july-2012

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RUSSIA enjoy free dance classes and yoga sessions from hip instructors, while two supermodern skateboard areas draw unripe men away from urban perils. Instead of vodka and cheap take-away food, the cafés now serve up assorted blinis and fresh fruit boxes, and there’s no longer a plastic table-and-chairs set in sight. Overlooking the Moskva River, I take lunch at the stylish Olive Beach cafe; outside people are sunbathing on a woodpanelled strip of the riverbank. There is a London Eye-style wheel planned, while Abramovich’s partner, Dasha Zhukova, is in the process of moving her cutting-edge art gallery, Garage Centre for Contemporary Culture, into the ruined Hexagon Pavilion. Yet it’s already a delightful escape from the city’s ferocious rat-race and the first stage of renovation has impressed so much that the director of the project, Sergei Kapkov, is now in charge of Moscow’s wider regeneration as new head of the Department of Culture. He has confidently pledged to improve all of the city’s parks over the next five years. This, then, is merely the first step in a much broader plan. If Kapkov’s full vision for the Gorky Park area is realised, the rather shabby Art Park Muzeon across the street, created to hold the many sculptures abandoned in the aftermath of the USSR’s collapse in 1991, will no longer exist – at least not in its current guise. A Paris-style embankment lined with painters and bookstands is planned, along with new cafés, a children’s art workshop, and one of the biggest openair cinemas in the world built on the steps of the Central House of Artists. But what will become of the many eclectic sculptures currently housed in the Art Park? Chances are most of them will vanish. They’re mostly in a sad state of disrepair, and seem to have been randomly placed but it’s still something to pose for a photo next to Stalin’s larger-than-life bust, while Evgeny Chubarov’s cluster of 300 sculpted heads – a rememberance to victims of Soviet rule – is very moving. A pitfall of ‘regeneration’ is that some of the past is lost but, by and large, Moscow’s parks – especially those of the larger, greener variety – will only be enhanced by the plans. I spend a day in the vast landscape of Izmailovsky – six times larger than its New York equivalent, Central Park – wandering the ancient birches and old buildings, dating back to the 14th century. Peter the Great spent some of his childhood in the old Izmailovsky village, igniting a passion for sailing which eventually led to Russia’s emergence as a leading maritime power. A little neglected and staid, the park hasn’t recently lived up to Peter’s legacy, but already the illegal stalls are gone, free Wi-Fi has been introduced, along with new outdoor furniture, and an open-air cinema is emerging in time for summer. Another large park, Kolomenskoe, has long been a firm favourite with Muscovites and needs only the lightest of touches. Located farther down the Moskva River, where it loops inwards from the southwest, I hire a bike and strike paths among its different hilled levels, working up a good appetite. The reward is a glorious picnic of grilled meats and salads purchased near the entrance, and eaten under the shade of one of the biggest oaks. Afterwards I look around the clutch of little wooden houses that were recently added, as examples of traditional professions like metalwork and carpentry. Then, drawn by a harmonious Clockwise from top left: Dismantling the big wheel in Gorky Park; one of the grand pavilions in Kolomenskoe Park; silver birch trees in Izmailovsky Park which is six times larger than Central Park in New York park events in moscow this summer 7 July: More Amore, Moscow Hermitage Garden Relax on sunloungers with a picnic and enjoy the craft stalls and children’s workshops, plus barbecues and live music. 13 August: Adrenalin Games, Gorky Park Extreme sports enthusiasts will enjoy stunts and contests from skaters, BMX-ers, dirt-bikers, all soundtracked by hot DJ LOC DOG. 5-10 September: Moscow International Book Fair, All-Russian Exhibition Centre Every year this literary festival focuses on a different country – last year was Italy. 19-23 September: Art Moscow, Central House of Artists Founded in 1995, this is the biggest contemporary art fair in Eastern Europe. Rub shoulders with rich buyers while sampling the best of new Russian talent. 46 JULY <strong>2012</strong> FLY TO moscow twice daily. brusselsairlines.com
inging in the distance, I discover a highlight of the park: its old church, and am lucky enough to hear a spectacular bell concert. In contrast to Kolomenskoe Park, Kapkov has his work cut out with the All- Russian Exhibition Centre, commonly known as VDNKh, which suffered a similar fate to other parks after the fall of communism. First, there was the rapid dilapidation of the kiosks, then the 71 pavilions, each dedicated to a different Soviet Republic, were blighted by an incongruous mix of cheap shops. With its exhibitions and museums on space travel and aeronautics, it still has promise, and I’m more than a little hypnotised by the soaring triumph of Vera Mukhina’s restored sculpture of a hammerwielding worker and windswept farm-girl, epitomising the earlier conception of the park as a tribute to agricultural and industrial achievement. But just how to tackle the dizzying hybrid of new and old values here? Victory Park, another commemorativestyle park, is free of this contradiction – it’s a straight-faced celebration of Russia’s wartime resilience. I reach it by Fili metro station, a former village long since swallowed up by Moscow. This was where General Kutuzov held his military council deciding to abandon the city to the French after the Battle of Borodino in 1812. Napoleon then waited on Poklonnaya Hill, the highest and most strategically BELGIAN WONDERFOOD PLACE BRUSSELS HOT SPOT FOR FINE DINING, RELAXING, MEETING AND CELEBRATING Restaurant - Cafe - Bar - Oyster bar - Club Rue fossé-aux-loups 32 Wolvengrachtstraat B - 1000 Brussels T +32 (0) 217 21 87 I F +32 (0) 229 31 79 info.brussels@belgaqueen.be www.belgaqueen.be Photographes © Mireille Roobaert - Louis-Philipe Breydel - Ana Carvalho ARCHITECTURAL INTERIOR DESIGN BY PINTO & CO I WWW.PINTOANDCO.BE
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july-2012

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