archive section
Events
Past Events
- MARCH 2003-SEPT 2008
From 2003 to 2008 the SRF published a summary of its activities each year
Reports and accounts submitted to OSCR from 2007
AGM reports
Trustees' and Treasurer's reports to the AGM from 2016-17
Chair's reports from 2009
Exhibitions
Exhibitions at the Scotland-Russia Institute 2008-12
2012
Edinburgh’s Soviet Cinema
10 November – 22 December 2012
Curated by Marc David Jacobs. Soviet films shown in Edinburgh by the Edinburgh Film Guild and others from the 1920s through the 1980s.
1812: Diorama of the Battle of Borodino
26 September – 3 November 2012
Wooden Churches in the Russian North
4 October-3 November 2012
Photographs by Richard Davies. See “Wooden Churches. Travelling in the Russian North“.
Soviet Grand Designs
4 August-22 September 2012
A selling exhibition featuring Evgeni Kazmin’s drawings for monumental mosaic projects, Sochi, 1960-1980 and Vladimir Burov’s 1960s paintings of Magnitogorsk, as well as other paintings by distinguished artists of the late Soviet period. 3* review by Duncan Macmillan in the Scotsman 6 September, page 8. Exhibition brochure.
Britain through the eyes of St Petersburg artists
26 May-30 June 2012
An exhibition of paintings by a group of established artists from St Petersburg: Boris Borsch, Veronika Leontyeva, Vladimir Rogozin, Nadia Vinogradova and Anatoly Zaslavskiy. Download exhibition brochure.
Drawing the Court / Рисуем Суд
22 March-18 May 2012
A selection of drawings by artists, illustrators and cartoonists working at the 2009 trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev. The complete set can be seen on risuemsud.ru (starts at the foot of page 32, finishes on page 62).
Byzantium. Gateway between East and West
4 Feb – 31 March 2012
A ProArt exhibition supported by Edinburgh International Festival of Middle Eastern Spirituality and Peace.
2011
Russian Theatre in Performance. Photographs by Ken Reynolds
5 November 2011 – 28 January 2012
Sponsored by Russkiy Mir. Download exhibition brochure.
Poyekhali! Yuri Gagarin and the Dawn of Space Exploration
17 September – 28 October 2011
An exhibition created by RIA Novosti and the Science Photo Library. Sponsored by Russkiy Mir. Download exhibition brochure.
KOZMOS: Man’s first flight into space
17 September – 28 October 2011
Pop up exhibition downstairs at SRI, curated by Margaret Cox and the KOZMOS collective.
My Never-Ending Friend: The Art of Alexander Voitsekhovsky
6 August – 3 September 2011
An Edinurgh Art Festival exhibition, Sponsored by Russkiy Mir. Download exhibition brochure.
Reactions to Vysotsky. Scottish Artists Respond to the Russian Bard
12-18 August 2011
Exhibition website
Andrei D. Sakharov: Alarm and Hope
11 June – 9 July 2011
With support from the Council of Europe and the Sakharov Museum. Exhibition posters and leaflet. Sponsored by Russkiy Mir. We also showed the film “My Husband Andrey Sakharov” (Latvia 2006).
Russia’s Cities: War and Poetry
7 May – 4 June 2011
Watercolours of Russia’s Hero Cities and of Anna Akhmatova’s home by Janet Treloar. Exhibition brochure and visitor comments. Sponsored by Russkiy Mir.
I Spy with my Mind’s Eye… An Exhibition of Paintings by Olga Geoghegan
5-29 April 2011
Download the exhibition brochure. Sponsored by Russkiy Mir.
Armenia: The Literary and Visual Tradition
11 February – 26 March 2011
Sergei Nikitin (airo) : Sketches inspired by Russian folklore
18 January – 10 February 2011
2010
Tatiana Andreevna’s Matryoshki
27 November – 15 December 2010
Elizabeth Warner: The Russian village through British eyes. Photographs of rural north Russia 2004-2009
11 September – 30 October 2010
Download exhibition brochure
Alison Milner-Gulland: Russian Memories
7 August – 4 September 2010
Download exhibition brochure
St. Petersburg: Reflections of a Floating Life. Photographs by Craig Brandist
1 June – 2 July 2010
Scotsman review here
Paintings from St Petersburg, 1950-2000
10 April – 22 May 2010
Shelagh Atkinson – A Walk along the Fontanka. Prints and pastel drawings of street scenes of St.Petersburg
13 March-4 April 2010
Georgia – a Country of Ancient Writing
13 February – 6 March 2010
UK Charities in Russia and neighbouring countries
26 January – 6 February 2010
2009
William Carrick: a Scottish Photographer in Nineteenth-Century Russia
4 December 2009 – 22 January 2010
St Petersburg Schools Celebrate Homecoming 09: paintings by school pupils
31 Oct – 28 Nov 2009
Quiet Russia: Photographs by Shamil Khairov
26 Sept – 17 Oct 2009
Russian Costumes: watercolours by Evgenia Gradova
8 – 19 September 2009
Gennadii Gogoliuk: Recent Work
8 August – 5 September 2009
Ballets Russes Anniversary Exhibition
1-31 July 2009
Painters from Feodosia: Vasyl’ Floreskul and Vladimir Astaf’ev
23 May to 12 June 2009
Exhibition of Turkmen art
28 April – 15 May 2009
Russia and Scotland in the work of Kirill Sokolov, 1930-2004
21 March – 17 April 2009
Splendour Perfected: Trade Relations Between Byzantium and the Countries along the Silk Road
2-28 February 2009
2008
Zerkalo|Mirror: Exhibition of photographs by Ukrainian artist Alina Kisina
4 Dec 2008 – 15 January 2009
2010 article about the artist’s work here
“Russia-Britain” Exhibition. From the archives of RIA-Novosti
4 – 22 Nov 2008
Paintings by Olga Yukhtina-Geoghan
27 Sept – 24 Oct 2008
Business Events
The SRF has run Business Networking Group meetings and business conferences and offers Russian language tuition for business purposes. Past events included:
All day business conferences:
26.3.04: Now’s the time! Business Opportunities in Russia.
15.4.05: Business Opportunities in Russia.
9.4.10: Challenges and Opportunities in Today’s Russia.
Delegates commented:Thank you very much for a very worthwhile day; Overall, it was excellent, and far exceeded my expectations. I hope you will run it again, I will definitely join it; Thank you for organizing such a fantastic event with so many interesting speakers and delegates!; Many congratulations on such a successful and stimulating Russian business forum yesterday; Excellent [speakers] – both balanced and wide ranging; Very good [catering] – delicious Russian food!; Good opportunity to network; Worth the money
23.11.10 UKTI – Doing business in Russia and Kazakhstan
28.1.10 Vladimir Kvint – The Theory of the Global Emerging Market and the New Opportunities for Scottish Business.
22.10.09 Business networking meeting in Glasgow, sponsored by SDI.
17.3.09 Mark McCafferty (Wood Mackenzie) – Declining oil price and the consequences for Russia.
15.1.09 David Cant – Russia & the Credit Crunch.
NewsLetter Archive
Magazine
Our magazine began in 2003 as a quarterly update of Forum news called simply SRF Newsletter. It was renamed the SRF Review in 2007 and became a twice yearly magazine with more editorial content and colour. In 2013 the name became Scotland Russia Review and in 2016 the name changed again, to The FORUM, and content was targeted more at our members and supporters. All members receive a copy by post (or email if preferred) and copies are available to others on request.
The Forum, no. 46, 2023
The Forum, no. 45, Summer 2021
The Forum, no. 44, Winter 2021
The Forum, no. 43, Summer 2020
The Forum, no. 42, Winter 2020
The Forum, no. 41, Summer 2019
The FORUM, no. 40, Winter 2019
The FORUM, no.39, Summer 2018
The FORUM, no. 38, Winter 2018
The FORUM, no. 37, Summer 2017
The FORUM, no. 36, Winter 2017
The FORUM, no. 35, Summer 2016
Scotland Russia Review, issue 34, Spring 2016
Scotland Russia Review, issue 33, Autumn 2015
Scotland Russia Review, issue 32, Spring 2015
Scotland Russia Review, issue 31, Summer 2014
Scotland Russia Review, issue 30 February 2014
Scotland Russia Review, issue 29, June 2013
SRF Review, issue 28, December 2012 + uncut version with some extra material
SRF Review, issue 27, June 2012
SRF Review, issue 26, January 2012
SRF Review, issue 25, June 2011
SRF Review, issue 24, December 2010
SRF Review, issue 23, June 2010
SRF Review, issue 22, December 2009
SRF Review, issue 21, June 2009
SRF Review, issue 20, December 2008
SRF Review, issue 19, June 2008
SRF Review, issue 18, December 2007
SRF Review, issue 17, June 2007
SRF Newsletter, issue 16, December 2006
SRF Newsletter, issue 15, September 2006
SRF Newsletter, issue 14, June 2006
SRF Newsletter, issue 13, March 2006
SRF Newsletter, issue 12, December 2005
SRF Newsletter, issue 11, September 2005
SRF Newsletter, issue 10, June 2005
SRF Newsletter, issue 9, March 2005
SRF Newsletter, issue 8, December 2004
SRF Newsletter, issue 7, September 2004
SRF Newsletter, issue 6, June 2004
SRF Newsletter, issue 5, March 2004
SRF Newsletter, issue 4, December 2003
SRF Newsletter, issue 3, September 2003
SRF Newsletter, issue 2, July 2003
SRF Newsletter, issue 1, April 2003
Press Cuttings
2014
- Lermontov bicentenery. Lots of Russian TV coverage of events in Scotland Sept-Oct 2014: 5 kanal, REN TV, RTR (Rossiya 1) and NTV. There was less interest from the UK press – an item on the BBC News and an article in the Southern Reporter.
- What does the SRF do? Have a look at our interview with Summerhall TV January 2014.
2012
- November 2012: SRF committee member Andrei Rogatchevsky talking about Solzhenitsyn’s “A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” on the 50th anniversary of its publication. BBC World Service “The Strand” 23 Nov 2012, 8 minutes in.
- September 2012: report on the Borodino diorama on display at the Scotland-Russia Institute. Herald Scotland 29 September, p4.
- August 2012: 3* review of our exhibition “Soviet Grand Designs” by Duncan Macmillan in the Scotsman
- August 2012: Article about the SRF and our Festival of Politics discussion in the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of Europe Great Britain Bulletin.
- June 2012: Articles about the SRF’s efforts to bring Russian back into Scottish schools.Англия15-21 June, p15; Русская Мысль 8-21 June, pp30-31; SCILT Summer Newsletter, p16. A CRCEES/AHRC/SRF workshop on “The status, role and future of Russian language training and Slavonic studies in the Scottish education system” was held at the SRI in May..
- Articles about the SRF in the SCRSS Summer newsletter and on the website of Sofia University’s Eurasia Center.
- May 2012: Russian language review of the Dead Souls preview staged at the Scotland-Russia Institute in March: Англия, p17
- February 2012: 5% of all visitors to Walter Scott’s home Abbotsford are Russians – Scotsman interview with SRF chair Jenny Carr and Vice-President Dairmid Gunn on why the Russians read Scott while many of his compatriots no longer do. You can read the article here.
- 6 February 2012: The Russian Embassy reported a meeting between the Russian Consul General in Edinburgh and Jenny Carr, chair of the SRF, saying “Scotland-Russia Forum is an Edinburgh-based charity that has played the essential role in promoting cultural cooperation between Scotland and Russia for many years”.http://rusemb.org.uk/press/560
- 16 January 2012: The Russian Embassy presented our chair, Jenny Carr, an award (Почётный знак Россотрудничества) for the SRF’s contribution to “friendship and cooperation”. The presentation took place on Monday 16 January when Scottish Finance Minister John Swinney MSP and other Scottish Government representatives met representatives of Russian companies at the Embassy and briefed them on the investment climate in Scotland. Photo L-R: Russian Fisheries Minister Andrey Krayniy, Scottish Finance Minister John Swinney, SDI Moscow manager Yuri Andreev, the Russian Ambassador Alexander Yakovenko and Jenny Carr. See http://rusemb.org.uk/activity.42
2011
- September 2011: Publicity for our “Poyekhali” exhibition about Gagarin includes an STV news interview (6pm News on 16 Sept, starts at 13.40mins) and web article, a preview in the Herald’s Saturday Arts magazine on 17 Sept (page 2), a Scotsman article and top billing on the Yuri Gagarin50 website yurigagarin50.org. Guests at the opening incl. (L-R) Ralph Gibson of Novosti and the Consuls General of Ukraine, Russia and Japan – see Universal News picture – as well as Germany (not in the photograph).
- 20 September 2011: A petition urging support for lesser taught languages in universities was presented to Parliament by Sir Tom Stoppard. A good crowd turned out in support and press coverage included an STV news report which also featured teacher Laszlo Novak and the Russian Consul General talking about the dire school situation. Other reports included a BBC report and video of of the Petitions Committee proceedings, a video and article on the Herald website, and articles in the Scotsman and Times.
- 10 September 2011: The ITI (Inst of Translators and Interpreters) held a workshop at the Scotland-Russia Institute – see picture
- June 2011: Cosmonaut Anatoly Artsebarsky toured Scotland with us 12-17 June, visiting schools in Orkney, Edinburgh and Glasgow as well as the Scottish Space School at Strathclyde University, the Glasgow Science Centre and the stone in the Skara Brae timeline commemorating Gagarin’s flight in 1961. Press coverage included an STV News item and a Radio Orkney interview as well as George Watsons College website. The visit was sponsored by Rossotrudnichestvo and a report is on their site too –http://rs.gov.ru/node/26376. The Scottish Space School public lecture can be viewed in full here. Item in Strathclyde University’s “Engineering Insight” journal, page 3.
- February 2011: Dr Sarah Smyth, head of Russian at Trinity College Dublin and a good friend of the SRF, was awarded the prestigious Pushkin Medal by President Medvedev for her outstanding service to the promotion of Russian language and culture.
- 20 January 2011: Niamh Gorry, a graduate of Glasgow Uni and now an SRF-recruited English language assistant at the Donskoy Technical University in Rostov, featured in a recent online article on the university website www.donstu.ru/ajax/relay/news/709/
- 14-20 January 2011: Русская Мысль, no. 1 (4824), page 6. Illustrated article by Varvara Bashkirova on the Scientists Round Table held at the SRI in December.
2010
- October 2010 onwards: New Voice of Russia books programme on English-language books from and about Russia is presented by SRF associate Ian Mitchell.
- 22 September 2010: NTV. Russian TV programme about the discovery of Walter Scott manuscripts by an SRF member includes footage of her two young sons reading the Russian translation of an unpublished poem and discussing it in fluent Russian, which they have been learning out of school for about 3 years. See also Friends of Loch Lomond website.
- 5 September 2010: Scotsman. Report on the SRF campaign to keep school exams in Russian. See also Keep School Exams.
- July 2010:Русский Язык за Рубежом. SRF supporter and veteran of the convoys, Jock Dempster, unexpectedly turned up on the back cover of the latest issue of this journal.
- 16 June 2010: Scotsman. 4 star review of our exhibition – Craig Brandist’s “St. Petersburg: Reflections of a Floating Life”. The Scotsman called Craig Brandist “an adept and imaginative photographer”.
- 30 April 2010: Inverness Courier. Urals-Scottish Society meets the Highland-Russia Connection in Inverness
- March 2010: Kachkanar newspaper . SRF member Doris McCann is teaching in the Urals.
- 20 February 2010: Scotsman. More on why more Russian should be taught.
- 10 February 2010: Scotsman. Long article on Russian language teaching and SRF; also includes interviews with Russian teacher at Fortrose and with Russian Edinburgh School.
- 5 February 2010: Scotsman. News of the SRF’s plans to use their grant from Russkiy Mir to encourage Russian teaching in Scottish schools.
- 19 January 2010: BBC Radio Scotland. SRF members took part in the Massed Borders Choir rehearsal in Kelso on 16 January for a performance of Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky and Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances in Russian (the concert will take place on 5 June).