2020a Opening
11 December 2020 from 17:00 to 19:00
Manning Clark House, 11 Tasmania Circle Forrest
Opening night of the Canberra Pushkin Club
In a new initiative by a small group of long-standing MCH members, we invite MCH members old and new to support the Canberra Pushkin Club, a new MCH cultural group. The group invites anyone interested in Russian literature, music and history to join the Club. The only requirement for membership of the Pushkin Club is that you are or become a member of Manning Clark House (see below). Alternatively, those not wanting to join MCH and wishing to simply attend some of the Club’s activities will be charged a small entrance fee.
The group is apolitical in nature, while starting from a basic position of interest in Russia, its diverse peoples and cultures, and the Russian language.
On Friday December 11th we plan to hold our first informal meeting. It will take the form of an introduction to the Pushkin Club, informal free conversation and a few selected interpretative readings in Russian and English of some of the most famous short poems by Pushkin, the father of modern Russian literature. Only fitting, given our title! The event will conclude with some Russian folk songs brought to us by a member of the Canberra Slavic Choir.
More details about Canberra Pushkin Club Become a member of Manning Clark House
The events of the opening night
- Welcome to Country, welcome, brief explanation of Pushkin Club, by Penny Lockwood, MCH vice-president
- Manning and Dymphna’s love of Russian culture, by Sebastian Clark, MCH President, son of Manning and Dymphna Clark
- Pushkin Poem – The Monument – Памятник, by Marina Iskhakova
Dr. Marina Iskhakova joined the Research School of Economics at ANUwhich she joined with her husband Fedor Iskhakov in 2016. She has a strong academic background with a Masters degree in Mathematical Economics and a PhD in Human Resource management from St.Petersburg State University, Russia. She also has an MBA in Strategic Leadership from the Norwegian School of Business. Marina lived, worked and studied in Russia, Norway, China, the USA, UK and now resides in Australia, Canberra. Pushkin is Marina’s literature passion. She was a museum guide at her school’s Pushkin Museum for 6 years and knows all of Evgenii Onegin by heart.
- Pushkin Poem – Autumn – Осень, by Tony Kevin
Tony Kevin is a long standing member of Manning Clark House and a former diplomat. From 1968 to 98 he served in the Australian Embassy in Russia and Poland (where he was Ambassador) among other countries he served in. Since 2000 Tony has been an independent author and commentator and amongst other books wrote Return to Moscow in 2017. He has also published extensively in other media outlets on Russia.
- Russian folk Music, by George Shaw
George Shaw George is an extraordinary person. When I first met him I asked him how it was that he spoke such perfect Russian. And then I learned that he had discovered a love for the language when he watched two Russian language films in 1986 at the Perth Cultural Festival. He enrolled a month later in Russian language night classes at TAFE, then in 1988 took a year’s leave without pay from his teaching job to study for a year at the Pushkin Institute of the Russian language in Moscow through to June 1989. He came to Canberra with his young family in 1992 to start a new career here. His son is now studying fine arts at the Repin Institute in St Petersburg and has been living in Russian since 2015.
- “Why I was excited to learn about Pushkin Club”, by Adam Mayers
Adam Mayers Adam is a graduate of Politics, Philosophy and Economics at the ANU and current ACT Government public servant. After studying Russian history as part of his degree, Adam travelled to Russia for a number of months across both the summer and winter of 2018. Adam is a keen advocate of Russian-Australian cultural exchange; wishing to promote the love and camaraderie that he received during his time in Russia to Australians curious about exploring ore about Russia and its unique culture
All pictures from the opening night
