Irkutsk’s Green Line Self-Guided Walking Tour

The “green line” is a self-guided tour of Irkutsk, which goes around the center of the city with several stops along it. The path is about 5k long, and can take anywhere from 2-3 hours, or even a whole day if you were to stop at even half the museums it passes. I found this […]

Russia’s ‘Ticket Mafia’ and Other Challenges to Managing Russian Cultural Institutions

The “ticket mafia” has long been a problem in Russia. Scalpers buy tickets, often at deep discounts by employing the pensioners who qualify for them, and then sell the tickets at wildly inflated costs. This is not, however, the most interesting inefficiency in managing Russia’s cultural institutions. For instance, the story below details the Bolshoi’s […]

Guide to Irkutsk’s Top Museums

Irkutsk, far from Moscow at the other end of the vast Russian empire, was once a major exile destination for dissident aristocrats and intellectuals. Because of this, it grew into a center of culture and learning to all of Siberia and also became a focal point for early transport and communication infrastructure efforts that sought […]

Irkutsk Welcomes Experimental Artist Sasha Roschin

On Friday, May 11th, the Gallery of Viktor Bronshtaina in Irkutsk premiered its newest temporary exhibit, showcasing the works of Sasha Roschin, an experimental artist and illustrator living in Saint Petersburg. While previously known around the world for his work as a designer and fashion illustrator, recently, Sasha embarked in a new experimental direction – […]

Exhibit of Anatoly Kostovsky at the Irkutsk Regional Art Museum

Starting in January 2018, the Irkutsk Regional Art Museum held an exhibition titled, “Родная Земля,” (translated as “Homeland,”) celebrating the works of Anatoly Kostovsky. A native Irkutsk painter, Kostovsky graduated from the Irkutsk Art College in 1956 and built his career in realism around the diversity of the Irkutsk region, featuring local people, culture, and […]

Dorenberg Art-Factory Special Exhibit: “Primeval Russia”

Recently, Irkutsk’s Dorenberg Art Factory hosted an environmentally focused photo exhibition, showcasing over 100 photographs taken throughout Russia by the country’s most renowned nature photographers.  The exhibit was a part of Primeval Russia (Первозданная Россия), a national nature festival, which is celebrating its 5th anniversary this year. The festival is promoted as a platform for experts […]

Okhlopkov Theater in Irkutsk

The Okhlopkov Theater in Irkutsk (or the Irkutsk Academic Dramatic Theater named for Okhlopkov) is the main dramatic theater in Irkutsk, and the oldest theater in Eastern Siberia. The theater’s directors are understandably proud of their long heritage, as well as their current efforts to promote and develop culture in Irkutsk. Theater is really popular in […]

City Dump Museum in Irkutsk

Irkutsk City Dump Museum Fifth kilometer of Aleksandrovskiy Highway Free The Irkutsk city dump museum is one of the strangest places I have ever been in my life—not just for the fact that it exists, which is weird enough in and of itself, but for what’s in it. The dump/museum is probably about a 20-minute […]

Irkutsk’s Old Houses: Windows to Siberia

The following was contributed by Renee Stillings, Program Director following her recent visit to Irkutsk to check up on SRAS programs there. Those programs include Russian as a Second Language, Siberian Studies, and more. My first visit to Irkutsk happened over twenty years ago, when I was looking to expand study abroad options for SRAS […]

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