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The Russian avant-garde is an umbrella term used to define the large, influential wave of modernist art that flourished in Russia from approximately 1890 to 1930. The term covers many separate, but inextricably related, art movements that occurred at the time; namely neo-primitivism, suprematism, constructivism, rayoni... |
In the 20th century many Russian artists made their careers in Western Europe, forced to emigrate by the Revolution. Wassily Kandinsky, Marc Chagall, Naum Gabo and others spread their work, ideas, and the impact of Russian art globally. |
Soviet art |
During the Russian Revolution a movement was initiated to put all arts to service of the dictatorship of the proletariat. The instrument for this was created just days before the October Revolution, known as Proletkult, an abbreviation for "Proletarskie kulturno-prosvetitelnye organizatsii" (Proletarian Cultural and En... |
However, in the late Soviet era many artists combined innovation with socialist realism including Ernst Neizvestny, Ilya Kabakov, Mikhail Shemyakin, Igor Novikov, Erik Bulatov, and Vera Mukhina. They employed techniques as varied as primitivism, hyperrealism, grotesque, and abstraction. Soviet artists produced works th... |
Performance arts |
Russian folk music |
Russians have distinctive traditions of folk music. Typical ethnic Russian musical instruments are gusli, balalaika, zhaleika, balalaika contrabass, bayan accordion, Gypsy guitar and garmoshka. Folk music had great influence on the Russian classical composers, and in modern times it is a source of inspiration for a num... |
Russian folk dance |
Russian folk dance (Russian: Русский Народный Танец) can generally be broken up into two main types of dances. Khorovod (Russian: Хоровод), a circular game type dance where the participants hold hands, sing, and the action generally happens in the middle of circle, and Plyaska (Russian: Пляска or Плясовый), a circular ... |
Ethnic Russian dances include khorovod (Russian: Хоровод), barynya (Russian: Барыня), kamarinskaya (Russian: Камаринская), kazachok (Russian: Казачок) and chechotka (Russian: Чечётка) (a tap dance in bast shoes and with a bayan). Troika (Russian: Тройка) A dance with one man and two women, named after the traditional R... |
Classical music |
Until the 18th century, music in Russia consisted mainly of church music and folk songs and dances. In the 19th century, it was defined by the tension between classical composer Mikhail Glinka along with other members of The Mighty Handful, and the Russian Musical Society led by composers Anton and Nikolay Rubinstein. ... |
Soviet and Russian conservatories have turned out generations of world-renowned soloists. Among the best known are violinists David Oistrakh and Gidon Kremer, cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, pianists Vladimir Horowitz, Sviatoslav Richter, and Emil Gilels, and vocalist Galina Vishnevskaya. |
Ballet |
The original purpose of the ballet in Russia was to entertain the imperial court. The first ballet company was the Imperial School of Ballet in St. Petersburg in the 1740s. The Ballets Russes was a ballet company founded in the 1909 by Sergey Diaghilev, an enormously important figure in the Russian ballet scene. Diaghi... |
During the early 20th century, Russian ballet dancers Anna Pavlova and Vaslav Nijinsky rose to fame. Soviet ballet preserved the perfected 19th century traditions, and the Soviet Union's choreography schools produced one internationally famous star after another, including Maya Plisetskaya, Rudolf Nureyev, and Mikhail ... |
Opera |
The first known opera made in Russia was A Life for the Tsar by Mikhail Glinka in 1836. This was followed by several operas such as Ruslan and Lyudmila in 1842. Russian opera was originally a combination of Russian folk music and Italian opera. After the October Revolution many opera composers left Russia. Russia's mos... |
Electronic and experimental music |
Russia is the place where many of the earliest experiments in electronic music and noise music took place. Arseny Avraamov's magnum opus, "Symphony of the factory sirens" (composed in 1918, performed live in 1922) stood as one of the earliest experiments in noise music and a precursor to musique concrete, Avraamov was ... |
During the 1940s, new electronic instruments were invented in the Soviet Union, including "V-9" (Russian: В-9) by Andrei Volodin, emiriton (Russian: эмиритон) by Andrey Rimsky-Korsakov and A.Ivanov. Emiriton was praised by Shostakovich, and an ensemble of four emiritons toured Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in 194... |
In 1956, Ensemble of Electromusical Instruments (Russian: Ансамбль Электромузыкальных Инструментов), or EMI (Russian: ЭМИ) was founded by Vyacheslav Mescherin. Among many synthesizers used by EMI were theremins, electronic harps, electronic organs, ekvodin and a Soviet-made reverb unit. EMI played music reminiscent of ... |
In 1965, production of the first consumer-grade synthesizer in the Soviet Union, called "Yunost-70" (Youth-70) (Russian: Юность-70), was launched. |
In 1966, Moscow Experimental Electronic Music Studio (MESEM) (Russian: МЭСЭМ) was created by Evgeny Murzin, and it was officially opened in 1967. Several notable electronic and experimental composers emerged from the studio, including Edison Denisov, Sofia Gubaidulina, Stanislav Kreichi, Alexander Nemtin, Sándor Kallós... |
During the late 1960s, electronic light music ensembles emerged in the Soviet Union, among them were Ensemble Rokoko, Ensemble Elektron and various jazz ensembles. Their music was frequently transmitted by radio abroad, an effort to increase foreign tourism to the USSR. |
By the early 1970s, electronic and electroacoustic instruments became a staple in Soviet estrada and VIA music. Electronic music found acceptance in the Soviet cinema, for instance it was used by Andrei Tarkovsky in "Solaris", "Mirror", "Stalker", was used in Andrei Konchalovsky's "Siberiade", but also was used in more... |
Among official soundtracks for the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow opening and closing ceremonies was electronic "Oh Thou Sport, you are eternal progress" (Russian: О, спорт - ты вечный прогресс) from the electronic cantata "Ode to the good messenger" (Russian: Ода доброму вестнику) composed by Eduard Artemiev. The sound ... |
After the fall of Soviet Union, several electronic music subgenres have emerged from Russia, namely hardbass, drift phonk, dark psytrance, hookah rap, operplugg, sovietwave. |
Modern music |
During the Soviet times, popular music also produced a number of renowned figures, such as the two balladeers—Vladimir Vysotsky and Bulat Okudzhava, and performers such as Alla Pugacheva. Jazz, even with sanctions from Soviet authorities, flourished and evolved into one of the country's most popular musical forms. The ... |
Cinema |
Russian and later Soviet cinema was a hotbed of invention, resulting in world-renowned films such as The Battleship Potemkin. Soviet-era filmmakers, most notably Sergei Eisenstein and Andrei Tarkovsky, would go on to become among of the world's most innovative and influential directors. Eisenstein was a student of Lev ... |
The 1960s and 1970s saw a greater variety of artistic styles in Soviet cinema. The comedies of Eldar Ryazanov and Leonid Gaidai of that time were immensely popular, with many of the catchphrases still in use today. In 1961–68 Sergey Bondarchuk directed an Oscar-winning film adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's epic War and Peac... |
Animation |
Russia also has a long and rich tradition of animation, which started already in the late Russian Empire times. Most of Russia's cartoon production for cinema and television was created during Soviet times, when Soyuzmultfilm studio was the largest animation producer. Soviet animators developed a great and unmatched va... |
Science and technology |
Radio and TV |
Russia has almost 37 thousand media outlets, over 35 thousand newspapers, and 12 thousand magazines. The largest internationally operating news agencies in Russia are TASS, RIA Novosti, and Interfax. Television is the most popular media in Russia, as 99% of the Russian population receives at least one television channe... |
Internet |
Originating from Russian scientific community and telecommunication industries, a specific Russian culture of using the Internet has been established since the early 1990s. In the second half of the 1990s, the term Runet was coined to call the segment of Internet written or understood in the Russian language. Whereas t... |
With the introduction of the Web, many social and cultural events found reflections within the Russian Internet society. Various online communities formed, and the most popular one grew out of the Russian-speaking users of the California-based blogging platform LiveJournal (which was completely bought out in December 2... |
As of late, there are scores of websites offering Russian language content including mass media, e-commerce, search engines and so on. Particularly notorious are the "Russian Hackers". Russian web design studios, software and web-hosting enterprises offer a variety of services, and the results form a sort of national d... |
Science and innovation |
Russia's research and development budget is the world's ninth-highest, with an expenditure of approximately 422 billion rubles on domestic research and development. In 2019, Russia was ranked tenth worldwide in the number of scientific publications. Russia ranked 45th in the Global Innovation Index in 2021. Since 1904,... |
Mikhail Lomonosov proposed the conservation of mass in chemical reactions, discovered the atmosphere of Venus, and founded modern geology. Since the times of Nikolay Lobachevsky, who pioneered the non-Euclidean geometry, and a prominent tutor Pafnuty Chebyshev, Russian mathematicians became among the world's most influ... |
Alexander Popov was among the inventors of radio, while Nikolai Basov and Alexander Prokhorov were co-inventors of laser and maser. Zhores Alferov contributed significantly to the creation of modern heterostructure physics and electronics. Oleg Losev made crucial contributions in the field of semiconductor junctions, a... |
Nikolai Vavilov was best known for having identified the centers of origin of cultivated plants. Many famous Russian scientists and inventors were émigrés. Igor Sikorsky was an aviation pioneer. Vladimir Zworykin was the inventor of the iconoscope and kinescope television systems. Theodosius Dobzhansky was the central ... |
Space exploration |
Roscosmos is Russia's national space agency. The country's achievements in the field of space technology and space exploration can be traced back to Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, the father of theoretical astronautics, whose works had inspired leading Soviet rocket engineers, such as Sergey Korolyov, Valentin Glushko, and ma... |
In 1957, the first Earth-orbiting artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, was launched. In 1961, the first human trip into space was successfully made by Yuri Gagarin. Many other Soviet and Russian space exploration records ensued. In 1963, Valentina Tereshkova became the first and youngest woman in space, having flown a solo... |
In 1957, Laika, a Soviet space dog, became the first animal to orbit the Earth, aboard Sputnik 2. In 1966, Luna 9 became the first spacecraft to achieve a survivable landing on a celestial body, the Moon. In 1968, Zond 5 brought the first Earthlings (two tortoises and other life forms) to arrive at and circumnavigate t... |
Lifestyle |
Ethnic dress of Russian people |
Not only the minorities in Russia but the Russian culture as a whole has in the different regions of the country like in Northwest Russia, Central Russia, Southern Russia, Siberian Russia, Volga Russia, Ural Russia, Far East Russia and the Russian North Caucasus and their Oblasts own local traditions and characteristic... |
Traditional Russian clothes include kaftan, a cloth which Old Russia had in common with similar robes in the Ottoman Empire, Scandinavia and Persia. Kosovorotka, which was over a long time of period a traditional holidays blouse worn by men. Ushanka for men, which design was influenced in 17th century when in central a... |
Cuisine |
Russian cuisine has been formed by climate, cultural and religious traditions, and the vast geography of the nation; and it shares similarities with the cuisines of its neighbouring countries. Crops of rye, wheat, barley, and millet provide the ingredients for various breads, pancakes and cereals, as well as for many d... |
Russia's national non-alcoholic drink is kvass, and the national alcoholic drink is vodka, which was created in the nation in the 14th century. The country has the world's highest vodka consumption, while beer is the most popular alcoholic beverage. Wine has become increasingly popular in Russia in the 21st century. Te... |
Traditions |
Holidays |
Russia has eight, diverse—public, patriotic, and religious—official holidays. The year starts with New Year's Day on January 1, soon followed by Russian Orthodox Christmas on January 7; the two are the country's most popular holidays. Defender of the Fatherland Day, dedicated to men, is celebrated on February 23; Inter... |
Victory Day, which honors Soviet victory over Nazi Germany and the End of World War II in Europe, is celebrated as an annual large parade in Moscow's Red Square; and marks the famous Immortal Regiment civil event. Other patriotic holidays include Russia Day on June 12, celebrated to commemorate Russia's declaration of ... |
Popular non-public holidays include Old New Year on 14 January; Tatiana Day on 25 January, dedicated to students; Maslenitsa, an ancient and popular East Slavic folk holiday; Cosmonautics Day on 12 April, in tribute to the first human trip into space; Kupala Night on 6–7 July, a traditional Slavic holiday; and Peter an... |
Religion |
Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Judaism are Russia's traditional religions, deemed part of Russia's "historical heritage" in a law passed in 1997. |
Estimates of believers widely fluctuate among sources, and some reports put the number of non-believers in Russia as high as 48-67% of the population. Russian Orthodoxy is the dominant religion in Russia. 95% of the registered Orthodox parishes belong to the Russian Orthodox Church while there are a number of smaller O... |
The ancestors of many of today's Russians adopted Orthodox Christianity in the 10th century. The 2007 International Religious Freedom Report published by the US Department of State said that approximately 100 million citizens consider themselves Russian Orthodox Christians. According to a poll by the Russian Public Opi... |
Cossack culture in Russia |
The steppe culture of the Russian Cossacks originated from nomadic steppe people which merged with Eastern Slavic people groups into large communities. The early Cossack communities emerged in the 14th century, the first, among others, were the Don Cossacks. Other Cossack communities that have played an important role ... |
Russian forest culture |
The forest plays a very important role in Russia's culture and history. The forest had a great influence on the characteristics of Russian people and their cultural creations. Many myths of Russian culture are closely intertwined with the forest. Various of the early Slavic and other tribes built their houses out of wo... |
More elements of Russian society and culture |
Russian walking culture |
Strolling or walking (Russian: гулять, gulyat') is very common in the Russian society. In contrast to many western countries strolling is very common among young people in Russia. Young people often arrange just to go for a walk. Besides the verb, the experience itself, which describes the time span of the walk, is cal... |
Mushroom hunting and berry picking |
Activities in the forest where people pick mushrooms and berries are very common in Russia. |
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