Novosibirsk Samizdat of the 1980s — early 1990s: Oleg Volov and the "Blumkin Shelter" Partnership

Metel'kov Anton Sergeevich ORCID: 0000-0002-6591-110X PhD in History Head of the Sector of Samizdat and Non-Traditional Printing, Researcher, State Public Scientific and Technical Library, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences 630102, Russia, Novosibirsk region, Novosibirsk, Voskhod str., 15 metelkov.gpntb@gmail.com

Introduction

Traditionally, the end of the "golden age" of samizdat is associated with the beginning of Perestroika (the proclamation of glasnost and freedom of speech, the gradual resolution of private publishing initiatives). However, until the end of the 1980s and later, in the 1990s, along with the appearance of a new type of publications, classic samizdat magazines continued to be published: the Leningrad magazine "Clock" (ed. by B. Ivanov and B. Ostanin) was published until 1990, the Leningrad (later St. Petersburg) magazine "Obvodny Kanal" (ed. by K. Butyrin and S. Stratanovsky) — until 1993. In 1985, Mitin Magazine began to be published in Leningrad (published to this day, edited by D. Volchek), in Moscow — Epsilon Salon magazine (published until 1989, edited by N. Baytov and A. Barash), which also inherited the traditions of samizdat.

In the provinces, where there were much fewer opportunities for private publishing projects than in the capitals, independent book publishing throughout the 1990s had forms close to samizdat. If at the beginning of the decade the typewritten original, as a rule, was replicated using copying equipment, then in the second half of it a personal computer and printer were more often used to create and replicate the publication. Independent publishing in most cases was associated with small communities focused on avant-garde literary and artistic practices that were not of interest to large publishers. Often, the publishing products of such communities were syncretic in nature, combining verbal and visual plans. The genesis and evolution of communities of artists and writers in most cases were associated with a specific time and place, as well as with the figures of leaders uniting disparate circles of not always socially adapted figures of the "second culture". In the Novosibirsk unofficial culture of the 1980s and 1990s, one of these figures was the poet, artist, publisher and collector O. Volov (1960-2015).

The community formed around O. Volov was characterized by a combination of various creative and organizational practices (literary, publishing, artistic, exhibition, performative, etc.). The article focuses on the self-publishing activities of this circle of poets and artists. The main contribution to the study of Siberian samizdat was made by E. Savenko ^{[1, 2, 3, 4]}. Her monographs are comprehensive and serve as a basis for further research in this area, often requiring clarification. It is also worth mentioning the articles by V. Ivanov, giving an overview of the history of the interconnected circles of E. Jordansky and O. Volov ^{[5, 6]}, and V. Yarantsev, devoted to the history of Novosibirsk samizdat and the activities of some of its significant figures ^{[7, 8]}.

The main body of sources on the history of this community is stored in the archive of the Samizdat and Non-traditional Printing Sector of the State Scientific Research Institute of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (funds of M. Baturin, P. Bykov, O. Volov, G. Dmitriev, A. Zhdanov, E. Jordansky, O. Kuldysheva, Yu. Likhacheva, V. Murzin). Most of the archive's funds currently do not have inventories, and therefore the sources are mentioned in the text without specifying the number of the storage unit. A number of significant sources (manuscripts, typescripts, photographs, audio and video recordings) are in the personal archives of E. and G. Jordan. Interviews conducted by the author of the article with former members of the community in October-November 2023 were also an important source.

The first experiences of samizdat activity

Since the turn of the 1970s and 1980s. (the earliest surviving texts are dated 1979) O. Volov and M. Mikhailov explored various experimental literary and artistic techniques (automatic writing, readymade, collage, etc.). At the same time, Eastern European art magazines from the library of O. Volov's father, a professional artist, and the letters left in his father's garage were used after the construction of the Monument of Glory, in which he took part. Samples of the author's samizdat were distributed in the underground environment that began to form through such representatives as D. Radkevich, B. Komarov, etc.

Throughout the 1980s. Volov designed the author's publications, made, as a rule, in 1 copy, in A4 folders containing conceptualist texts with numerous intersperses of the game with typography. So, the book "eround Wolda. The SLAVIC QUESTION" contains only one character: "?". The book "Stendhal. red and black. (translated from French. Oleg Volov, 1984, May 7)" consists of two pages filled with red and black symbols, respectively. Several similar publications of 1984-1986 have been preserved in the O. Volov Foundation. At the same time, author's books of small formats with original binding (for example, using round paper clips) were published, the content of which was more traditional (poems written mainly in a genre close to minimalism). Just as in the case of O. Volov's paintings, these books were often signed with pseudonyms ("A V D Y", "Ai", etc.) or did not have a signature at all.

In the first half of the 1980s, at M. Bushueva's LETO, which was going to the Builder Recreation Center, O. Volov met poets, participants of the Sokur School A. Makovsky and K. Andreev, and after a while began to visit Sokur, visiting the archivist of Novosibirsk uncensored poetry of the older generation E. Jordansky. A. Makovsky, well-known in the literary circles of the country and well acquainted with the existing practices of informal culture, promoted the idea of creating an informal community of writers and his own independent press. In 1986, not without the influence of A. Makovsky, O. Volov began publishing the literary illustrated magazine "Bestiary" (the dating is given according to the output of the first issue of the magazine from the O. Volov foundation). Unlike samizdat books, the magazine had a clear heading ("Personal interview with a professional", "Ala educational program", "Poetry", "Prose", "Time out for non-readers"), but probably all the materials were created by O. Volov himself under various pseudonyms ("Ya. Etov", "E. Volda", "Belisarius Pre", "Avdey Venin").

The circulation of O. Volov's texts in the local samizdat environment is evidenced by the presence of his typewritten collection of poems "Lonely Sonata for a typewriter" in the fund of the chairman of the Novosibirsk Rock Club V. Murzin. Judging by the output data, the typescript was made by V. Murzin himself in 1986 on the basis of the author's collection O. Volov "Photo Album" (1986).

The expansion of O. Volov's circle of acquaintances was facilitated by a short-term period of employment at the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theater, where poet Y. Pivovarova, artist E. Selivanova, musician D. Selivanov and others also worked. The result of acquaintance with the Kostroma poet and artist A. Kulikovsky was that O. and V. Volov spent about a year in Kostroma. After that, the texts of Novosibirsk residents began to appear regularly in the Kostroma samizdat, the main characters of which were A. Kulikovsky and O. Gubanov (literary magazine "X", collection of A.Makovsky, Bobrikas, Jr. and Y. Bekishev "Three Poems", the almanac "Green Pig", the newspapers "UN" and "Soup Culture"), as well as in official periodicals ("Severnaya Pravda", "ML").

The emergence of a community of unofficial poets and artists

In Efremov's Recreation center, where, after returning to Novosibirsk, O. Volov got a job as a graphic designer, a community formed around him and his workshop, consisting of both former (E. Ermakova, F. Lyutov, S. Patrikov, Yu. Pivovarova, E. Selivanov, "Sokourians" V. Verkutis and G. Jordansky) and newly acquired like-minded people.

A student of the Novosibirsk Electrotechnical Institute (NETI) G. Kaplan and his friend V. Kust (tandem "Vakhtang and Vidoplyasov") at a meeting of the institute's LITO met V. Kolobov (Hertz), who published the rock magazine "Shop". V. Kolobov sent them to O. Volov and invited V. Kust to publish in the "Store". This magazine was published at Studio 8, organized by S. Bugaev after the collapse in 1987. Novosibirsk Rock Club ^{[9, p. 156]}. If the first issue of the "Store", published in 1988, received some distribution (the circulation, according to various sources, ranged from 50 to 200 copies), then the second issue (1989) turned out to be "in the only performance in the library of the underground club "Blumkin Shelter" ^{[10, p. 156]}. This edition has not been found in O. Volov's personal archive. The first issue of the magazine featured a story by the poet, the leader of the Kolenval group A. Zhdanov, whose texts were also in samizdat. Later, A. Zhdanov also joined the community of O. Volov. Vakhtang and Vidoplyasov became actively involved in the literary, artistic and publishing activities of the community. Later, in the 1990s, under the brand name "Harry Baldi Publishing House", G. Kaplan published independently and in collaboration with O. Volov several books by members of the tandem "Vakhtang and Vidoplyasov" and D. Kharms.

In the second half of the 1980s, the surrealist Action-Sur club was created on the basis of the NETI by V. Vetrov (Volo Nozh). The club's activities, in which V. Parshin (Bob Bugrov) and A. Zeitlin (Alexis; Tsei'A) actively participated, were embodied in the publication of several issues of the typewritten magazine of surrealist arts "Harpsichord" (on the back cover the name was played as "AVE SUR CL") and a number of author's collections. The magazine published both the author's texts of the club members and translations of the classics of surrealism (A. Breton, P. Eluard, etc.). The output of the "Harpsichord" indicated: "the organ of the Action-Sur club was published by the Bureau of Surrealist actions named after him. Rroz Selyavi". Similar information about the publishing body appears on the samizdat collection of poems and prose by V. Vetrov (Volo Nozh / V. Kneif), published in 1989. One of the two issues of the Klavesin magazine preserved in the O. Volov foundation (the entire issue is devoted to the experimental text of V. Vetrov "Menu of the 8th Day") has a donation inscription: "Transferred to the responsible ownership of the editor of the symmetrical magazine Avdey Metamorphozov." By symmetrical magazine, obviously, we mean the magazine "Greenery", to the creation of which the members of the Action-Sur club were directly involved.

In the late 1980s, the community formed around O. Volov got the name "Blumkin Shelter Partnership", which was not accepted by all its participants. Later, other variants of the name appeared, describing approximately the same circle of people: "Blumkin syndrome", "Outskirts of thought", "17 invisibles".

The Samizdat magazine "Greenery"

The name "Greenery", according to the memoirs of G. Jordansky, was invented and nurtured for a long time by A. Zeitlin, whose word had weight due to the fact that the magazine was supposed to be replicated using a multiplying technique, which his mother had access to.

At the Komarovka Festival (September 1989), E. Jordansky (a video recording of the festival made by S. Patrikov is kept in his archive) mentioned the upcoming literary almanac with the working title "The Green Cathedral", which was proposed by O. Volov. Apparently, the magazine "Greens" already existed by this time, and in this case, another project was meant, which could be related to both "Greens" and E. Jordansky's almanac "FOREST".

In 1989-1990, four issues of "Greenery" were published (A4 format, volume from 40 to 48 pages), the fifth issue was "safely lowered into the table" (Volov O. B. Provincial Chronicle // Humanitarian Fund. 1993. No. 16. p. 4) and published in a different format much later. Copies of the first three issues of the magazine have been preserved in the personal archive of G. Jordansky, in the O. Volov foundation — a copy of the fourth issue and fragments of the original layouts of all issues. The first issue has no dating, the second is dated 1989, the third is January—March 1990 (the circulation of 25 copies is indicated), the fourth is April-July 1990.

The first issue was designated as "monthly literary-artistic literary-literary literary-critical critical-fundamental, quarterly, published exclusively for", the Association "Blumkin Shelter" is indicated as the publishing body. The editorial board of the issue included:

"editor: Jan valeski <Oleg Volov — editor's note>

gearbox: V. pre <Oleg Volov — A. M.'s note>

Deputy editor: Conductor A. Zeitlin

Deputy conductor: editor a. Zeitlin

Reflector: M. Mikhailov

Proofreader: Ivanov-Bugrov-Sidorov

Graphic designer from zatulinka: G. Jordansky Jr.

Abstractor: Daniel [Volov]

Accountant: K. E. Andreev

Rev. joiner: V. yu. verkutis

font works: "Lyubava"".

Subsequently, the composition of the editorial board and the genre definition of the publication changed.

In the archival documents related to the activities of O. Volov, there are various variants of the time interval during which "Greenery" was published (between 1988 and 1992), but the fact that G. Jordansky is mentioned in the editorial board as a "graphicator from Zatulinka" allows us to accurately determine the time of creation of the first issue of the journal: in the Zatulinka area, he He lived in 1989.

The "Greenery" published original poems and prose by members of the Blumkin Shelter Partnership and authors close to them in spirit: Vakhtang and Vidoplyasov, V. Verkutis, O. and V. Volovs, E. Ermakova, E. Jordansky, V. Kolobov (Hertz), P. Livshitseva, F. Lyutova, A. Makovsky, M. Mikhailova, S. Mikhailova, S. Patrikova (Pat), Yu. Pivovarova, Vyach. Sizemova, P. Stepanova, A. Kholmogorova, members of the Action-Sur club, etc. Also on the pages of the magazine were works by authors from Kostroma (A. Bugrov, A. Kosmynin, A. Kulikovsky, A. Ryabinin, etc.; the surname of the poet A. Bugrov was intentionally or accidentally printed as "Bugrin" — perhaps to avoid confusion with Bob Bugrov), Moscow (I. Akhmetyev), Sverdlovsk (I. Vladimirov) and classical texts (R. M. Rilke, G. Obolduev, Ecclesiastes). The materials were printed accompanied by graphics of community members (O. Volov, G. Jordansky, etc.). A large prose text by V. Vetrov (Volo Knife) "Menu of the 8th day", reprinted from the magazine "Harpsichord", was published in "Greenery" No. 4. Probably, the end of the text was supposed to be placed in "Greenery" No. 5.

The first issue of the magazine published an absurd interview with the poet and science fiction writer Vyach. With a garden. The same interview was previously published in the section "Stump by stump" of the Samizdat magazine "Our Slope" ("the trembling organ of the Snail brigade", No. 4, 1987, preserved in the V. Murzin foundation). It clarified that the interview was taken two years before publication, that is, back in 1985. According to A. Zhdanov's memoirs, the group "Snail" also rehearsed at Efremov's Recreation center. Later, the specified interview with Vyach. It was published by Sizemov in the newspaper "Youth of Siberia" (Meet Novosibirsk underground // Youth of Siberia. January 6, 1990. p. 5).

According to his recollections, I. Rusakov did not want to give his texts for the first issues of Zeleny, but seeing that the level of materials published there was not much higher than his own, and the circulation of the magazine was "symbolic", he agreed. However, when publishing in No. 4, O. Volov smoothed out the ending of I. Rusakov's poem (instead of "Before returning to the log corner" it became "Before returning the log to the corner"), as a result of which he began to treat the possibility of further publications even more cautiously.

Texts from the "Greenery" were reprinted in large blocks in Novosibirsk newspapers (Meet Novosibirsk underground // Youth of Siberia. 1990. January 6. pp. 4-5; Literary underground // Siberian Courier. October 28, 1989, p. 6) and even more actively in the Kostroma samizdat. Contacts with Kostroma were bi-directional: O. Volov's short prose in Zeleny No. 4 is marked as reprinted from the almanac Kitezh (Kostroma, 1989). O. Gubanov in an interview with the newspaper Severnaya Pravda (Elmanov V. Samizdat in Kostroma [Interview with the poet and publisher O. Gubanov] // The Northern truth. 1990, August 25, p. 11) claims that one of these texts by O. Volov ("Sonata") He published it in the Kostroma almanac "Cubic Jackal" (1988, No. 5). Most likely, the same edition is meant, O. Gubanov's version seems to be more accurate. Discrepancies may be caused, in particular, by the fact that different issues of the Cubic Jackal were published under different names.

In the Kostroma almanac "The Green Pig" (1989), which replaced the "Cubic Jackal", I. Akhmetyev's poems from "Greenery" No. 1 are reprinted. Several poems by A. Makovsky and a poem by G. Klyachkin (probably the pseudonym of the editor of the publication O. Gubanov) were also published there, which also mentions A. Makovsky.

In the Kostroma newspaper "UN" (1990, No. 4), E. Jordansky's poem "Denis on his fortieth birthday" from "Greenery" No. 2 was published; in the newspaper "Soup Culture" (1991, No. 5), which inherited the "UN", a poem by Ani L. from "Greenery" No. 4. In the same place (1990, № 8; 1991, № 4) poems by A. Makovsky were published.

In 1997, O. Volov prepared a new version of "Greenery" No. 5 (the cover and layout elements were preserved). In a revised form, this issue was published in 2001 in the series "Archive. In the footsteps of Russian-speaking poets."

Publishing projects of the 1990s – 2010s.

At the turn of the 1980s - 1990s, O. Volov and his family moved to the MZhK Vostochny, where the Shlyapa Theater was organized at school No. 195 (V. Volova became one of the directors) and the unofficial cultural center "Outskirts of Thought". This period is described by I. Uskov under the pseudonym "Ilya Nobody" in the samizdat novel "Sexes and Antisex", a copy of which has been preserved in the personal archive of E. Jordansky.

In the early 1990s, O. Volov completed work on the novel "Unzerli", the text of which was supplemented and revised by him over the years. Several typewritten versions of the novel with illustrations by G. Kaplan have been preserved in the O. Volov foundation. In 2001, he created another important text, "The Invisible Man (summary of the myth of seventeen)", which was a kind of surreal manifesto of the community that arose around him.

In the 1990s and 2000s, O. Volov continued his independent publishing activities: in 1996-1997 he published the literary and artistic leaflet "Blumkin News" and participated in the creation of the magazine "Upper Zone" (ed. K. Ivanov), in 2001-2002 he published a series of books "Archive. In the footsteps of Russian-speaking poets" (A5 and A6 format, edition of 31 copies). Also in the early 2000s, he prepared a block of audio cassettes "The First Nine" with recordings of the author's reading of poetry by poets from different cities of Russia. The new projects, to a greater extent than the earlier ones, were aimed at embedding Novosibirsk authors in the All-Russian context.

The last implemented project was the "picture book" "MAKOVSCiY", printed with the support of A. Kurchenko within the framework of the International Youth Innovation Forum "Interra" in 2011. (A5 format, 500 copies in circulation). The book was the prototype of the poetic anthology "Makovsky", the publication of which, as well as the implementation of many other projects in recent years (an anthology of one poem "All Siberian Poetry"; a book series in which the release of books by V. Verkutis, A. Polyakov, etc. was planned), could not be carried out.

Conclusion

The "transition period" of the late 1980s — early 1990s was characterized not only by the phenomenon of "returned literature", the emergence of a large number of new publications, an increase in the circulation of books and literary and artistic magazines, but also by less obvious trends towards preserving the traditions of informal culture and, in particular, samizdat. This was due both to the inertia of activity within the framework of the underground paradigm, and to the low chances of integrating into the new realities of the market economy.

The Blumkin Orphanage Partnership, like many other local communities, turned into a rather hermetic cultural "enclave" in the 1990s, and O. Volov played the role of a kind of "mediator" between this small community and the outside world. By the early 2000s, when the situation in the country changed significantly again, this community gradually ceased to exist. The significant archive collected by O. Volov in the 1980s - 2000s serves as an important evidence of the existence of the Novosibirsk unofficial culture of this period.