Every summer, a book town opens on one of the quiet pedestrian streets. It is simultaneously a shop, a street theatre, a lecture space and a place for summer recreation. The tradition to build such a summer book town was born ten years ago. It is believed that St. Petersburg is a city of rain, and joking advice to tourists who are going to visit our city usually sounds like this: ‘bring two mackintoshes and three umbrellas’. But this is not quite true - at least in recent years. Rainy weather is more typical for autumn, in summer we have a lot of sunny days. Although there is no year for year - no one will give you a guarantee that it will be sunny and hot in the summer.
So in the early years we were very worried that the weather might interfere with a long book festival. It does happen sometimes that scheduled events have to be cancelled at the last minute because of high winds or heavy rain, but it doesn't happen very often. The festival has been running for ten years - and I hope it will continue to do so. Summer Book Alleys is a summer festival. The festival grounds start at the beginning of summer and close in September.
For all ten years the festival site has been located in the same location - on Malaya Konyushennaya Street, next to the monument to Nikolai Gogol. The outstanding writer Nikolai Gogol lived in St. Petersburg in his youth on one of the neighbouring streets. Some of his works are set in St Petersburg. Near the monument to Nikolai Gogol there is a street stage. Young poets and writers perform on this stage, and Gogol seems to be listening attentively to their works.
The inscription on the poster ‘Take care of the book!’. Several old posters on the theme of reading and literature decorate the book stands. Not far from the stage, a photo zone is organised, which reproduces the furnishings of the room of the second half of the XX century. Radio-gramophone, floor lamp, carpet... There are a lot of people wishing to visit this room! It is funny to watch young people studying an old telephone on the table. Few people know how to dial the number correctly.
From the book alleys I move towards Liteiny Prospekt. I went briefly into the courtyard of the Centre for Books and Graphics to see the city's sculptures - the monument to the lost book, the printing press and others. Someone had taken care of the lost book, and warm socks and sandals had appeared on her feet.
At the end of this walk, I suggest you take a look at another courtyard on Liteiny Prospekt. You find yourself in this courtyard if you are heading to the museum of the poet Anna Akhmatova. The museum is located in a wing of the Sheremetev Palace, and the garden in front of the palace has also become a museum space. I took some photos of the exhibition that took place in this garden. The exhibition ‘Save My Shadow’ was dedicated to the memory of the poet Joseph Brodsky. I took only a few photos on the way this time, because I had already photographed this exhibition in detail at the very beginning, on one of its first days.
This is a street exhibition, and the exhibits do not stand the winter weather well. Therefore, there are no particularly valuable exhibits, but all the fragments used in the design of the exhibition convey the spirit of a bygone era very well. The exhibition worked in the garden of the Sheremetev Palace for about four years. In August this year, the exhibition was closed, and the preserved exhibits became a gift to the volunteers who came to help dismantle the exhibition. What will be here next summer? We'll see.
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| Smartphone | Google Pixel 3a |
| Location | Saint Petersburg, Russia |
