in this instance via the Emirates Entertainment channel. Last trip it was the travels of Ibn Battuta the Medieval Moroccan Islamic Scholar and the account of his extensive 30 year travels, and this time I watched a fascinating series about the history of Russian art narrated by art critic Andrew Graham-Dixon who outlined how Russia changed from a feudal nation with aristocratic excess to a hotbed of revolution and demonstrating how in line with this art moved from being a servant of the state to an agent of its destruction. Really interesting and enlightening stuff.
The programmes covered everything from the beautiful work of Rublev the icon painter, through to gaudy Faberge eggs; and eventually to the abstract work of Kandinsky, as well as Mayakovsky and Alexander Rodchenko and the origins of art as a form of Communist advertising.
I loved seeing the Russian architecture too...particularly the Byzantine influences, the beautiful gleaming 'onion' domes and the later obsession with a kind of Baroque fusion...albeit the interiors with all the gold leaf were somewhat OTT for my taste!
Why the interest..? Combination of things....my Dad speaks Russian and in my childhood that always seemed quite exotic so prompted an initial curiosity...later on Russian history was brought to life by Miss Edmondson when I studied it for A Level history...how could you not have a fascination with 18th Century St. Petersburg!?! Another aspect of the coverage brought to mind schooldays too...due to 'cultural sensitivities' Emirates had taken steps to blur any elements of 'pert' or 'dangly' bits in the art work...memories of Sister Josephine (a retired nun), sitting in the sixth section of the school library happily taking a black marker pen or scissors to any 'inappropriate material' in the publications...ahhh those were the days...added an interesting & challenging dimension to studying A Level English Literature texts!!! Bless....
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