‘Vyatlag’

‘Vyatlag’ is the name of a Gulag built in the northeast of the Russian province of Kirov in 1938. More than 100,000 people were sentenced to hard labour there under Stalin before being sent to Siberia. So too was Arturs Strandiņš. This quiet Latvian kept a diary of his ten-year stay there, which he wrote on cigarette papers. They are a blueprint of the stark life in the Gulag and symbolise his silent act of opposition to the dehumanisation of the system. Authentic folk songs are sung live between the readings to make the witness accounts more bearable. A minimalist and unexpectedly noble production.

INTRODUCTION:
On 16 March (19:00) BOZAR is inviting Olga Romanova and Aleksei Kozlov to discuss the current situation in Russia. How is the repression operating? What is the situation in the prisons? What has changed since the collapse of the Soviet Union?
Boris Pavlovich, director of Vyatlag, will join the discussion.
Free upon presentation of your entrance ticket for Vyatlag.
The introduction will be held in English.

Unfortunately Stepan Zimin will not participate in the discussion.

INVITEES:
Olga Romanova is a renowned Russian journalist and human rights activist, and the executive director of the civil rights movement ‘Russia Behind Bars’ (Rus’ Sidyaschaya). She became widely known in 1999-2005 for her analytical show‘ 24 with Olga Romanova’ on Ren-TV. In 2005, she became the anchor of several shows on Echo of Moscow radio, followed by positions at Segodnya, Versiya, Vedomosti, Novaya Gazeta newspapers, as well as The New Times, the Russian version of Business Week, and Slon Magazine. Romanova’s work as a human rights activist started after her husband was arrested in 2008 on trumped-up charges.