The Leningrad Rock Club in Photographs. Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Its Opening
The Leningrad Rock Club was established in early 1981 and has become a true center of attraction for musicians whose art did not fit into the Soviet cultural framework. "Aquarium", "Zoopark", "Kino", "Alisa", Alexander Bashlyachev, "DDT" and many other bands performed on its small stage and at rock music festivals organized by the club.
The first "golden" decade of the Leningrad Rock Club is represented in the photographs taken as usual in difficult technical conditions, most often by amateur equipment by real enthusiasts. They took these pictures of the bustling life of the rock club without any hope for the official publication. The Leningrad Rock Club has become a sign of the era of upcoming changes in the country and even now, after forty years, it is hardly needed to explain what was its role in the cultural and social life of Leningrad and, more broadly, the country.
The exhibition includes the prints of Andrey Willie Usov, who made the legendary covers for the "Aquarium" and "Zoopark" music albums, and photographs of Valentin Baranovsky, who artistically reflected the concert life of the Rock Club. Photos by Dmitry Konradt, Natasha Vasilyeva-Hull and Vladimir Bystrov, who also shot backstage, domestic life of musicians and apartment concerts. Funny and very personal photographs of Joanna Stingray and Judy Fields show the world of Russian rock in a color so rare for photography of that time. It is not a look from the outside, but inclusion in the ambience that allowed these photographers to express the energy and freedom spirit that the Rock Club had.
Along with photographs the exhibition will feature concert posters, memorial items, and archival documents related to the Leningrad Rock Club.
