Events for the Year 2008
9.12.2008
The National Library of Russia presents the facsimile of the Sixteenth-Century Illustrated Chronicle Compilation.
The facsimile edition of the Sixteenth-Century Illustrated Chronicle Compilation (Litsevoy letopisny svod in Russian) was presented on 9 December 2008 at the New Building of the National Library of Russia (165, Moskovsky Prospekt).
The Illustrated Chronicle Compilation is a unique manuscript memorial of the sixteenth-century book art, created by order of the Tsar Ivan the Terrible. It has survived in ten volumes that give an account of Biblical events from the beginning of the world to the Byzantine Empire in the tenth century. They also contain a chronicle of the history of our country, covering the period of four and a half centuries between 1114 and 1567.
These grandiose in size, chronographic and annalistic codices are unparallelled in world culture for a wide coverage of historical affairs and extensive illustration. The unrivalled masterpieces of Russian culture are lavishly illustrated with numerous miniatures that are considered of particular value.
During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the compilation, created as an integral whole, were dispersed, and today separate volumes of the memorial are held at divers repositories of Russia. In 2005, the Limited Company Akteon in cooperation with the State Historical Museum began to work on the united facsimile edition, then the National Library of Russia and the Library of the Academy of Sciences continued the work. The edition consists of the original 19 volumes and 11 supplements containing descriptions of the manuscripts, the transliteration of the text and indexes.
The new Illustrated Chronicle Compilation as a luxurious facsimile edition not only preserves the original and gives an opportunity for specialists to study its text and miniatures, but also broadens access to the ancient manuscript for the general public.
Contact telephone number: 718-85-60 (Press Service of the Library)
27.11.2008
The international conference, dedicated to studying the works and aesthetics of the Italian author Benedetto Croce, was held on 4 - 5 December in Saint Petersburg.
Benedetto Croce was an Italian philosopher and critic. The range of his research interests is surprisingly immense. It included philosophy, aesthetics, economics, history, histories of literature and theatre and many other. He was made Minister of Public Education of Italy. In the years of the Fascist dictatorship, he was the only Italian significant writer who openly opposed Benito Mussolini.
During the days of the conference, scholars from Italian and Russian Universities, representatives of the Center for the Study of Benedetto Croce's Legacy (Naples) and other research institutes made spoken reports.
The book and artwork exhibition, devoted to the life and works of Benedetto Croce started on 4 December at the Main Building of the National Library of Russia (18, Sadovaya street). The display showcases artwork, as well as texts and scientific publications from the collections of the National library of Russia.
It is organized by the Faculty of Philosophy and Political Science at the Saint Petersburg State University and the Institute of Italian Culture at the Consulate General of the Italian Republic in Saint Petersburg.
Contact telephone number: 718-85-60 (Press Service of the Library)
26.11.2008
The exhibition devoted to the Pulkovo Meridian started on 26 November at 16.00 at the New Building of the National Library of Russia.
The Pulkovo Meridian, which is located at 30°19,6‘ east of Greenwich, – a unique cultural phenomenon. It passes through Saint Petersburg, St Sophia Cathedrals in the cities of Veliky Novgorod, Polotsk, and Kiev, a mosque in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey), Egyptian pyramids in Giza. The display speaks about histories and spiritual development of these cities.
The project aims to invite scholar and enthusiasts from Saint Petersburg, Veliky Novgorod, Polotsk, Kiev, Istanbul, Egypt etc who study a phenomenon of the Pulkovo Meridian, discuss a backlog of issues, try to understand why the Pulkovo Meridian has become the concentration of spiritual wealth of mankind.
The exhibition is intended for the most general public.
Contact telephone number: 718-85-60 (Press Service of the Library)
25.11.2008
Latin American Culture Days in Saint Petersburg
The book and artwork exhibition «Latin America: from Conquistadors to Independence» opened on 25 November at 16.00 at the New Building of the National Library of Russia (165, Moskovsky Prospekt) to welcome Latin American Culture Days to our city.
The display showcases books on countries of Latin America, published in Russian within the last 20 years. Colourful publications from the collections of the National Library of Russia speak about the histories and cultures of these countries, their development, current situation, as well as about their contacts with Russia.
One of the exhibition sections features works of art, created by students of the Art School on the Vasilyevsky /Basil's/ Island. The items, presented in it, include drawings and ceramic ware, dedicated to the theme of the display.
Latin American Culture Days are an inspirational event in the life of our city. The exhibition in the National Library of Russia is interesting for all lovers of the histories and cultures of these countries.
It is organized by the Committee for External Relations of the Saint Petersburg City Government in close cooperation with the National Library of Russia.
Contact telephone number: 718-85-60 (Press Service of the Library)
21-23.11.2008
Festival of Cossack Traditions
The 4th All-Russian festival of Cossack traditions «Cossack Glory…» took place in Saint Petresburg. The festival started on 21 November at 18.00 at the Building of the National Library of Russia on the Fontanka Embankment and lasted for 3 days.
During the three days of the festival from 21 to 23 November, masterclasses and teaching seminars on traditional Cossack singing, Caucasian Cossack dancing were run at the Concert Hall of the Library (36, the Fontanka Embankment). Artistic directors of ethnic and folk ensembles of song and dance helped visitors to share the Cossack culture through song and dance.
Ethnic song and dance performing groups from Cossack villages of Stavropol Krai and Volgograd Oblast, folk song and dance ensembles from Moscow, Pervouralsk, Saratov and Saint Petersburg took part at the festival.
The festival aimed to revive spiritual and cultural foundations of the Russian Cossacks as well as Cossack family traditions, to instill patriotic feelings in the younger generation and foster a spirit of national identity.
The founders of the festival were the Cossack Cultural Foundation with assistance from the National Library of Russia, the Committee for Youth Policy and Social Organizations Interaction, the Committee for Culture of the Saint Petersburg City Government, the Saint Petersburg State Academic Choral Capella.
A press conference, dedicated to the 4th festival of Cossack traditions, was held on 18 November 2008 at 12.00.
The announcement of the festival events as well as the first results of the execution of the programme on the creation of «United Holdings of Music Audio Recordings of Russian (Cossack) Folklore», led by the National Library of Russia, were offered to journalists.
19.11.2008
Common Informational Space: Books from CIS Countries
The exhibition of newly acquired books Common Informational Space: Books from CIS Countries to Readers of the National Library of Russia started at the New Building of the National Library of Russia on 19 November 2008 (165, Moskovsky prospect).
The display showcases more than 300 books from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus (formerly Byelorussia), Kazakhstan, Moldova, Ukraine printed both in Russia and in languages of CIS countries.
Colourful, richly illustrated publications speak about histories, cultures, about current political and economical situations in these countries, about a long-standing friendship with Russia and about current tendencies in relations between Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Especially notworthy among the exhibited items are reference and encyclopaedic resources, obtained the Library from CIS countries.
Books, presented in the exhibition are interesting and useful for the most general public.
The display will last up to 5 December 2008.
Contact telephone number: 718-86-81 (the Acquisition Department of the Library)
31.10.2008
Kazakh Culture Days
The exhibition «And Kazakhs Gave me the Name Zhambyl…» is held at the Main Building of the National Library of Russia as part of the celebrations of Kazakh Culture Days in Russia.
On display are materials relating to the Kazakh traditional folksinger (Kazakh: akyn) Zhambyl Zhabayev (often simply called "Zhambul"). In the Kazakh culture, an akyn is a performer who improvises verses to the accompaniment of a dombra (a string instrument).
Zhambyl Zhabayev was born in 1846 in a poor nomad's family. After learning to play a dombra, he left home and became a song performer so as to earn his living. In his improvisations, Zhambyl took all the best from the heritage of most known akyns. He sang only in Kazakh, but many his verses were translated into Russian. The great majority of songs were patriotic. During the years of the Wold War II, the poem Leningraders, my children!, devoted to defenders of the besieged Leningrad, was heard around the country.
When he was ninety years old, Zhambyl gained world fame. In the last ten years of his life, he was at the height of his popularity: his works were translated into many languages, they were published in very large numbers both in the country and abroad. Authors have written stories and verses about him, made films.
On view in the exibition are references by such scholars as K.Zelinsky, I.Ismailov, and M.Fetisov, dedicated to studying the life and works of Zhambyl. Among the exhibits are books by the Kazakh poet, issued in divers years. The most respected akyn of Kazakhstan lived along with his nation for almost a hundred years. Zhambyl raised the Kazakh culture to a very high level.
15 October 2008
The exhibition celebrating 50 years of the composer Alexandr Izosimov's burth took place on 15 October at the National Library of Russia in the Reaing Room of the Printed Music and Recorded Sound Department (Fontanka Embankment, 36).
Alexandr Izosimov is the author of the musical method, named by him The breathing tune. This method has an effect of breathing, which enlivens deeply spiritual conceptions of the composer's sacred music: Gratitude to the Life-giver for Chorus, Organ and Chamber Orchestra, When My Soul was A Cloud and Infernale for violin and piano etc. Alexandr Izosimov's musical method became a true discovery for musicians and listeners. Alfred Schnittke expressed great appreciation of the composer's works.
Particularly noteworthy among them is Alexandr Izosimov vocal music, following the tradition of Russian songs. The cycle the Handsome Newcomer's Songs for four voices and piano to texts by the noted Russian poets Arseny Tarkovsky and Aleksandr Blok, the prominent German poets Ludwig Uhland and Eduard Mörike caused a sensation that brought fame to the composer in Russia and abroad. This music inspired the Saint Petersburg artists Svetlana and Sabir Gadzhievs to create paintings, and the director Vitaly Kovalenko to make the documentary film the Handsome Newcomer's Songs.
On display were scores and audio publications of Izosimov's works, reproductions of Gadzhievs' paintings, reference materials, iconography. It was possible to listen to the composer's music and to contact him.
30 September 2008
Imperial and Grand Princely Book Collections in the National Library of Russia
The National Library of Russia has launched the new project — the series Imperial and Grand Princely Book Collections in the National Library of Russia. The presentation of the series took place on 30 September, 2008 at the Library's Main Building (18, Sadovaya St.)Each of 65 members of the Russian Imperial family had his or her own private library, a kind of its owner's «personal diary». However, after the Revolution of 1917, Imperial and Grand Princely collections, documenting the more than 300-year history of the reign of the Imperial House of Romanov, were partly destroyed or sold out. Those, which have survived, passed mainly into holdings of our Library.
In addition, by 1917, book collections of the Russian Imperial family contained over 30 personal libraries which once belonged to famous bibliophiles, including the president of the St Petersburg Academy of Sciences Johann Korff, the two great Frenchmen Denis Diderot and Voltaire, Russian statesmen Prince Alexey Lobanov-Rostovsky and Prince Mikhail Shcherbatov, celebrated families the Counts of Demidov and the Counts of Mordvinov and others. Now the National Library of Russia houses these unique collections, considered to be treasures of national importance.
The work of publishing the series Imperial and Princely Book Collections in the National Library of Russia started in July of 2008. This project is an essential share in the revival and conservation of Russia's cultural heritage in the field of book art.
The project is based on researches made by Ekaterina Gerasimova, a member of the National Library of Russia, who has studied Imperial and Grand Princely collections of printed and manuscript materials over the last ten years.
The presentation introduced a scientific catalogue. The catalogue speaks of the forthcoming serial publication in detail. It lists owner's copies of all Their Imperial Majesties' Own Libraries in holdings of the National Library of Russia, as well as Grand Princely collections, acquired by the NLR in the 20-30s of the twentieth century.
The presentation commemorates 80 years after the death of Empress Maria Feodorovna.