In October 1998 SKIF-3 moved where it belongs - to St.Petersburg, the city where Kuryokhin lived and worked. The four preceding festivals turned into multimedia events which featured more than 500 musicians, DJs, visual artists, photographers, dancers, movie-makers, authors, art critics and philosophers from the USA, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Switzerland, Australia, Japan, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Ukraine and of course Russia. The highlights included performances of such world renown artists as "the father of minimalism" Terry Riley, British improvisers and prog rock legends Keith & Julia Tippett, founders of Krautrock legendary German group Faust, Sonic Youth's guitarist and leader Thurston Moore, "the Jimi Hendrix of accordion" Kimmo Pohjonen, American jazz legends Rashied Ali, Borah Bergman, Keshavan Maslak, Frank London, Shelly Hirsch and David Moss, Japanese turntable virtuoso Otomo Yoshihide, Tuvan singer Sainkho Nemchulak, leading Russian jazz players Vladimir Tarasov, Vladimir Chekasin, Vyacheskav Gayvoronsky, Vladimir Volkov, Misha Aleprin, Arkady Shilkloper.

Music performed defies stylistic and aesthetic boundaries. It both draws upon and challenges accepted notions of jazz, rock, classical, ethnic, world etc.

From the outset SKIF, in the true spirit its founder's "Pop-Mechanical" concept, aspired to maintain a truly multi-media nature featuring along with "pure" music dance, theatre, visual arts, film, video, performance art, electronic media and everything else that does not fit into any category.

The festival's venue - St.Petersburg Dvorets Molodezhi - Palace of Youth - is a perfect site for such a feast of arts. Self-contained building with a spacious concert hall, winter-garden type in the huge foyer, gallery, several smaller halls, and a club, it provides room and space for all possible kinds of performances. Everything moves at its own pace simultaneously, and the audiences are free to choose between scores of events - from panel discussions and readings in the afternoon, to various concerts and performances in the course of the night to post midnight rave parties at the foyer.

The festival gives enormous impetus to the cultural life in St.Petersburg, the city world famous not only for its classical heritage but for the traditions of the avant-garde and experimental art. It revives the spirit of St.Petersburg's great citizens: Diaghilev, Malevich, Mayakovsky, Khlebnikov, Kharms - and Kuryokhin. The combination of immensely rich cultural tradition and cutting edge art experimentation makes SKIF one of Europe's most interesting cultural events.

The Sergey Kuryokhin Foundation is supported by the City of St.Petersburg, foreign embassies and by the cultural organizations from different countries. The Project is expected to appeal to creative young people and general public interested in modern art. Its objective is support of the ideas of free creativity. The organizers hope the Festival will provide an active mechanism of communication for creative people of different countries.

See information on SKIF festival on www.kuryokhin.com



RING RING 2001
May 10
Theo Louvendie (Holland) - a collaboration of the well-known Dutch musician/composer and Moscow's Ensemble of Modern Music
Mikhail Alperin Trio (Norway) - New Music collective by the leader of Russian famous jazz trio (Moscow Art Trio) and musicians from Norway.
Pierre Moerlen's Gong (France/Russia) - the new "Russian" line up of the French prog monster of 70-ies.
Faroeesti (Faroe Islands/Estonia) - New Music collective playing music from improvising jazz to Scandinavian folk music.
"ÄĘ" (Moscow) - reunion of the legendary Moscow's polit-punk-progressive rock band of early 80-ies.
Hans Reichel/Rudiger Carl (Germany) - a duo of legendary avant-jazz guitarist Hans Reichel
Me Naiset (Finland) - an only vocal all women ensemble doing acapella from jazz-avant-garde to folk.
Sedmaja Voda (Rus) - a melodic folk soft rock band with brilliant female singer.
Raznotravje (Rus) - folk rock band.
Drum XTC (Belarus) - drum'n'base on drums and bass with elements of folk and effects
Anna Kolejchuk (Rus) - an artist in modern audio-visual forms of the performance.
Sirin (Rus) - medieval Russian music
Skif (Rus) - a small orchestra of ancient Altai's instruments; skiff's harp, Jew harp...
Vosmaja Marta (Rus) - all women punk rock trio.
Me & my Friend Lorry (Ukraine) - modern rock music
DJ Zap (Rus) -funky dj
Videosincrasia (Rus)- multimedia project of Moscow's artist Olga Kumeger and director of the Theremen Center Andrej Smirnov
King Shiloh Sound System (Holland/Surinam/England) - reggae, Dub, electronic music from Amsterdam.
Metamorphosis (Austria) - New Music Quartet
Vezhlivij Otkaz (Rus) - intellectual rock music
4.33 (Rus) - project of the Moscow's New Music collective based on film by Boris Barnet "House on Trubnaja"
eNsemble (Rus) - modern quartet with the program called "Checkered emptiness" based on music by John Cage + Lecture about anything, reader Petr Pospelov (Moscow)
TriO'Trang (Norway) - jazz, New Music trio
Snakebobbler (Norway) - a duo; bass and voice, experimental music
Pink Twins (Finland) - dark ambient experimental underground electronic duo
Dainius Pulauskas Sextet (Litva) - jazz, progressive rock collective from Vilnius
Outbreak (Denmark) - neo jazz trio from Copenhagen's musical students
Markscheider Kunst (Rus/Congo) - popular rock - world music collective.
Paul Austerlitz (USA) - Reed player, composer, and ethnomusicologist Paul Austerlitz is Assistant Professor of Music at Brown University.
Tres Muchachos (Rus) - collective from St.Petersburg doing Son Cubana
Cyclofillidea (Rus) - modern dark electronic band with special effects show
Svara (Litva) - collaboration between sitar player A. Lomonosovas and jazz musician Antonas Gustis (Dainius Pulauskas Sextet)
X-or Duo (Holland) - a duo of Luc Houtkamp a composer/ saxophonist whom bridges the gap between the worlds of jazz-derived free improvisation and computer-based composition and performance and Gert-Jan Prins one of the central electronic performers in improvised music.
Sever Combo (Rus) - cumbia, merenge and salsa
Cartel (Rus) - modern rock music
Cabina/Clutch? (Rus) - modern electronic music
Bondzinsky (Rus) - modern rock music
Bjoern Schuelke (Germany) - multimedia artist, acoustic sculpturer working with different Theremens
Zelani Rashoho (Rus) - avantguard and electronic music
Vetrofonia (Rus) - a collaboration project of Nik Sudnik, leader of "rock in opposition" band ZGA and noise-electronic musician Lebedev-Frontov
Tyva (Rus) - ethnic music from far north Russian region Tuva
Daughter of Monroe and Kennedy (Rus) - modern rock band with a girl-frontman playing mandolin.
Duke Myshkin (Belarus) - improvising rock music.
Psoy Korolenko (Rus) - singer-songwriter and a poet
Store House Company (Japan) - buto, ballet, dance project.
Academy of Silence (Rus) - improvising electronic music and performance.
Blinds (Rus) - performance
Theodor Bastard (Rus) - modern electronic rock band
Tvoja Smert (Rus) - improvising rock music
Clearing Structures (Rus) - modern rock band with girl - singer and sax player
Shilkloper/Starostin/Volkov (Rus) - New Music trio of Russian modern jazz legends
Theatre ?H? (Rus) - theatrical performance
Animal Jazz (Rus) - modern rock band
Vermicelli Orchestra (Rus) - chamber orchestra project of New Music by Sergey Shurakov (ex Aquarium)
Kolibri (Rus) - female vocal trio with modern rock band
Begemot (Rus) - progressive-punk band
Disengage (Rus) - instrumental rock music.
N. Pivovarova (??.?) - ex Kolibri singer plus girls choir
Pal Secam (Poland) - modern electronic music duo.
Zaibi (Rus) - performance
Lunar Abyss (Rus) - noise electronic music collective.
Balabaj (Rus) - Russian folk songs with afro-cuban percussions
TequilaJazzz (Rus) - popular modern rock band.
Borah Bergman (USA) - free jazz piano player
Frank London/Lorin Sklamberg/Rob Schwimmer (USA) - trio of the "radical Jewish culture" of NYC John Zorn movement
Theatre of the Tibetan Music "PURBA" (Rus) - trance, shaman, meditation
Alexander Liapin Experience (Rus) - r'n'b trio
Feelgene & Lunatic's (Rus) - electronics + opera vocal
Zelo (Rus) - free jazz, avantguard rock band
Lopez's People (Rus) - modern rock music
Last Tanks in Paris (Rus) - punk rock
KontrabasStoll (ex Faust) (Germany) - experimental contrabass music
With Knee As at a Bird (Rus) - modern rock band
Kilimanjaro (Rus) - modern rock, free jazz band
Vlad Makarov (Rus) - cello player, avantguard, free jazz
S.Gasanov/S.Patra (Rus) - duo sitar-tabla
F.R.U.I.T.S. (Rus) - modern electronic music
Three Points (Rus) - avantguard
Grant Ayrapetjan (Armenia) - kemanche player, member of the famous Djivan Gasparjan band
S.K.A. (Rus) - modern rock, jazz band
Boys Band (Poland) - rock avantguard
St.Petersburg Ska-Jazz Review (Rus) - modern rock band
MA.GR.IG.AL. (Rus) - double duo of new academic music
Alim Kasimov (Azerbajan) - one of the most well known "mugam" collective
Am (France/Russia) - kabaret, world music

Stuff:

Director - Anastasia Kuryokhina, president of the Sergey Kuryokhin Charity Foundation, owner of the record label Pop Mekhanika. Kuryokhinfund@yandex.ru
Art director - Alexej Pljusnin, www.republikavega.narod.ru
Artistic co-director - Alexander Kan, journalist, ???, London
Artistic co-director - Pavel Litvinov, musician
Artistic co-director - Nikolaj Dmitriev, art director of the Moscow's cultural center DOM
Coordinator - Natalia Podobed, director of the band Bondzinskij
Designer - Oleg Kotelnikov, artist
Coordinator - David Gross, producer Bliss Records, USA