In 2015, the Likhachev Foundation of St. Petersburg, Russia, announced its ninth open competition for the Fellowships in Russia program for May 2016. When founded, this was the first Russian program of this kind, supporting cultural visits by foreign intellectuals (and remains the only such program). Participants of the program work on important cultural initiatives, with the ultimate aim of increasing knowledge of and interest in Russian history and culture among non-Russians. The Program has several partners including; Open World Leadership Center at the Library of Congress, the Trust for Mutual Understanding, CEC ArtsLink. Additionally Fellowship alumni from the years 2008-2015 helped disseminate information about the Program and raise interest. This program is designed for foreign professionals in the field of arts and culture who currently work on creative projects on (or related to) Russian culture or history; such projects are designed to help spread information about Russian culture among a broader foreign audience.
The 2016 Fellows were selected from a pool of over 170 applicants from 50 countries who participated in an open competition. The group of fellows includes 9 professionals from Italy, South Korea, the UK, and the USA. Each fellow had his/her program individually tailored according to the project and professional interests. The organizers of the program are the Likhachev Foundation and the Presidential Center of Boris N. Yeltsin, acting with the support of the Committee for External Relations of St. Petersburg, who organized and provided the main financing for the program, with additional, significant financial support from the U.S. Consulate in St. Petersburg.
The 2016 Likhachev Fellows meet the Foundation. The 2016 Fellows -on Russian art projects – were selected from a pool of over 170 applicants from 50 countries, who participated in an open competition. The group of fellows includes 9 professionals from Italy, South Korea, the UK, and the USA. I am pleased, honoured and humbled, I still cannot believe that my project is one of them: “lo real maravilloso” I may say – The Likhachev Foundation-Cultural Fellowships in Russia http://www.ambassador-hotel.ru/ — with Anna Shulgat, Arielle Alexandra, Miriam Bader, Nancy Jo Snider, Spara Jurij and Nick Winter
The 2016 Likhachev Fellows meet the Foundation. The 2016 Fellows -on Russian art projects – were selected from a pool of over 170 applicants from 50 countries, who participated in an open competition. The group of fellows includes 9 professionals from Italy, South Korea, the UK, and the USA. I am pleased, honoured and humbled, I still cannot believe that my project is one of them: “lo real maravilloso” I may say – The Likhachev Foundation-Cultural Fellowships in Russia http://www.ambassador-hotel.ru/ — with Anna Shulgat, Arielle Alexandra, Miriam Bader, Nancy Jo Snider, Spara Jurij and Nick Winter
The Likhachev Foundation (St. Petersburg, Russia)
We arrived in St. Petersburg on May 9 for two weeks. We visited (according to each individual projects and schedules) the city’s cultural organizations, archives, libraries, and museums, as well as meet and consult with experts and cultural figures of St. Petersburg. Other winners of the Likhachev Fellowship – from this year and previous years – contributed to the Dostoevsky Day UK by sharing their own experiences and projects. They suggested names and ideas and created a real supportive environment. I could not have asked for more.
Vlad Curator The 2016 DDUK
As the curator of the Inaugural Dostoevsky Day UK (DDUK), I feel honoured to have been chosen for the prestigious Likhachev Fellowship in Sant Petersburg, Russia.
The writer’s last study in his apartment on Kuznechny Lane, while preserving the simplicity and modesty of the previous ones, was, however, more roomy and comfortable. The Dostoevskys’ financial position had become more stable, Dostoevsky’s popularity had grown, and in the course of the day he would receive a wide variety of guests. With some he spent time in the sitting-room, while close friends came into his study. His family remembered that he didn’t like things to be disturbed in his study – for manuscripts or books to be moved, or a chair moved from the place where he had left it. This was his creative workshop, and no one was to disturb its special atmosphere. “On his writing desk, – wrote Dostoevsky’s daughter Liuba, – the greatest order reigned. Newspapers, pack of cigarettes, letters he received, books he was consulting, – everything had to be in its own place. The slightest disorder irritated my father”.
At the F.M.Dostoevsky Literary-Memorial Museum with Natalia Ashimbaeva (Director) Vera Biron (Curator) and Vera’s granddaughter
The National Library of Russia in St Petersburg (known as the Imperial Public Library from 1795 to 1917; Russian Public Library from 1917 to 1925; State Public Library from 1925 to 1992 (since 1932 named after M.Saltykov-Shchedrin); NLR), is not only the oldest public library in the nation, but also the first national library in the country. The NLR is currently ranked among the world’s major libraries.
The F.M.Dostoevsky Literary-Memorial Museum
Renting apartments in inexpensive parts of town, he would move frequently and never stayed at one address for more than three years. Friends who visited him in various apartments noticed the ascetism of their décor, the simplicity and restraint of the interiors. The main room in Dostoevsky’s apartment was always his study. A desk, often placed in the middle of the room always occupied the principal place there: “Fyodor Mikhailovich’s study was a large room with two windows. In the back of the room stood a soft couch covered with a brown, fairly worn material; in front of it was a round table with a red cloth napkin. On the table were a lamp and two or three albums; all around stood soft chairs and armchairs. The windows were decorated with two large Chinese vases of a beautiful shape. Along the wall stood a large couch made of green morocco leather, and near it was a little table with a decanter of water. On the opposite side, across the length of the room, a writing desk had been pulled out”. Thus Anna Dostoevskaya, the writer’s second wife, described the study in the apartment where Dostoevsky created his novel Crime and Punishment.
At the National Library of Russia in St Petersburg
The Inaugural Dostoevsky Day UK 