wednesday May 4th, 2011

Pushkin House, 5a Bloomsbury Square, London, WC1A 2TA

Pics from the gigs

and

PHOTO REPORT AVAILABLE

9.30-10.15am Introduction

Keynote speakers:

Alexander Kan (BBC, Russian service)

Photo: sobaka.ru

Alexamder Kan is a journalist, writer and a music critic working in London. He is the curator of the Open Music programme on BBC3. Alexander has been involved with the Russian music underground since the 1970s in particular, with jazz and avant-garde scenes. He will share his experience of witnessing how punk entered the Soviet music underground and its subsequent influence, cultural, aesthetic and political implications forrock music in the Soviet Union and after. Read more...   Alexander Kan's ‘Waiting for Jazz,’ which takes its title from Akvarium's 1984 song and whose cover shows Boris Grebenshchikov posing with a saw and Sergei Kuryokhin with a saxophone, is a revealing memoir of the Leningrad art and music scene in the 1980s. Read more...

10.15-10.30am Coffee/tea 

 10.30am-12.30pm Post-socialist punk: academic perspectives

Short presentations will be made by members of the AHRC ‘Post-socialist punk’ project exploring questions of ‘What is “punk”?’ and ‘What is “post-socialist”?’drawing on first reflections from fieldwork in Russia, Croatia and eastern Germany. The presentations will be followed by general discussion with workshop participants.

Chair: Alex Ogg (University of Leeds)

Contributors: Hilary Pilkington (University of Warwick, UK), Benjamin Perasović (Ivo Pilar Institute, Zagreb, Croatia), Ivan Gololobov (University of Warwick, UK) and Yngvar Steinholt (Tromso University, Norway), Aimar Ventsel (Tartu University, Tartu Estonia).

12.30-1.30pm Lunch

 1.30-3pm Post-socialist punk: artists’ perspectives

Roundtable discussion with musicians from three Russian bands providing a forum for band members to talk about their music and ideas and to respond to questions and commentaries from workshop participants.

Moderator: Yngvar Steinholt Contributors: Ilya Alexeev (Ankylym, xOCAx, DIY activist, Saint Petersburg), Kolia Petrov, (Ankylym, St Petersburg), Petr Fomenko (The Zverstvo, Krasnodar), Alexander Mysin (The Zverstvo, Krasnodar).

Ankylym (Saint Petersburg)

Crazy Russian alco folk madness! Formally, everything is more than clear, youth energy, clowns outrage, yes - don't forget frogs mosh, mighty inverted psych-folk, it is not something like degrading American country, here folk and psycho are real, not from a greenhouse. It is impossible not to notice masterpieces such as potentially national hits bouncing between village acoustics and brass exclamaitions of electric noise. Listen, watch and read more ... and more, and more :

The Zverstvo (Krasnodar)

"I love demented rock music and it doesn't get much more demented than The Zverstvo. Loud, abrasive and deliciously funny, the vocalist of this Russian avant-rock ensemble screams its lyrics over the top of pounding drums, guitar, and a saxophonist that I am sure is on the run from the jazz police. All that screaming doesn't disguise the fact that these brief songs are smartly arranged affairs equally borrowing from rock, jazz, and more than a little art theater. My guess is you will either run from the first track or listen to the whole crazy album several times in a row. I'm on the third listen." (by Marvin). Listen, watch and read more ... and more, and more.

3-3.30pm – Coffee/tea

3.30-4.30pm Working with cultural producers: methodological reflections

A series of short dialogues between researchers on the ‘Post-socialist punk’ project and band members who have participated as informants in the project. The dialogues will be thematically determined and introduced by the moderator.

Contributors: Ivana Mijić (Ivo Pilar Institute, Zagreb, Croatia), Alina Yakovleva (musician - Ankylym, promoter, Saint Petersburg, Russia), Ilya Alexeev, Yngvar Steinholt, Ivan Gololobov, Petr Fomenko, Alexander Mysin, Aimar Ventsel, Sanya Dubrovin, Al’bina Garifzianova and Anna Zaitseva.

Moderator: Hilary Pilkington

Topics: Being an ‘object’ of research; gender in punk research; ‘insider’ and ‘outsider’ research; what is the point of research on punk?

4.30-5.30pm Closing reflections and discussion: Penny Rimbaud

Penny Rimbaud (Crass, writer, performer)

Photo: Hossam el-Hamalawy

Penny Rimbaud, is a drummer, writer, poet, former member of performance art groups EXIT and Ceres Confusion, and co-founder of the anarchist punk band Crass in 1977. Penny Rimbaud will kick off the session with his reflections on issues discussed during the day before the floor is opened for questions to Penny or general discussion of issues raised during the workshop. Read more ...   Shibboleth is the extraordinary autobiography of Jeremy John Ratter, a.k.a. Penny Rimbaud, founder, lyricist, and drummer of Crass, a band unique in the history of rock 'n' roll. Crass took the idealism of punk seriously. When Sex Pistol Johnny Rotten screamed "No Future" the challenge was taken. In the space of seven short years, from 1977 to their breakup in 1984, Crass almost single-handedly breathed life back into the then moribund peace and anarchist movements. They birthed a huge underground network of do-it-yourself activism, fanzines, record labels, activist action groups, and concert halls. While remaining on their own independent record label, and steadfastly refusing any interviews with the major press, they managed to sell literally millions of records.

and

PHOTO REPORT AVAILABLE

To print the programme [.pdf]

REGISTRATION

Registration is free. However, please note that there is a limited number of spaces available so please register earlier. You can do so by filling the registration form and sending it to Ivan Gololobov by 22April 2011.

REGISTRATION FORM

you can listen what it is all about at: