The Vladimir Vysotsky Centre for Slavonic Studies

Overview

Our mission is to bring Eastern European cultures to a Western audience. We want to bridge the gap between Slavonic countries and the UK through facilitating an inter-cultural dialogue and to conduct research in the field of Eastern European thought, literature, music, history, and art.

Our Centre is named after Vladimir Vysotsky (1938-1980). He became a cultural icon for the people of the USSR during his lifetime and continues to exert a considerable influence on cultural developments and national identity in the post-Soviet space. He was a poet, bard and actor. His literary work was largely forbidden by the Soviet authorities, but his songs, as unofficial audio recordings, could be heard from every window.

Vysotsky’s art served as a breath of fresh air in the totalitarian state stifled by ideological control and hypocrisy. It helped people to sustain their human dignity and cultural distinctiveness. Vysotsky was one of those artistic personalities who became a living conscience of the entire nation.

Past events

F.M. Dostoevsky
F.M. Dostoevsky