If you want to buy anything, you have many choice of how you'll experience shopping. St. Petersburg is abundant in its variety of retail practices. While there are supermarkets like those we're used to in major cities in the US, there are also small shopping centers that follow the soviet era procedures. While all the sails people are in one space, you have to come up to every sales person individually to buy stuff. You can't just put it into your cart and pay at the end after you've accumulated everything.

This type of shopping center is kind of like a farmer's market, only the goods are not necessarily from a farm. Here you see a fish stand inside of such a shopping center. The only thing that has changed is that before, in the Soviet era, this place had only one cashier. So, every singly sales stand had a sales person give you the goods and a sales ticket and you would go to a cashier in the center of the sales area and pay them after you show them all your tickets. I'm not sure how they controlled theft in that situation.

Of course other types of selling practices exist, this is just one of the kind that stands out to me as something I don't see often in the US.

If you're looking for scarves in St. Petersburg chances are, as a tourist you may end up in this store on Nevsky Prospect. Here they sell the world renown Pavlovposadski scarfs with beautiful folk prints made in the town Pavlov Posad. As you can see this store is decked out in a huge number of different prints, so if you go in there you better know what colors look good with you so the sales ladies can help you pick, or you'll spend a lifetime looking through all of them. You can also find them in any of the souvenir shops along Nevsky, but they will not have this many and you may not find the right one for you.This store has four walls covered in scarves.

As you walk along the streets you will find amazingly intricate facades such as this one. I really try to resist taking too many pictures because I'd like to experience the world through my own eyes as much as possible but this decorative architecture was just too much for me to pass up.

I've been taking ballet classes and below you will see what some of my walk back home looks like. I am particularly fond of the night lights in this city.

Housing in St. Petersburg

During communism these high-rise apartment buildings were built in St. Petersburg, and other places in Russia. This type of architecture is still being built to suit the needs of the dwindling Russian population. Many families originally owned apartments in the pre-soviet block houses, which were built much better, but as communal housing was on the rise and private ownership was minimal in that era, people were exchanging their smaller apartments for bigger apartments and families moved from the sturdy and the now prestigious neighborhoods to these modern multi-storied suburbias. Here's an impressive view of the concrete jungle from my friend's 9th story apartment near the Primorskaya metro station.

Nostalgia and Saint Petersburg

I haven't posted in a while. This post will be for those who may have some nostalgia for St. Petersburg or who might be curious of what parts other than downtown look like.

I was thinking of my mom who often asks me to send her photos of the most mundane things in her home city. It is the mundane things that remind her of her daily life during her childhood and youth prior to immigration.