The SCRSS organises a regular programme of lectures,
film shows, exhibitions, seminars and other events at its premises
in London. The Society is also involved in educational and commemorative
events associated with the Soviet War Memorial in London. Events
are open to both SCRSS members and non-members, unless otherwise
stated. The opinions expressed in lectures are those of the individual
speakers and not necessarily those of the SCRSS.
Venue and Tickets
Standard ticket prices for talks are £3.00 (SCRSS members)
and £5.00 (non-members). All other events or classes are
priced as indicated. Our library openings are normally every first
Saturday of the month, but please check the calendar below.
2025 Events Diary
January 2025
Please note: there is no Saturday
library opening in January 2025.
From Thursday 23 January 2025 for 10 Weeks, 18.00 - 20.00
Zoom Online Evening Class: Russian Language for Good Intermediate
Level
Rolling 10-week Zoom evening class, taught by Christine Barnard,
former lecturer in Russian at Westminster University, suitable
for more advanced-level speakers who would like to practise their
conversational skills. The group is small, friendly, informal
and strictly non-competitive. Each session includes one hour of
free conversation, followed by one hour of reading, with a short
break in between. The group reads a variety of short stories or
short extracts from longer books, with suggestions welcome. The
new book for this 10-week term is 'Vitya Maleyev v shkole
i doma'.
There is currently availability for new members to join the class.
For more information or to request a free one-evening trial, please
email Christine Barnard direct on rtstrans1@gmail.com.
Fee for 10 weeks: £60.00 (discounted rate for SCRSS
members: £40.00), payable in advance. Why not become an
SCRSS member to join at the special
discounted rate?
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February 2025
Saturday 1 February 2025, 11.00
- 16.00
Event: SCRSS Library Opening
Library opening for SCRSS members - other visitors by appointment.
Access the library collections and borrow books from the
Literature and Quick Loan sections. Tea and coffee available.
Buy a copy of the Society's definitive history: An Unpopular
Cause: A Centenary History of the Society for Cultural Relations
with the USSR 1924-2024 by Jane Rosen (SCRSS, 2024, ISBN:
978-1-3999-7216-1, Paperback, 176pp, 24 colour plates, £15.00).
Or order
by post.
Saturday 8 February 2025, 15.30 -
16.30
Zoom Online Lecture in Russian: Tatiana Borodina on The Artist
Ilya Repin (1844-1930) and the 'Penaty' Museum-Estate / Khudozhnik
Il'ya Repin (1844-1930) i Muzey-usad'ba "Penaty"
Talk in Russian for SCRSS members and affiliates
only - live from St Petersburg.
Ilya Repin (1844-1930) was an artist whose work is famous worldwide
and includes paintings such as Barge Haulers on the Volga,
Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan and Reply of the
Zaporozhian Cossacks. Repin spent the last 30 years of his
life at his estate 'Penaty' in the village of Repino (formerly
Kuokkola) on the shores of the Gulf of Finland, and wished to
be buried there. The museum-estate was opened in 1940 and the
house retains the original appearance of Repin's studio, dining
room, study and veranda, reflecting the owner's tastes and habits.
In her illustrated talk, Tatiana Borodina will discuss Repin's
life and work at 'Penaty', the museum and its history. Her presentation
will include historical photographs, reproductions of Repin's
works, and contemporary photographs of the museum exhibition and
the surrounding park.
Full details in English and Russian available on Eventbrite.
Booking: via Eventbrite
(booking closes on 6 February 2025 at 20.00). Free of charge (SCRSS
members and affiliates only). Shortly after the event, a link
to the online recording of this talk will be sent to all those
who book (available for up to 30 days). So do book if interested,
even if you cannot attend live.
Tatiana Borodina is an art historian, Honoured Cultural Worker
of the Russian Federation, and works at Ilya Repin's Museum-Estate
'Penaty', near St Petersburg.
Please note: This talk is organised by the
SCRSS in partnership with the St Petersburg Association for International
Co-operation, a non-governmental organisation. The speaker is
a member of the St Petersburg Association and appears in a personal
capacity.
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March 2025
Saturday 1 March
2025, 11.00 - 16.00
Event: SCRSS Library Opening
Library opening for SCRSS members - other visitors by appointment.
Access the library collections and borrow books from the
Literature and Quick Loan sections. Tea and coffee available.
Buy a copy of the Society's definitive history: An Unpopular
Cause: A Centenary History of the Society for Cultural Relations
with the USSR 1924-2024 by Jane Rosen (SCRSS, 2024, ISBN:
978-1-3999-7216-1, Paperback, 176pp, 24 colour plates, £15.00).
Or order
by post.
Wednesday 12 March 2025, 19.00
- 20.00
Zoom Online Lecture: Zhanna Andrianova on Shamanism and Paganism
in Russia
Ancient beliefs continue to play an important role in Russia connecting
humans and nature in the 21st century. From the religion of Mari
El and Slavic witchcraft to shamanism in Siberia, the spiritual
traditions of Russia live through healers, shamans and storytellers,
commonly known as 'the wise people'. Musical instruments like
khomus, gusli, topshur and the shamanic drum are used for healing
and communicating the tales of the ancestors. Mysticism and old
rituals co-exist with advancements in modern science, computer
technologies and spaceflight. This knowledge from the ancient
times is present and passed down from generation to generation
of practitioners both in the cities and the villages.
Slavic mythology continues to influence the society in Russia
with common beliefs, mass celebrations of ancient holidays such
as Maslenitsa, ancestry veneration, many cultural references to
Baba Yaga and the spirits inhabiting both nature and the cities.
Today you can find the healers and practitioners of ancient traditions
through word of mouth in many villages and towns in Russia, just
like in the old days. Shamanism is a major practice in Buryatiya,
Altai, Yakutiya and Tuva with sacred places such as Olkhon Island
on Lake Baikal. The Mari people, a Volga Finnic ethnic group,
practice their rituals in the sacred groves and at home. Russia
is a mystical place with a complex and fascinating culture rooted
in long-standing traditions.
Booking: via Eventbrite.
Normal fees apply. Booking closes on 11 March 2025 at 17.00. Shortly
after the event, a link to the online recording of this talk will
be sent to all those who book (available for up to 30 days). So
do book if interested, even if you cannot attend live.
Zhanna Sebast'yanovna Andrianova, known professionally as
Jahna Sebastian, is a music composer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist
and philosopher, born in Moscow. She attended the Bolshoi Theatre
kindergarten, played domra in the Loktev Ensemble of Russian folk
music for eight years from the age of seven, and graduated from
the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music in 2006. With her cultural
background in traditional, classical and modern music, she launched
her studio Multivizion Music in London in 2007 and Alchemist TV
covering spirituality, music, art and modern society.
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April 2025
From Thursday 3 April 2025 for 10 Weeks, 18.00 - 20.00
Zoom Online Evening Class: Russian Language for Good Intermediate
Level
Rolling 10-week Zoom evening class, taught by Christine Barnard,
former lecturer in Russian at Westminster University, suitable
for more advanced-level speakers who would like to practise their
conversational skills. The group is small, friendly, informal
and strictly non-competitive. Each session includes one hour of
free conversation, followed by one hour of reading, with a short
break in between. The group reads a variety of short stories or
short extracts from longer books, with suggestions welcome. The
group is currently reading 'Vitya Maleyev v shkole i doma'.
There is currently availability for new members to join the class.
For more information or to request a free one-evening trial, please
email Christine Barnard direct on rtstrans1@gmail.com.
Fee for 10 weeks: £60.00 (discounted rate for SCRSS
members: £40.00), payable in advance. Why not become an
SCRSS member to join at the special
discounted rate?
Saturday 5 April 2025, 11.00 -
16.00
Event: SCRSS Library Opening
Library opening for SCRSS members - other visitors by appointment.
Access the library collections and borrow books from the
Literature and Quick Loan sections. Tea and coffee available. Buy a copy of the Society's definitive history: An Unpopular
Cause: A Centenary History of the Society for Cultural Relations
with the USSR 1924-2024 by Jane Rosen (SCRSS, 2024, ISBN:
978-1-3999-7216-1, Paperback, 176pp, 24 colour plates, £15.00).
Or order
by post.
Tuesday 8 April
2025, 19.00 - 20.00
Zoom Online Lecture: Alexei Pavlovsky on Imaginary Cinema
of the Great Patriotic War: How Do Unmade Soviet Films Show the
Siege of Leningrad?
Marking the 80th Anniversary of the Allied Victory over Fascism
in 1945.
Talk in English for SCRSS individual / joint members only
- live from St Petersburg.
In the eighty years since the end of World War II, dozens of feature
films and documentaries have been made about the Siege of Leningrad
(1941-44). However, it is also true that dozens of films about
this heroic and catastrophic time were planned but never made.
'Imaginary cinema' is a body of all unrealised scripts and original
versions of films that were later subjected to harsh censorship
during the Soviet era and which we can reconstruct today only
by relying on documents stored in Russian literary and art archives.
What was this unmade 'imaginary cinema' about? Why did the authors
imagine such images, plots, characters? Why were these cultural
fantasies banned or not in demand? Without becoming part of the
active cultural memory of the 1940s-1990s, these film projects
have become a vast reservoir of the unspoken about the Great Patriotic
War - a truly intriguing and sometimes frankly unexpected history
of Soviet culture that will surprise even experts.
Alexei Pavlovsky is an historian. He is Associate Fellow at
the Center for the Study of Cultural Memory and Symbolic Politics
at the European University in St Petersburg.
Booking: SCRSS individual / joint members only,
free of charge. See SCRSS e-newsletters for details of how to
book. Shortly after the event, a link to the
online recording of this talk will be sent to all SCRSS members
who book (available for up to 30 days). So do book if you are
interested, even if you cannot attend live. Booking closes
19.00 on Monday 7 April.
Please note: This talk is organised by the SCRSS
in partnership with the Interregional (St Petersburg) Association
for International Co-operation, a non-governmental organisation.
The speaker is a member of the Association and appears in a personal
capacity.
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May 2025
Saturday 3 May 2025, 11.00 - 16.00
Event: SCRSS Library Opening
Library opening for SCRSS members - other visitors by appointment.
Access the library collections and borrow books from the
Literature and Quick Loan sections. Tea and coffee available. Buy a copy of the Society's definitive history: An Unpopular
Cause: A Centenary History of the Society for Cultural Relations
with the USSR 1924-2024 by Jane Rosen (SCRSS, 2024, ISBN:
978-1-3999-7216-1, Paperback, 176pp, 24 colour plates, £15.00).
Or order
by post.
Saturday 17 May 2025, 11.00 - 13.00
In-person / Online (Hybrid) Event: SCRSS Annual General Meeting
Hybrid participation. Either: in-person
attendance at the SCRSS office. Or: Zoom online
attendance for those unable to travel to the SCRSS office. SCRSS
members only.
Note: SCRSS members who attend the AGM in person may stay on for
the talk and film screening event that follows at 14.00 free of
charge (otherwise standard fees apply).
Saturday 17
May 2025, 14.00 - 15.15
In-person Talk and Film Screening: Assiya Issemberdiyeva on 'Song
of the Giant' (dir. Roshal and Stroyeva, USSR, 1942)
Marking the 80th Anniversary of the Allied Victory over Fascism
in 1945.
In-person event at the SCRSS office (not streamed online).
Join us for a rare screening and discussion with film scholar
Assiya Issemberdiyeva on Song of the Giant (Pesn' o velikane),
a 35-minute Soviet wartime film made in 1942 as part of the anthology
Brave Warriors of the Steppe (Batyry stepei). Directed
by Vera Stroyeva under the supervision of Grigory Roshal, the
film was produced during the evacuation of Mosfilm and Lenfilm
to Almaty, amid harsh wartime conditions and growing tensions
between Soviet European filmmakers and local Kazakh creatives.
Set on the frontline, the film follows a Red Army soldier, Koregen
(based on real-life war hero Tolegen Toktarov), as he recounts
to his comrades the legend of Tolagai, a mythical Kazakh warrior
who gave his life for his people. This film-within-a-film structure
intertwines folk legend with Soviet wartime narrative, mobilising
Kazakh cultural heritage in the service of Soviet patriotism and
socialist heroism. Written by Abdilda Tazhibaev, the film is a
vivid example of wartime Sovietisation through cinema, blending
national identity with ideological purpose.
Despite technical limitations and its modest scale, Song of
the Giant succeeds in fusing Kazakh folklore with Soviet
myth-making. Stroyeva's work was recognised with the title Honoured
Artist of the Kazakh SSR in 1944.
Never previously released in the UK, this screening features newly
created English subtitles. Assiya Issemberdiyeva, an expert on
Soviet Central Asian and Kazakh cinema, will explore its artistic,
political, and historical significance.
Booking: Tickets available on the door from 13.45.
Normal fees apply. (Free entry to SCRSS members who attend the
preceding AGM.)
Assiya Issemberdiyeva holds a Collaborative Doctoral Award
with Queen Mary University of London and the SCRSS, funded by
the London Arts and Humanities Partnership. Her PhD thesis explores
the representation of Central Asia in wartime Soviet cinema. Assiya
is a member of the Association of Kazakhstani Film Critics. She
has contributed to Apparatus, KinoKultura, and The Calvert Journal,
as well as edited volumes, including 'Gender and Kazakh Society'
(Almaty, 2022) and 'Kazakh Cinema: Cultural Matrix and Trends'
(Almaty, 2023).
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June 2025
Saturday 7 June 2025, 11.00 -
16.00
Event: SCRSS Library Opening
Library opening for SCRSS members - other visitors by appointment.
Access the library collections and borrow books from the
Literature and Quick Loan sections. Tea and coffee available. Buy a copy of the Society's definitive history: An Unpopular
Cause: A Centenary History of the Society for Cultural Relations
with the USSR 1924-2024 by Jane Rosen (SCRSS, 2024, ISBN:
978-1-3999-7216-1, Paperback, 176pp, 24 colour plates, £15.00).
Or order
by post.
Saturday 21 June 2025, 16.00 -
17.00
Zoom Online Lecture in Russian: Anastasia Belyaeva on The
Peter and Paul Fortress - History and the Present Day / Petropavlovskaya
krepost' - istoriya i sovremennost'
Talk in Russian for SCRSS members and
affiliates only - live from St Petersburg.
The Peter and Paul Fortress was founded on 27 May 1703. According
to legend, Peter I himself chose the location for the new fortress
- on the small Hare Island close to the mouth of the River Neva
in St Petersburg. The citadel, which is in the form of a six-pointed
star, was designed by the French engineer Joseph-Gaspard Lambert
with the Tsar's involvement. In her talk in Russian, Anastasia
Belyaeva will discuss the history of the Peter and Paul Fortress
as a Russian architectural monument, the tomb of the Romanov Imperial
Family, and a political prison. She will also look at the museum
today. Full talk description and author biography in Russian and
English on Eventbrite.
Anastasia Belyaeva is the Head Development Specialist at the
State Museum of the History of St Petersburg, which includes the
Peter and Paul Fortress.
Booking: via Eventbrite
(booking closes at 20.00 on Friday 20 June). SCRSS members
and affiliates only, free of charge. Shortly after the event,
a link to the online recording of this talk will be sent to all
SCRSS members or affiliates who book (available for up to 30 days).
So do book if you are interested, even if you cannot attend live.
Note: The Society is aware that some people
do not appear to receive the automated Eventbrite booking confirmation
and reminder emails. If you book but do not receive a confirmation
within one hour, check your Junk Mail folder and, if it is not
there, please email the Society on ruslibrary@scrss.org.uk
- we will check, confirm and provide the necessary details.
This talk is organised by the SCRSS in partnership with
the Interregional (St Petersburg) Association for International
Co-operation, a non-governmental organisation. The speaker is
a member of the Association and appears in a personal capacity.
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July 2025
From Thursday 3 July 2025 for 10 Weeks, 18.00 - 20.00
Zoom Online Evening Class: Russian Language for Upper Intermediate
Level
Rolling 10-week Zoom evening class, taught by Christine Barnard,
former lecturer in Russian at Westminster University, suitable
for more advanced-level speakers (upper intermediate) who would
like to practise their conversational skills. The group is small,
friendly, informal and strictly non-competitive. Each session
includes one hour of free conversation, followed by one hour of
reading, with a short break in between. The group reads a variety
of short stories or short extracts from longer books, with suggestions
welcome. The group is currently reading 'Vitya Maleyev v shkole
i doma'.
There is currently availability for new members to join the class.
For more information or to request a free one-evening trial, please
email Christine Barnard direct on rtstrans1@gmail.com.
As this is a rolling 10-week session and is conversation and reading
based, you can join at any time, not just at the beginning of
a 10-week session.
Fee for 10 weeks: £60.00 (discounted rate for SCRSS
members: £40.00), payable in advance. Why not become an
SCRSS member to join at the special
discounted rate?
Saturday 5 July 2025, 11.00 - 16.00
Event: SCRSS Library Opening
Library opening for SCRSS members - other visitors by appointment.
Access the library collections and borrow books from the
Literature and Quick Loan sections. Tea and coffee available. Buy a copy of the Society's definitive history: An Unpopular
Cause: A Centenary History of the Society for Cultural Relations
with the USSR 1924-2024 by Jane Rosen (SCRSS, 2024, ISBN:
978-1-3999-7216-1, Paperback, 176pp, 24 colour plates, £15.00).
Or order
by post.
Back to top
August 2025
Saturday 2 August
2025, 11.00 - 16.00
Event: SCRSS Library Opening
Library opening for SCRSS members - other visitors by appointment.
Access the library collections and borrow books from the
Literature and Quick Loan sections. Tea and coffee available. Buy a copy of the Society's definitive history: An Unpopular
Cause: A Centenary History of the Society for Cultural Relations
with the USSR 1924-2024 by Jane Rosen (SCRSS, 2024, ISBN:
978-1-3999-7216-1, Paperback, 176pp, 24 colour plates, £15.00).
Or order
by post.
Back to top
September 2025
Saturday 6 September 2025, 11.00
- 16.00
Event: SCRSS Library Opening
Library opening for SCRSS members - other visitors by appointment.
Access the library collections and borrow books from the
Literature and Quick Loan sections. Tea and coffee available. Buy a copy of the Society's definitive history: An Unpopular
Cause: A Centenary History of the Society for Cultural Relations
with the USSR 1924-2024 by Jane Rosen (SCRSS, 2024, ISBN:
978-1-3999-7216-1, Paperback, 176pp, 24 colour plates, £15.00).
Or order
by post.
Saturday 20 September 2025, time
TBC
In-person Talk at Marx Memorial Library and Workers’ School:
Ben Lunn on British Composer Alan Bush (1900–95)
Joint SCRSS - Marx Memorial Library and Workers’ School
(MML) event held in person at the MML centre, 37a Clerkenwell
Green, London, EC1R 0DU.
This year is the 125th anniversary of the birth of British composer,
pianist, conductor and pedagogue Alan Bush (1900–95). In
1936, Bush founded the Workers' Music Association, dedicated to
the musical activities of the working class, and the Association
continues its work today. Bush was a long-standing member of the
SCRSS (and its Vice-President from 1968 until his death in 1995),
providing advice, articles, talks and concerts for the Society
and he always promoted closer cultural relations between the UK
and the Soviet Union.
In his talk, Ben Lunn discusses the politics, theoretical backdrop
and history of British composer Alan Bush, sharing how he attempted
to address political questions in his work. Full details and time
to follow.
Booking: details to follow.
Ben Lunn is a composer and musicologist by trade. He did his
Masters in the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, and wrote
his thesis on Julius Juzeliunas, a prominent Lithuanian composer
during the Soviet years. Ben's PhD covered the work of Alan Bush
and many other left-wing composers. Ben is Secretary of the Workers'
Music Association.
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October 2025
Saturday 4 October 2025, 11.00
- 16.00
Event: SCRSS Library Opening
Library opening for SCRSS members - other visitors by appointment.
Access the library collections and borrow books from the
Literature and Quick Loan sections. Tea and coffee available. Buy a copy of the Society's definitive history: An Unpopular
Cause: A Centenary History of the Society for Cultural Relations
with the USSR 1924-2024 by Jane Rosen (SCRSS, 2024, ISBN:
978-1-3999-7216-1, Paperback, 176pp, 24 colour plates, £15.00).
Or order
by post.
Back to top
November 2025
Saturday 1 November 2025, 11.00
- 13.30
Event: SCRSS Library Opening and Centenary Exhibition
Library opening for SCRSS members - other visitors by appointment.
Access the library collections and borrow books from the
Literature and Quick Loan sections. Tea and coffee available. Buy a copy of the Society's definitive history: An Unpopular
Cause: A Centenary History of the Society for Cultural Relations
with the USSR 1924-2024 by Jane Rosen (SCRSS, 2024, ISBN:
978-1-3999-7216-1, Paperback, 176pp, 24 colour plates, £15.00).
Or order
by post.
Saturday 1 November 2025, 14.00
- 15.00
In-person Talk: HGW Davie on Everything for the Front! Resource
Management in the Red Army During the German-Soviet War 1941-1945
In-person lecture at the SCRSS centre
in Brixton. Note: this event is not available online, only in
person.
The usual tale of the Soviet Union during the Second World War
is one of successful mobilisation; arms and weapons are produced
in large quantities from the new factories in the Urals, as a
result of the expansion of industry during the first two Five
Year Plans. However, this is not the whole picture as other industries
such as chemicals and agriculture were less well developed and
did not do so well. The result was that ammunition, fuel and food
were all in short supply during the war and the 'Rear of the Red
Army' had to make the system work. How they did it, is the subject
of this talk.
Booking: booking details to follow. Normal fees
apply.
HGW Davie is a postgraduate student at the University of East
Anglia and is studying the logistics of the Red Army during the
German-Soviet War 1941-1945. He has papers published in the 'Journal
of Slavic Military Studies' and a chapter in the Routledge 'Handbook
of Russian and Soviet Military Studies' (2025).
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December 2025
Saturday 6 December 2025, 11.00
- 16.00
Event: SCRSS Library Opening and Centenary Exhibition
Library opening for SCRSS members - other visitors by appointment.
Access the library collections and borrow books from the
Literature and Quick Loan sections. Tea and coffee available. Buy a copy of the Society's definitive history: An Unpopular
Cause: A Centenary History of the Society for Cultural Relations
with the USSR 1924-2024 by Jane Rosen (SCRSS, 2024, ISBN:
978-1-3999-7216-1, Paperback, 176pp, 24 colour plates, £15.00).
Or order
by post.
Saturday 5 December 2025, 16.00 - 18.00
In-person Event: SCRSS Christmas Party for SCRSS Members Only
Booking and other details to follow.
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