Browse Items (22 total)

Black Square was created in 1915 by Kasimir Malevich as a “total eclipse” of objective forms – a proclamation of Suprematism, a new artistic movement that eschewed depiction of objective forms in favor of working with cosmic space – an aesthetic…

Black bread was, since time immemorial, a ubiquitous Russian food. Born out of climactic and economic necessity, black bread has been credited with giving the Russian peasantry the physical strength necessary to crush Napoleonic France, but also…

After the death of Lenin in 1924, his body was embalmed by the Soviet government so that it could be displayed in a mausoleum. Lenin’s corpse became the focus point of a Leninist cult of personality throughout the Soviet period, and this precedent…

The Bolshoi Theater, one of the most storied and dramatic artistic sites in modern Russian history, encapsulates several different aspects of Russian history and culture. Founded by Catherine the Great in 1776 to help promote the ballet and the arts…

Our Lady of Kazan is a Russian icon that was found in the burnt ruins of the city of Kazan in 1579. Mary, the mother of God in Christian tradition, appeared three times to a small child, providing instructions on where to look for the icon. Over the…

Sputnik was a decisive event that initiated the Space Race. On one hand, it furthered divides between East and West, and helped kick off an arms race that led to thousands of nuclear warheads being deployed. On the other, the era of technical…

Existing first as a makeshift, anti-Soviet bomb, the Molotov cocktail has taken on meaning as not only a material weapon of guerilla warfare, but also an international symbol of resistance. As an explosive device, the Molotov cocktail has a long…