Holy Virgin Mary Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Los Angeles hosted its annual Slavic festival the weekend of November 13-14, 2021 with great success!! It gathered over 300 people, including guests as far as San Francisco. Lots of wonderful events, such as parochial school students performances, parish museum tour, cathedral tour, photo booth, kids playground with inflatable bounce house and a Russian bear, as well as guests from Los Angeles and the Silver Lake Historical Societies. Congress of Russian Americans was on deck with gifts to parochial school children who participated in the festivities (embroidered hats and back packs), as well as the Russian Children Benevolent Society of Los Angeles and Russian Scouts. CRA Board member Ivan Podvalov, presented a lecture about founders of the cathedral who left a footprint in the Hollywood art scene: art directors Alexander Toluboff and Alexander Galitzine, artist and painters such as Vladislav Ulianov, Nikolai Remizov and Sergei Bongart. A student of Sergei Bongart, Mr. Peter Liashkov, whose father, a White Army Officer, was a parish member, talked about his life as Bongart’s student. Liashkov has maintained an art practice since early 1980s. He is professor emeritus from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. During the festival in Los Angeles, a presentation of the book “Abdication of Tsar Nicholas II in Memoirs of Witnesses and Contemporaries”, recently published by the Museum of Russian Culture in San Francisco, took place.
Archives for November 2021
CRA at the Festival of Nations in San Diego.
By invitation of the organizers, Congress of Russian Americans participated in the Festival of Nations which took place in San Diego on November 7th, 2021. Organizer of the event is the Club of Russian-American Culture Passport of Rotary International, and hosted this event for a second time. Representatives of 13 nations showcased the culture, food and traditions, each nation had a display and were invited to take stage at the parade of nations which included a short presentation of each nation and its cultural heritage and a performance which included folk dancing and singing. Over 3,000 guests attended the festivities which were held at the county park. CRA Board member Mr. Ivan Podvalov was invited to the stage and read a greeting on behalf of the CRA President which expressed gratitude to the organizers, and emphasized the importance of preserving national cultures and traditions. An interesting observation was made that all members of the delegations shared one common aspect – Russian language.