PhD student Theodora Clarke created the website as a follow-up to her successful Bristol Institute for Research in the Humanities and Arts (BIRTHA)-sponsored ‘Cultural Exchange: Russia and the West’ conference at the University earlier this year. Her aim is to create an ongoing forum for discussion of Russian art and culture.
She will be publishing articles, interviews with curators and reviews of recent exhibitions and publications. The website will give academics, researchers, students and interested members of the public the opportunity to read about the latest developments in Russian art theory and criticism. It will also be a hub for information on interesting related events such as exhibitions and lectures.
Theodora Clarke said: “The conference I organised earlier this year at Bristol was a great opportunity for postgraduates in various areas of Russian art and culture to get together and share their research. After the event, many of the students wanted to keep in touch and I thought it would be a great idea to set up a website where they could share news and research.
“It can be quite isolating writing your PhD over many years so the site Russian Art and Culture is an easy way to get updated on other people’s projects and to hear about interesting related events. Also I wanted to create a website where graduates would have the opportunity to publish articles to help build up their portfolios. It is so difficult to get writing published as a first-time contributor so this should help.
“The feedback has been amazing on the website so far. In the first month I had over 1,100 hits and the audience is not just based in the UK. There are nearly as many readers in the USA and Germany as there are here at home. My subscribers are located all over the world from as far afield as Russia, Australia and Spain! My plan is to publish one of the papers from Bristol University’s conference next month and I hope to publish a number of graduate articles later this year.”
The University has a strong tradition of supporting Russian research. There are a number of current staff who focus on areas of Russian and East European culture including the arts, music and history of art.
Russian Art and Culture publishes articles, reviews and news. Contributions from curators, academics and graduates students are encouraged. Reviews should be 400-500 words long and articles up to 1000 words. If you would like to publish news of an event or submit a piece, please contact Theodora Clarke. The website will publish notices of calls for papers, academic conferences, study days, exhibitions and sales.