20th Annual Russian Festival a Big Hit
Olga Bonfiglio
College of Arts and Sciences staff writer
Over 1,000 people participated in the 20th annual Russian Festival on Saturday, November 7 in the Fetzer Center at Western Michigan University.
The Festival is staged annually by the Kalamazoo Russian Culture Association and jointly sponsored by the WMU Departments of English and Theatre.
This year's festival featured a series of humanities lectures and poetic readings in addition to performances, exhibits and children's activities. Other attractions included Russian cuisine, souvenir vendors and a silent auction. This year's academic talks and related activities highlighted poetry, history, literature, cultural symbolism, painted pysanki eggs, and study abroad.
Opening ceremonies for 2015 were led by local, state and University dignitaries, including the president of the Chamber of Commerce of Pushkin and Kalamazoo Mayor Bobby Hopewell.
The KRCA is a nonprofit organization that, in addition to hosting the festival and supporting other events throughout the year, maintains community ties with Pushkin, Russia—a partnership city with Kalamazoo.
Judith Rypma, master faculty specialist in English and one of the organizers of the event, said putting on the Russian Festival this year was more important than ever.
“As the political relationship between the U.S. and Russia sadly continues to deteriorate, it is more crucial than ever that we hold events that foster better understanding between our peoples and our cultures.”
Rypma presented a multimedia reading from her recent collection of poems, Looking for the Amber Room.
“It’s a tale of stolen art, but it’s also a legend that has enthralled and continues to frustrate armies of treasure hunters who at this very moment are scouring four countries in search of it,” said Rypma.
The Amber Room is a world famous chamber decorated in amber panels backed with gold leaf and mirrors located in the Catherine Palace of Tsarskoye Selo near St. Petersburg. Originally constructed in 1701 in the Berlin City Palace, it was given to Peter the Great of the Russian Empire by Prussian King Frederick William I. The Amber Room covered more than 590 square feet and contained over 6 tons of amber. It was considered the “Eighth Wonder of the World.” During World War II, the Nazis removed the room, and it has never been found. In 2003, it was recreated in the Catherine Palace.
Rypma also presented information about the new study abroad program in Russia that is sponsored by the Department of English and the Haenicke Institute for Global Education at WMU. Scheduled for the first half of the 2016 summer session, students will study literature in translation at Leningrad State University in Pushkin, Russia, as well as in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Rypma has been involved with the festival for the past 18 years, including during the earlier years when it was hosted by Kalamazoo Valley Community College.
Rypma has had an affinity for Russia since she read Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K. Massie (1969) in high school. She has visited the country 18 times after she earned a bachelor’s degree in Russian studies at Grand Valley State University.
“I fell in love with the culture, would visit the country and return and write about it,” said Rypma, who is a former travel writer for national magazines, hotel chains, and newspapers. Over the years, she has written plays based on Russian fairy tales and had her students perform them.
Rypma has taught in the Department of English since 1992 where she also teaches Russian literature in translation. She is currently on sabbatical researching her next book
Rypma, also a poet, specializes in poems of place on Russia. Over 150 of her poems have appeared in literary journals, most recently in Concho River Review, Green Hills Literary Lantern, River Oak Review, Paterson Literary Review, and Eclipse. She has also published five chapbooks, including Sewing Lessons (FutureCycle Press).