This event is open to Stanford affiliates.
In their memoirs and fictional works, the Russian Futurists often detailed their interest in Scythian civilization. For the avant-garde of the early XX century such a return to archaic cultures was fairly typical, for example, the French Cubists were keen on African masks and Iberian sculptures. There is also a reason why the Russian artists had a specific interest in the Scythians among the various ancient cultural traditions. They perceived the famous description of the Scythians by Herodotus in his Histories as a medium for the elaboration of the national self-identification that was the essential part of the cultural project of Russian Futurism. The seminar will be organized as a discussion focusing on the creation of the Scythian myth of the Russian avant-garde.
Stanislav Savitski is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Saint Petersburg State University and Associate Professor, Faculty of Arts, University of Helsinki. He also directs the Center for Contemporary Art of the Saint Petersburg State University and works as an expert at the Foundation of Contemporary Art PRO ARTE (Saint Petersburg). Savitsky’s scholarly interests include: intellectual history of Modernism, avant-garde & marginal cultural communities, intellectual history of Soviet science & culture, history of parks & gardens, contemporary art. He is the author of several books, including: Underground: History & Cultural Mythologies of Leningrad Unofficial Culture (2002), Nomads Notebooks (2009), A Chronicle of the Saint Petersburg Art of the 2000s (2011), The Private Person: Lidyja Ginzburg in the Late 1920s & Early 1930s (2013), La Douce France (2014), A Walker's Self-Help (2014). Professor Savitsky has also served as Visiting Professor and Scholar at the Universities of Copenhagen, Ekaterinburg, Helsinki, Milan, Paris III (La Nouvelle Sorbonne), Ca' Foscari Venice and at the Forschungstelle Osteuropa (Bremen).
