Subkultura: Stories of youth and resistance in Russia 1815-2017

Artemy Troitsky in conversation with Alexander Kan.

Artemy Troitsky is both a chronicler of and a participant in some of the most exciting elements of Russian popular culture in the last half-century. Working variously as a journalist, music critic, concert promoter, broadcaster and academic, he has witnessed at first hand the underground movements which have shaped contemporary Russia.

These are the stories of a different Russia — not the land of tsars and generals, but of anarchists and artists, punks and dandies, gopniks and hipsters. Subkultura shines a light on the rebellious heroes of Russian society, the groups and individuals who have resisted conformity and shaped the nation’s culture from the margins, from Alexander Pushkin to Pussy Riot. Critic Artemy Troitsky gives a fresh, personal take on the overlooked chapters of Russia’s past which give new insight into its present and its future. Featuring an enormous variety of contemporary and historical illustrations, Subkultura will give you a new image of Russia.

About the book

Arranged chronologically from the early 19th century through to the present day – from Alexander Pushkin to Pussy Riot, from the Decembrists to the Cubo-Futurists – SUBKULTURA takes in seminal individuals and groups that have been instigators of social or political change, and that collectively provide an insight into the different facets of the Russian psyche.

Writers, artists, musicians, philosophers, nouveaux riches and skinheads, anarchists, revolutionaries or part of the status quo – Troitsky treats all with equal measure as having helped shape the Russia of today.

Richly illustrated with archival footage, art works, and images taken from the author’s personal collection, SUBKULTURA reflects on the development and contemporary relevance of concepts such as freedom or the social role of creative expression throughout the periods captured by Troitsky’s narrative, and looks at them through a historical lens.