July 07, 2022

A Failure to Perform


A Failure to Perform
No Gravity Dance Company performs air dance "Aria" at 2017 Platonov Art Festival. Platonov Arts Festival, VK.com

The annual International Platonov Arts Festival, in Voronezh, has been canceled this year in response to the country's cultural and political climate due to Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Ilya Skripnikov, Acting Director of the festival, cited "current conditions" as the primary concern in his public announcement of the cancellation.

Originally, in April, the festival was just postponed, with regional officials saying it would be held in September instead of June. Now, Voronezh officials say they believe the decision to postpone the festival until 2023 will "maintain the international status, the richness of the program, and the high level of organization."

This year, Platonov's management will continue to work to find new talent and expand the cultural project. They will also "present a special event" in the fall.

Since 2011, the Platonov Festival has become one of Russia's most prominent festivals for art, theater, and music. More than half a million spectators have come from around the world to see its shows. Artists, actors, writers, and musicians from 10 cities in Russia, as well as Argentina, Armenia, Belarus, Mongolia, Serbia, Turkey, Uzbekistan, and South Africa were slated to perform at the 2022 festival.

In his announcement, Skripnikov invited the Voronezh audience back for the next cultural experience: "See you at the XII International Platonov Festival in 2023."

You Might Also Like

Culture Under Fire
  • March 13, 2022

Culture Under Fire

Five sites in Ukraine that are known for their cultural value and how they have been affected by the ongoing war.
Rapping for Peace
  • March 17, 2022

Rapping for Peace

Two of Russia's biggest rappers are taking a stance against the war in Ukraine.
All the Village Is a Stage
  • February 12, 2022

All the Village Is a Stage

Performance art, adventure, and psychedelia in a Russian village. What more could you want?
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals
[INVALID]
[INVALID]
[INVALID]

Some of our Books

The Little Humpbacked Horse
November 03, 2014

The Little Humpbacked Horse

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.

Driving Down Russia's Spine
June 01, 2016

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 

Steppe
July 15, 2022

Steppe

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.

How Russia Got That Way
September 20, 2025

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.

Murder at the Dacha
July 01, 2013

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka
November 01, 2012

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.

A Taste of Chekhov
December 24, 2022

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.

Marooned in Moscow
May 01, 2011

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.

The Latchkey Murders
July 01, 2015

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...

Faith & Humor
December 01, 2011

Faith & Humor

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955