Akhmejanov And Parry — Bringing Russian Culture To London

While politicians on both sides of the Atlantic seem intent on demonising Russia, two men in London are going in the opposite direction.

Marat Akhmejanov from the former Soviet Union and Londoner David Parry have been working together for some time. Akhmejanov is a long time UK resident who publishes the quarterly OCA Magazine. He is also the founder of the Eurasian Creative Guild whose projects include publishing, film, graphic design, and all things literary from across Eurasia.

Marat Akhmejanov — founder of ECG.

Parry is best known as a man of the theatre with ties to especially Azerbaijan. In 2013, he put on the first ever London/UK/Western performance of Citizens Of Hell by the politician/playwright Elchin Afandiyev.

David Parry — tireless champion of the arts.

The Eurasian Creative Guild’s London Facebook group alone now has several thousand members. It meets at Rossotrudnichestvo which translates as Russia in the United Kingdom; this is based in Kensington, close to High Street Kensington Underground Station.

Alexander Muzykantov

The ECG’s London meeting earlier this month included a programme by the talented pianist Alexander Muzykantov. At this meeting, Marat and David both promised further expansion of the output of Guild members and the bridging of the gap between Western Europe and the far reaches of Asia. Their next big London event will be the ECG Film Festival; held from May 22–9, this will share a venue with the Romford Film Festival, which was first held in 2017.

[The above article was published originally on Medium, January 28, 2019.]