Andrew J Horton

The last months of the millenium look as if they will be surreal ones for aficionados of Central and East European culture in the UK, with "symbols from another land," Amazons of the avant-garde, and fantastic realism at the Riverside Studios, amongst other things.

In this week's Coming Up section we have:

• Armenian Events
• Czech Events
• Hungarian Events
• Polish Events
• Romanian Events
• Russian Events

Click on the appropiate heading or just scroll down to browse.

Armenian Events

Cinema

Symbols from Another Land: Armenian Cinema in Exile
26 November - 2 December 1999
ICA, The Mall, London SW1
Phone: 0171 930 6347 or e-mail

Narratives of exile, survival and transgression from the Armenian diaspora. Included in the programme are films by Atom Egoyan and Sergei Paradjanov (the "director's cut" of his classic The Colour of Pomegranates and a rare short). Click here for the ICA website.

Czech Events

Art

Faith in a Better Future
17 November 1999 - 4 January 2000
Czech Centre, 95 Great Portland Street, London W1N 5RA
Phone: 0171 291 9920 E-Mail: cclondon@london.czech.cz

The award-winning photographs of Dana Kyndrova, documenting the Czech Republic's transition from totalitarianism to a painful freedom by capturing the lives of ordinary people. Opening with the artist on 16 November at 6.30pm. Phone for details.

Cinema

Fantastic Realism: The Other Face of Czech Cinema
3- 5 December 1999
Riverside Studios, Crisp Road, Hammersmith, London W6
Phone: 0181 237 1111

The Czech love of the fantastic and absurd is well-known, yet many of the country's finest surrealist films remain unknown in relation to the more realist strains of Czech cinema (such as Milos Forman and Jiri Menzel). This three-day season aims to explore this "other face" by introducing some gems which have long remained under-rated, as well as re-introducing some old favourites, such as Svankmajer's disturbing reworking of Alice in Wonderland and Karel Zeman's tribute to the greatest tall-story-teller of them all, Baron Munchhausan. Director Jan Nemec will be at the season to introduce three of his films on show. Click here for more details.

Literature

The Dissident Type
19 November - 1 December 1999
St Bride Printing Library, Fleet Street, London EC4Y 8EE
Phone: 0171 291 9920

An exhibition illustrating 20 years of samizdat publishing in Czechoslovakia, including hand-made books and some of the home printing equipment that authors and editors used.

...And More Czech Culture in the UK

The Czech Cultural Centre in London has a full calender of Czech events in the UK. Look here if you want to see a full calendar of Czech related events in London.

Hungarian Events

Cinema

6:3 by Peter Timar
8 December 1999, 8.15pm
Hungarian Trade Commission, 46 Eaton Place, London SW1
Phone: 0207 240 6162

The Hungarian film club providing yet another UK premier for one of this year's most successful film's from comic master Peter Timar. Admission is free, but ring to reserve your seat. Click here for a full Kinoeye review.

Opera

Le Grand Macabre
various dates 10 - 23 December
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London
Phone: 0171 304 4000

Gyorgy Ligeti's operatic masterpiece.

Hungarian Culture in the UK

Check out the website of the Hungarian Cultural Centre in London. As well as listing events of international importance, the site also carries details of their support network for Hungarian au pairs working in the UK and Catholic mass in Hungarian.

Look here if you want to see a full calendar of Hungarian events in the UK.

Polish Events

Cinema

Polish Cinema at the Polish Cultural Institute
Various dates
34 Portland Place, London W1N 4HQ
Phone: 0171 637 2190 or e-mail

Korczak by Andrzej Wajda
30 November 1999, 6.30pm

In Full Gallop by Krzysztof Zanussi
7 December 1999, 6.30pm

Polish Culture in the UK

Check out the website of the Polish Cultural Institute in London.

Look here if you want to see a full calendar of Polish events in the UK.

Romanian Events

Romanian Culture in the UK

There is the website of the Romanian Cultural Centre based in London. Click here if you want to see a their diary page.

If you are a Romanian academic or student working in the UK or have links to Romanian studies you might be interested Romanul's site. It aims to give wider support to educational, scientific and cultural issues and has pages devoted to the Romanian community's acitivities in the UK. Click here to have a look.

Russian Events

Art

Amazons of the Avant Garde
until 6 February 2000
Royal Academy, Piccadilly, W1
Phone: 0171 300 8000

For those who enjoyed the Barbican's grand Russian extravaganza of passion and experiment, Romance and Revolution, earlier this year, here is the female counterpart to the art section of it. These female pioneers are not remembered as often as their male counterparts, but their artistic spirit was no less revolutionary.

Compiled by Andrew J Horton