GRINSVENSKI@GORKI

SPECIAL ISSUE OF NIVEAU BiZZ magazine euregio in cooperation with:

GRINSVENSKI@GORKI Interactive photo and video portraits of Enterprising Russian and Dutch Ambassadors

by Guy van Grinsven with texts by Frans T. Stoks

©2013 Published by: NIVEAU BiZZ magazine euregio Molensingel 73 NL - 6229 PC Maastricht T: +31(0)43 356 14 90 F: +31(0)43 356 00 84 info@niveaumagazine.nl www.niveaumagazine.nl All photographs © Guy van Grinsven

All the photos in whatever publication form they appear now or later (newspaper, magazine, tablet) have been edited with the unique Layartechnique, allowing owners of smartphones to view these videos on their phones, once they have downloaded the special free Layar app.

Introduction “Every picture tells a story,” as they say, but what is

their eyes when they notice how certain things are different

unique about Guy Van Grinsven’s photos in his exhibition

from what they remember from their youth in their native

GRINSVENSKI@GORKI, on display in Moscow’s Gorky

country, but at the same time they openheartedly talk about

Park and later this year in the Kremlin in Nizhny Novgorod, is

the “otherness” of their new environment without hesitating

that the people portrayed tell their own stories too. On these

to mention the things they miss most: quite ordinary local

live seize pictures, twenty people – ten from Russia working

dishes like frikadel or pelmeni, or road facilities for bicyclists.

and living in the Maastricht Region and twenty people born

Remarkable, however, is how similar the desires and emotions

and/or raised in Limburg working and living in Moscow or

of the Russian and Dutch participants are. Or maybe that is not

Nizhny Novgorod – are being portrayed at the favorite site in

remarkable at all, for after all they are just people like you and

the city where they emigrated to, and all of them are holding

me, captured in a unique composition. And that is the artistic

a real iPad in their hands. Visitors can trigger a short video

greatness of these photos.

on these iPads, in which the portrayed will briefly talk about the location where they were photographed, their motives

With his exhibition GRINSVENSKI@GORKI prize winning

to settle in Russia or the Netherlands, and about their lives,

photographer Guy Van Grinsven cleverly shows how people

loves, desires and longings.

can bridge distances, even between immense nations such as Russia and the tiny Netherlands, by giving these people both a

What is interesting about Guy Van Grinsven’s interactive

face and a voice. In that sense this photo and video exhibition

photo and video project is that all the participants – whether

is a exemplary contribution of the City of Maastricht to the

they are students, teachers of music, academics, successful

Dutch-Russian Bilateral Year 2013.

business men, or children of mixed Russian-Dutch families – proclaim to have found their place in the new country of their own choice. They have not yet lost the look of surprise in

Frans T. Stoks

Anastasia Alexandrovna Safonova

Finding her second home, without losing her first Some people are surprised, some even get angry when they

What she likes best in Maastricht is the city’s combination of

find out that the hero of their youth, famous Musketeer

concrete history, exuberant conviviality and an open academic

D’Artagnan, was killed near one of Maastricht’s city gates on

atmosphere. In Maastricht, Anastasia has found her second

June 15th 1673. Alexandre Dumas’s hero is well known among

home, without losing her first, as she puts it herself.

Russians, for his life was taught in nearly all schools in the

Most surprising to her is that in Maastricht she made

former Soviet Union.

acquaintance with prominent Russian musicians she would not

On the picture, we see piano teacher and performer Anastasia

have met had she stayed in Russia. However, she plans to pay at

Safonova, playing an imaginary piano next to a huge statue

least one visit per year to Moscow, which just is a more dynamic

of D’Artagnan in Maastricht’s Aldenhof Park. Anastasia was

metropolis than small town but cozy Maastricht. By now, she

born in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia’s third city, 4,000 kilometers east

has taken numerous Dutch musicians on tour through Russia,

of Moscow, on the Yenesei river. She grew up in Moscow,

and they all have become enthusiastic fans of Russia.

where she began to study music at the age of four, having her

Incidentally, the D’Artagnan statue was made by Russian master

successful début performance of Mendelssohn piano concerto

sculptor Alexander Taratynov, who lives both in Maastricht and

eight years later.

Moscow and is known for his bronze-cast representation of

To Maastricht she came at the invitation of an English teacher,

Rembrandt’s Night Watch among others. D’Artagnans head is

who asked her to participate in an international master class at

modelled on the basis of a photo Guy Van Grinsven made of a

the city’s Conservatory.

still living descendant of the historical D’Artagnan.

Anastasia loves to come to this place in the park when she is preparing herself for a piano performance and needs to get inspired. She has been a piano teacher at the nearby Maastricht Conservatory since 2000, has been performing all over Europe and made various recordings for public TV and radio stations.

Theodorus P.M. Schreurs

Problems are challenges to be solved Most people are extremely annoyed when, after a strenuous

21st Century. The novel was the inspiration for the name of

flight, they arrive at an airport and are faced with long queues at

Theodorus’s enterprise.

the customs. When in 1999, Theodorus P.M. Schreurs arrived

The Limburg business man feels perfectly at home in the

in Moscow for the first time he was confronted with these

dynamic Russian capital, an art and museum lover’s paradise

queues and was probably the only passenger who rubbed his

which, like New York, is a city that never sleeps. Over the years

hands. He saw chances and challenges. After all, he was a crisis

in Russia, Theodorus had come to deeply respect the people

manger by profession. Two years later, he founded The Noble

of this immense country. He greatly admires the sacrifices and

House, an enterprise specialized in helping foreign businesses

achievements of the Russian people over the last twenty years,

to develop successfully in Russia, being expert in finance,

since the early days of perestroika. People in the West tend to

taxation, sales, import, transport, and warehouse logistics,

forget these things and should pay less attention to negative

legal and HR services, IT support, and Certification. By 2013,

trifles.

The Noble House is employing thirty people.

Theodorus Pierrovich Schreurs was born in Venlo-Blerick, the third biggest city of the Limburg province, on the river Meuse, close to the German border. For him, Moscow was back then and still is an exciting metropolis where he is doing business in exciting times. That is why he chose to be photographed on Moscow’s Red Square, with the famous Saint Basil’s Cathedral in the background. In his left hand, he holds a wellthumbed copy of The Noble House, a novel written in 1981 by James Clavell and set in the financial world of Hong Kong in 1963. Interesting times, interesting place, like Moscow in the

Dmitri Alexandrovich Boutylkov

Promoter of tolerance and diversity “Two religions on one pillow, there the Devil sleeps in

Dmitri is a staunch promoter of a unique project, initiated

between.” This old-fashioned Dutch saying suggests that a

by the German artist Gunter Demnich, to keep the memory

marriage of two people with different religious backgrounds

alive of the victims of National Socialism by installing

will not last. However, the moral of the saying did not last

commemorative brass plaques in the pavement in front of their

either, for religious diversity and tolerance are what Moscow

last address of choice. There are now over 30,000 Stolpersteine

born Dmitri Boutylkov likes best about Maastricht. Being

(lit. ‘Stumbling Stones’) all over Europe and, thanks to Dmitri

the president of a foundation promoting the advancement of

and his foundation, also in Maastricht. In 2012, the first one was

Jewish cultural heritage in the Maastricht Region he chose

installed in front of a bookshop in an 800-year-old church that,

Maastricht’s main square, the Vrijthof, for his picture to be

according to the British newspaper The Guardian, is ‘the most

taken. He is standing next to a statue, representing cheerful

beautiful bookshop of all time’.

people celebrating carnival by holding each other’s hands.

It is not hard to understand why Dmitri feels at home in

“Behind me there are both the Catholic Basilica of Saint

Maastricht.

Servatius and the Protestant Saint John’s Church,” says Dmitri.

Only a small alley, ironically called Purgatory, lies in between.

One of the huge bronze gates in the Servatius Basilica was made by one of Dmitri’s friends, Maastricht sculptor Appie Drielsma, a Jewish Holocaust survivor, who incorporated the names of his murdered relatives in the gate. For Dmitri, who came to Maastricht 22 years ago, these religions linking up with each other perfectly symbolize the tolerance and diversity of Maastricht, a very European city of not only many religions but also many languages, with Russian on the rise.

Pim Nikolayevich Bemelmans

An interpreter-translator going into Russian business At the age of twelve, Maastricht born Pim Nikolayevich

Lieve Vrouweplein (Our Lady’s Square). He simply loves it’s

Bemelmans was convinced that he was to become an

unique atmosphere, the friendly people he can talk to in his

interpreter-translator of Russian. After all, there were

own dialect and the epicurean life style. ‘With all their money,

numerous job opportunities in Holland’s most European

all the Russian oligarchs cannot buy that atmosphere. It is

city Maastricht and the (then called) European Economic

between the ears and not to be found in a wallet.’

Community in nearby Brussels. He became fluent in Russian,

Pim is standing on the Bolshoy Kamenny Bridge (Big Stone

but his professional career would strike out on a different

Bridge) over the Moskva, the river that runs through the very

course. After additional economic and marketing studies, he

heart of Moscow, the Kremlin right behind him. In his hands, he

took an MBA degree at the Antwerp Management School,

holds a windshield, symbolizing the Carglass company, which

had various managerial functions in aluminum and live stock

he started as a wild MBA project and side job almost four years

companies and has been living in Moscow now for the past

ago, and for which he has been working in Russia now for two

seven years.

and half years as a Sales and Marketing Director. This is the

During the roaring Russian nineties, Pim even contemplated

favorite spot for all TV news reporters in Moscow for an on-

setting up a chain of Starbucks-like coffeeshops in Russia, but

camera standup. They usually report on world politics. Pim just

fate decided otherwise, partly because supporting companies

kindly invites you to come to Russia and taste its many facets

shied away from doing business in booming, unknown,

for yourself.

adventurous Russia. But Pim seemed to have found his destiny in Russia. He loves the country’s dynamics, its paradoxes and everything why Russia and the Russian way of life cannot be understood with ordinary western common sense.

However, whenever he pays a visit to his native town, he will go for a beer and a good old unnesop (onion soup) at the Onze

Vladimir Igoryevich Kirasirov

‘While my guitar gently speaks’ Love of music and more specifically love of the guitar made

the Maastricht Conservatory. Nowadays he makes a living

Vladimir Kirasov come to Maastricht. Along with his partner

in and around the Limburg capital by teaching others to play

in life, Evgenia Markova, who plays the domra (a traditional

guitar and by staging various concerts, both as a solo artist and

Russian string instrument), he plays musical compositions from

with his partner Evgenia. Having won various regional and

Béla Bartók, Manuel de Falla, Johann Sebastian Bach, Maurice

international competitions, he also performs regularly in Saint-

Ravel and Rumanian Folk dances, to contemporary music by

Petersburg as well as in other European cities.

Ástor Piazzolla and Alfred Schnittke.

During the photo shoot Vladimir preferred to have his guitar talk for him rather than talk too much himself. He is photographed in het lime stone caves near Maastricht, a labyrinth of thousands of tunnels, carved out by miners during the past centuries. They sawed the characteristic yellowish blocks out of the mines so that they could be used in the construction of buildings such as houses, churches and schools. You can still see these buildings all over the Maastricht Region.

Behind Vladimir there is peeping Siri, the photographer’s husky dog, symbolizing Vladimir’s roots: his parents originate from far away Siberia – his father from Novosibirsk, his mother from Novokuznetsk –, a place and climate where Siri feels quite at home.

Before coming to Maastricht, Vladimir was a graduate of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. In 2013, he graduated from

Darya Vadimovna Severina

Lighting a table lamp on an old border post Not only world famous opera diva Anna Netrebko was born in

Netherlands. Now, with peaceful Belgium on the opposite

the southern Russian city of Krasnodar but also Darya Severina.

border of the river and with only an iron post to mark the exact

Krasnodar, meaning literally ‘Red Gift’, is a city of 700,000

border, Darya celebrates the borderless possibilities of life

inhabitants, on the river Kuban and roughly 1,500 kilometers to

in the Maastricht Region by lighting a table lamp on the old

the southeast of Moscow, near the east coast of the Black Sea

border post, making her feel even more at home.

and, by Russian standards, near the Olympic city of Sochi.

A few years ago, Darya went on a holiday to nearby – again

by Russian standards – Turkey, where she met a handsome Dutch man. “It was love at first sight,” she remembers. One year after they met, Darya moved to the Netherlands, where she eventually found a job, working as a treasury analyst for of Sabic, one of the world’s top six petrochemical companies and the largest non-oil company in the Middle East. Darya is working in a modern office in Sittard, a city just 25 kilometers north of Maastricht.

Coming from southern Russia, Darya was attracted by the borderless environment in the Maastricht Region. That is why she chose to have her photograph taken right at the BelgianDutch border in Eijsden, a friendly historic village on the river Meuse, just south of Maastricht. During the First World War a high voltage electric fence prevented refugees from warstricken Belgium to flee across the border into the neutral

David Kirovich Kaik

‘Learn about each others cultures and be friendly’ David Kirovich Kaik was born in Komsomolsk-na-Amure, a

Russia’s cheap cigarettes and vodka. And he never forgets

city of over 200,00 inhabitants in the Russian Far East, near

about Russia due to his friend’s obsession with Russian dolls

the Chinese border. His ancestors from both sides originally

(матрёшки/matryoshkas), the ones people in the Netherlands

came from Germany but moved to Russia somewhere in the

call ‘бабушки/babushkas’, which does not make any sense to

18th century. He was raised in his hometown, moved to St

David.

Petersburg in 2011 and has been living in Maastricht since 2012.

There is one other thing that would make David feel even more

“I’ve come to Maastricht mostly because of the university and

comfortable in Maastricht. He truly hopes that the university

I just wanted to study abroad as it seemed a good idea. Until

will stop making a distinction between EU students and non-

now, I have not regretted that decision. I am enjoying the city’s

EU students, so that he would not have to pay five times as

international atmosphere (especially at the Faculty of Arts and

much for his program. Moreover, David is convinced that

Social Sciences of Maastricht University where I study). Here,

student exchange programs would make a great difference in

you meet people from all over the world and I have made some

Russian-Dutch relationships. Young adults should learn about

really great friends. And cycling I find just fascinating. I have

other cultures, traditions, languages perhaps, and that would

been to Belgium a few times on a bike.”

definitely make us all friends. “Be friendly, that is my advice,”

While in Maastricht, David does not really miss Russia that

says David.

much. Naturally, it was nice to be back in St Petersburg and see his Mom and friends for the New Year, but frankly those two weeks were enough for him to start getting bored and missing Maastricht. And he was disappointed to notice how many people in Russia still do not speak English, says young David from the Russian Far East with an almost perfect British accent! On the other hand, when in Maastricht he misses

John Bèrovich Habets

A room with a view The view from the room in his Moscow based office is both

and travelled and worked all over the world, from China to Oman,

magnificent and highly symbolic. Leaning out of the window,

from the Czech Republic to Russia. The last seven years he has been

Maastricht-born John Bèrovich Habets looks at the back of a famous

active in Moscow, and since one year and a half he has been living in

statue of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin near Metro station Oktyabr’skaya,

the Russian capital permanently. Meaning, from Monday to Friday.

the square where the old communist hands will rally to pay tribute

John never tires of talking about recent developments in Moscow,

to their great leader or vent their anger at his successors. On top of a

offering great challenges to Russians and non-Russians. Like

stone column, the great Russian revolutionary is showing the way to

anything in Russia, the scale and scope of the projects are immense

a bright communist future to a pack of soldiers, farmers and workers

and much bigger than elsewhere, making them all the more

gathered at his feet. At least, that is what the sculptor had in mind

interesting and exciting. The road infrastructure has improved

when he made the statue. Today, they are looking at 21st Century

tremendously, and flight handlings have become much more

reality: super cars driving nose to tail, when not stuck in traffic jams,

smoother.

on Prospekt Leninskiy, one of Moscow’s busiest highways. They

Although he feels quite at home in Moscow and loves his work here,

are heading for New Moscow, the business center of Europe’s most

as a true family man he is always glad to go home for the weekend to

capitalistic city where state-of-the art glass and steel office and

his wife and children in Maastricht, taking his dog Luna for a walk and

residential skyscrapers shoot up like mushrooms. A future Lenin,

training in the Savelsbos nearby, finishing one final reconstruction

who looks on without batting an eyelid, surely did not foresee.

of his house or joining his son-in-law for a tour on their shining

John, by contrast, looks out of his office window at TGC Group of

motorbikes. In each and every employment contract John signed

Companies with beaming eyes and great enthusiasm and optimism.

over the past years a clause was inserted allowing John to celebrate

The Russian company he works for as a Technical Director is

carnival in his native town of Maastricht. And he intends not to miss

specialized in the development and construction of logistic parks

any edition of Maastricht’s most popular feast in the future.

and warehouses, among others. John has been working as a technical

Nonetheless, he invites everybody to come to Moscow and see the

director for Eurasian Real Estate in international projects for years

incredible changes and dynamics of this great city for him- or herself.

Ekaterina Vladimirovna Muravyeva

Sustainable exchange

Ekaterina Muravyeva was born in Nizhny Novgorod, a city of

The place she choose to have her picture taken has changed

1.5 million inhabitants just over 400 kilometers east of Moscow.

drastically since the days of her internship. Today, construction

There, she grew up and went to study at the Nizhny Novgorod

workers are digging a unique highway tunnel, 2.3 kilometers

State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering

long and containing two stories of each two tubes, right

(NNGASU), International Institute of Economics, Law and

through the heart of the city of Maastricht. The building site

Management (MIEPM), specializing in international private

slightly blocks the view Ekaterina used to have from her office

law. It was during her study that, for the first time, she heard

back in 2008.

the name ‘Maastricht’, more specifically the Maastricht Treaty

Ekaterina is standing in front of a group of statues, symbolizing

of 1992, establishing the European Union and leading to the

the liberation of Maastricht from Nazi terror in September

creation of a single European currency, the euro.

1944. It was made by Limburg sculptor Charles Eyck. Since

The Nizhny Novgorod University has been working together

sustainability plays an important role in the cooperation of

with Zuyd University in Limburg, allowing many students and

the Russian and Limburg universities, photographer Guy

lecturers to come and study or teach in Maastricht or Nizhny

Van Grinsven had a small windmill placed next to Ekaterina,

Novgorod. Ekaterina was one of them. In 2008, she got an

producing enough electricity to illuminate the light bulb she is

internship at a Maastricht legal office, and she has enjoyed living

holding.

in Maastricht ever since. There, she had her first impressions

“I really enjoy working and living in the Netherlands,” she

and experiences with Dutch people who, in her opinion, seem

says, “but what I have been missing is traditional Russian

to favor a culture of discussions and careful considerations. She

food. Pelmeni (stuffed dumplings), blini (thin pancakes) and

now works at the Regional Center of Expertise on Education

a traditional Russian table loaded with food when somebody

for Sustainable Development (RCE Rhine-Meuse), operating

comes to visit.”

from the oldest learning center in Europe, the 900 year old Rolduc Abbey in Kerkrade.

Gerardus Gerardovich Uijtendaal

‘Things are not always what they appear to be’ For more than twenty years, Dutch-born Gerard Uijtendaal

holding in his hand. It was intended as a gift from Russia to the

has been helping multinational companies doing business in

United States, commemorating the discovery of America five

Russia, and training and coaching Russian managers to operate

hundred years ago. However, all the chosen cities in America

in multi-cultural teams. Privately, Gerard has accommodated

kindly declined the offer, leaving Moscow with the statue in

himself to the Russian way of life, proof of which is his

the city’s own heart, be it with a slight amendment: Columbus’

conversion to the Russian Orthodox faith when he married his

head was replaced by one representing Czar Peter the Great.

Russian wife.

Indeed: things are not always what they appear to be in Russia.

Gerard is being photographed in what he himself calls “my back

Still, Gerard has a tender spot for Peter the Great: as a trainer

garden in the city where I feel at home”. He is standing in a park

he admires the historic figure who, like no other Russian, stands

along the river Moskva in the Yakimanka district in the heart

for knowledge transfer, and that is, in the end, Gerard’s core

of Moscow where he takes his little dog called Jochie (literally:

business. And he likes living in Russia: “In the Netherlands,

‘little kid’) for a walk every day. In the background, the splendid

things work, but nothing happens. In Russia, nothing works

gold cupola of the restored Cathedral of Christ the Saviour can

but all kinds of things happen!”

be seen, the “Saint Peter of Russian Orthodox faith”.

But what strikes most is, of course, the 45 meters high statue of Czar Peter the Great in the middle of the river Moskva. In his hands, Gerard is holding his little dog, forming a nice contrast to the controversial statue by Georgian sculptor Zurab Tsereteli.

“Russia would not be Russia if things were actually what you see,” says Gerard. According to him, the statue is representing a proud Christopher Columbus on a Spanish galleon, looking for new land and bringing law and order in a charter he is

Fatima Gaziyevna Magmutova

A border running through her body Fatima Magmutova was born and grew up as a citizen of the

In the background, Château Neercanne can be seen, Holland’s

Soviet Union in the Ukrainian city of Charkiv. Maybe the

only terraced castle, famous for its international visitors during

fact that she is a Ukrainian by birth inspired her to have her

European summits like François Mitterrand and Helmut

photograph taken on the very border of two countries. After

Kohl. The castle was built in 1698 by the Military Governor

all, etymologically ‘Ukraine’ means ‘At the border’.

of Maastricht, baron Daniël Wolf van Dopff, who used the

For the past seventeen years, Fatima has been living in

castle as a country estate and guest accommodation, and also

Maastricht, the city she has come to love so much that whenever

held receptions and feasts. One of its most remarkable visitors

she is elsewhere, she very quickly becomes homesick for her

was Czar Peter the Great, who spent the night here while on

favorite city on the borders of the river Meuse.

visit in Maastricht in 1717. He was particularly interested in the

Fatima studied construction and architecture in Charkiv before

terraced gardens.

she came to the Netherlands. Here she successfully raised

Peter the Great’s connection with Maastricht makes Fatima

two children, and became a building advisor, working for the

love Maastricht even more.

Heerlen municipality.

Her love for construction is being symbolized by the construction helmet in the grass. Her other great passion is the making of puppets.

Fatima is lying in the lush spring grass of the Jeker valley, the small river originating in Belgium and joining the river Meuse in the heart of Maastricht. The Dutch-Belgium border – nothing more than just an imaginary line – runs straight through her body, her head being in one country (Belgium), her feet in another (the Netherlands).

Jo Martinovich Spaubeck

The good-humoured strategic professor ‘Holding a chair’ is what a university professor is required to

mother of all Russian rivers, the Wolga. Jo is comparing –

do. Joseph (‘Jo’) Spaubeck, a true son of the city of Kerkrade,

tongue in cheek – the confluence of Oka and Wolga in Nizhny

Limburg’s musical stronghold near Maastricht, holds a chair

Novgorod to the Jeker river in Maastricht, flowing out into

in the strategic marketing and management department at the

the river Meuse in the very heart of the Limburg capital. A

Nizhny Novgorod State University of Architecture and Civil

comparison which naturally hardly holds water, considering

Engineering (NNGASU), one of the leading universities of

the size of these rivers, but this is what usually happens when

Russia, just over 400 kilometers east of Moscow. With over

(big and mighty) things Russian are compared to (small and

23,000 students it employs more than 1,000 faculty members

tiny) things Dutch.

and researchers.

Over the years, Jo has conceived a great passion for Russia and

On the picture, Jo is trying to ignore the possibility of his chair

all these big and mighty things Russian, without forgetting his

sliding down the steep hill in Nizhny Novgorod on which once

Limburg roots. He is still president of the Royal Wind Band St

the city’s Kremlin was strategically built.

Philomena in his native village Chevremont, he has worked for

Jo has been working in Nizhny Novgorod since 1995, but he

25 years as a volunteer committee member at the World Music

still holds various positions in the Netherlands – lecturing as

Contest in Kerkrade, and he is a staunch supporter of local

a senior expert at Zuyd University and as a senior expert for

football club Roda JC. But nowadays he also feels quite at home

PUM, an organization connecting entrepreneurs in developing

in Nizhny Novgorod, as is apparent by the relaxed way he tries

countries and emerging markets with senior experts from the

to sit in the leather chair and the big smiles on his face.

Netherlands. In Nizhny Novgorod, he has been a member of the management team of the International Institute of Economics, Law and Management (MIEPM), a structural unit of the Nizhny Novgorod University.

Behind Jo, the river Oka can be seen, flowing out into the

Goulnara Rinatovna Khissamoutdinova

A meeting on a stone bridge at five o’clock in the morning Many cities were built along rivers, such as Maastricht and

on a holiday but, according to Goulnara, they do not want to

Moscow. They say it is good for trade, because bridges connect

live here, because they are too chauvinistic. Ironically, she

people. And that is even true at five o’clock in the morning. Just

finds the same feeling to be a dominant characteristic of many

ask Moscow-born Goulnara Khissamoutdinova. Right in the

inhabitants of Maastricht!

middle of the old stone Saint Servatius Bridge over the Meuse

Goulnara is proud of Maastricht, the city where, according to

river, she met, one early morning, her future husband Niels.

her, Europe was more or less born. What she misses, though, is

Goulnara, who grew up in Moscow, went to live in Maastricht

a good girls’ talk around a well laid kitchen table. In Maastricht

because her parents, sales representatives for a French food

the talking (and gossiping) is done in the city’s numerous pubs,

processing firm, were looking for a centrally located place

but there is something to be said for that too! And she would

to operate from. After a look on the map of Europe and

like to have more Russian related exhibitions (like the one

considering the educational possibilities for their daughter,

in the Maastricht Bonnefanten Museaum in 2013 about the

they quickly concluded that Maastricht was the best place to

revolutionary changes in Russian painting two decades before

settle. And so they did.

the Russian Revolution), ballet and musical productions,

Goulnara recently worked in sales in Maastricht and Kerkrade

especially pop concerts for young people.

but is currently fully occupied with raising her two beautiful

Goulnara cannot but love Maastricht. Who would not, having

children. In Maastricht, Goulnara appreciates the fact that it is a

met one’s future husband on an old stone bridge at five o’clock

well-organized, old historic city, with a lot of brimming energy.

in the morning!

She explicitly mentions The European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF, the world’s biggest art trading fair, held every year in March), the July concerts by Maastricht’s most famous son André Rieu and, of course, the city’s unrivalled carnival.

Most of Goulnara’s Moscow friends like to come to Europe

Roeland Kristorovich van Gestel

President of entrepreneurs Roeland Van Gestel received his Master of Business Economics

Novgorod, in the city’s Kremlin. Quite a few historic Russian

from the University of Groningen, Netherlands. In 1994,

cities were built around a kremlin, a major fortified central

Tebodin Consultants & Engineers, recognizing the need for

complex, that later became a walled city within the city. The

advisory services in Eastern Europe after the breakup of the

Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin, dominating both the old town of

Soviet Union, sent him to Moscow to set up a Russian branch

Nizhny Novgorod and the confluence of the rivers Oka and

office. In 1997 Van Gestel moved to Samara to become CFO

Wolga, dates back to the sixteenth century.

of a US-Russian joint venture in the optical cable industry. In

What startled Van Gestel in his early years in Russia is that

2003, he was appointed General Manager at Lear in Nizhny

Western European countries were generally referred to as

Novgorod. Eight years later, he moved to Bosal, also a global

“Europe”, regardless of all the differences between them. A

automotive supplier.

Dutchman working for a Dutch company would be taken aback

Roeland has a Russian wife and two sons, Danil and Felix, who

when asked about some business or political event in “Europe”

appear in this exhibition in a separate picture.

when really it took place in Spain or Austria. Interestingly,

Roeland is well integrated into Russian life and business. Proof

twenty years later EU citizens live and work everywhere and

of that is not only his fluency in Russian and the various top

people refer to European companies as opposed to American,

management posts he has held in Russia, but also his election,

or Chinese companies. European states are becoming a true

in 2010, as the President of the International Community

union. So ironically, Russians have gradually become right in

Association of Nizhny Novgorod (ICANN), a club of business

addressing all countries west of Belarus under one common

people working for foreign organizations in the region.

denominator: Europe.

ICANN offers its 45 member firms a platform for networking and lobbying their interests in local government circles.

Roeland’s picture was taken by Guy Van Grinsven on a sunny Sunday afternoon in early June in the heart of Nizhny

Hilde Jankovka van der Sterren

Picture of a photographer Hilde van der Sterren belongs to a steadily growing group of

weekends, dozens of newly-weds have their wedding pictures

highly mobile people who take up residence in one place on the

taken right in the heart of Gum, as long as security will allow it.

earth, and move on to another a couple of years later. Hilde’s

Over the past months, Hilde, who regularly visits Maastricht,

husband is sent all over the world to work for and represent a

has come to like Moscow, enjoying the city’s location on the

multinational company. Partners of these cosmopolitans are

river Moskva, just like Maastricht on the river Meuse, and

highly challenged to organize again and again their lives in a

with her keen photographic eye she even notices interesting

new surrounding.

similarities in the buildings in both cities.

Hilde van der Sterren, who used to work as an air hostess,

What she misses most in Moscow – betraying her unmistakable

knows her way around in the world and studied art history at

Dutch roots – is the possibility of moving around in the city on

Leiden University, has greatly taken up that challenge. With

a bicycle. Despite the broad boulevards, there are no special

her husband and kids, she lived for a couple of years in Borneo

facilities for bikers in Moscow, and given the style of driving

(Malaysia) and Oman, among others. In 2009, she decided to

of most Muscovites and the intensity of the city’s traffic, it is

start her own photography business, something you can run

best for her and her family that she sticks to cycling outside of

more practically nowadays, thanks to the internet, making

the Russian capital.

it less dependent on a fixed place of residence. Hilde herself specializes in making photo reports of children, marriages and family occasions and is improving herself constantly by attending workshops by master photographers.

In early 2012, Hilde and her family moved to Moscow.

Of course, Hilde wanted her picture to be taken while performing as a photographer. She choose Moscow’s fanciest and biggest warehouse Gum right on Red Square. In the

Sjeng Sjengovich Scheijen

Love of Russian Avant-Garde Art Maastricht-born Sjeng Scheijen studied Slavic Languages at

Sjeng is photographed on a platform of the Mayakovsky Metro

Leiden University and specialized in fin-de-siècle and early

Station, considered to be one of the most beautiful stations in

modern Russian art. In 2008 and 2009, he served as cultural

the world. Sjeng wishes to express both his love of Moscow

attaché at the Netherlands Embassy in Moscow. He is advisor

– “Europe’s most dynamic city, full of mysteries, with a

to various cultural institutions and the Dutch Government on

fascinating nightlife, and a fascinating daylife as well” – and his

Russian Art and Russian-European Cultural politics. In 2009,

love of Russian “futuristic” art with his unwavering admiration

he received international acclaim for Diaghilev. A Life, his

for Vladimir Mayakovsky. In Sjeng’s own words, betraying the

outstanding biography of ballet impresario and choreographer

biographer he is, Mayakovsky was “a great, highly tormented

Sergei Diaghilev, which was translated in various languages.

and tragic figure, one of the greatest poet of the 20th Century

In December 2011, Scheijen was appointed artistic director of

who, in a sense, was ruined by that new Soviet society”.

the Dutch-Russian Bilateral Year 2013. In early 2013, he briefly

Sjeng appreciates life in Moscow very much and regrets that he

returned to Maastricht, curating a highly praised exhibition

will return to the Netherlands soon. But until then, his daughter

of Russian early Avant-Garde Art, called The Big Change, for

goes to the Russian kindergarten (detsky sad), where she eats,

the Maastricht Bonnefanten Museum, featuring nearly ninety

sleeps and makes easily friends with her Russian peers.

paintings by almost thirty, sometimes very different artists, who were active in the two decades prior to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In half a year, the exhibition drew more than 70,000 visitors.

Currently, Sjeng Scheijen is working in Moscow on a new project on the causes and consequences of the bloom and fall of Russian modernist art in favor of government-imposed socialist realism.

Tatyana Jurevna Sokolovskaya

Same preference as Peter the Great It was during a business trip to Eastern Berlin in 1989 that

Tatyana Sokolovskaya, resident of Maastricht, the city Peter

Tatyana Sokolovskaya met her future Dutch husband, an

the Great liked so much.’ To which she wishes to add: ‘The city

event that would change her life as radically as the fall of the

that I like too very much!’

Wall in that German city would change Europe. Tatyana had

On the photo, Tatyana is holding a torch, a reference to one of

been studying foreign languages at Moscow University and

Maastricht’s finest sons, Jan Pieter Minckelers, the inventor of

had found a job as a teacher and interpreter of German in the

illuminating gas.

Russian capital. In august 1994, she initially moved to Belgium,

With her Russian roots, her Dutch husband, her son married to

and later went to live in Maastricht, where she has been

a French speaking Belgian woman and working in Luxemburg,

working ever since as a sworn translator and an interpreter of

and her mother living in Germany and speaking Russian

German and Russian. Having followed various courses in the

and German, she truly embodies Maastricht’s international

history of Maastricht, she is now also a certified tourist guide in

character.

the historic city she has come to love so dearly.

When Russians come to visit Maastricht, she never fails to show them the impressive 17th Century Town Hall on the Market Square. On the iPad she is holding a book, recently published by Professor Emmanuel Waegemans, about Peter the Great’s visit to the Low Countries. During his second trip to the West, the Russian Czar visited Maastricht. The small tower on top op the Town Hall made such an impression on him that he had a copy made for the Trinity-Sergius Monastery (TroitseSergiyeva Lawra) near Moscow. Tatyana is very proud of the personal dedication in her copy of the professor’s book: ‘To

Felix Boris & Danil Chris Van Gestel

Bilingual children of the 21st Century Apart from portraits of Russian and Dutch business men,

Novgorod in 1836. The statue is located on the corner of

musicians, students and teachers, there are also two slightly

ploshchad’ Teatralnaya and ulitsa Bolshaya Pokrovskaya, next

different pictures included in this photo and video exhibition,

to the Academic Drama Theatre, in the very heart of Nizhny

intended to illustrate and symbolize the ties between Nizhny

Novgorod.

Novgorod and Maastricht. They are two portraits of two

The picture of Stan and Nieck was taken in the very heart of

young brothers, one taken in Nizhny Novgorod, the other

Maastricht, on Grote Looiersstraat, in front of the statue of

in Maastricht. The connection between them is not only that

one of Maastricht’s most famous and beloved sons, Alphons

both boy couples have a Russian mother and a Dutch father, but

Olterdissen (1865–1923). As an unsuccessful business man he

also a common godfather, Professor Joseph (‘Jo’) Spaubeck,

started writing, in Maastrichtian dialect, popular plays and

who meets them regularly when Jo is teaching either in Nizhny

musical comedies in order to pay off his debts. The final stanza

Novgorod or in Maastricht.

of his opera Trijn de Begijn eventually became the local anthem

Danil (right) and Felix are the sons of Roeland Van Gestel, who

of Maastricht.

features in a portrait of his own; Stan and Nieck (next page) are

Both Danil and Felix, and Stan and Nieck are true children of

the sons of Bert Schroën, who is the Director Faculty of Bèta

the 21st Century, growing up bilingually (at least!) – speaking

Sciences and Technology at Zuyd University.

Russian with their mothers and Dutch with their fathers.

The similarities between both pictures are, of course,

And sometimes, for instance when they are talking with each

intentional. Not only did Guy Van Grinsven have the boys

other or having an argument, they are not even aware of what

positioned in more or less the same way, but there is also a

language they are speaking.

special relation to the location where the pictures were taken.

In Nizhny Novgorod, Felix and Danil are sitting on a bench in front of a statue of famous Russian writer, literary critic and journalist Nikolay Dobrolyubov, who was born in Nizhny

Stan & Nieck Schroën

Bilingual children of the 21st Century Apart from portraits of Russian and Dutch business men,

Novgorod in 1836. The statue is located on the corner of

musicians, students and teachers, there are also two slightly

ploshchad’ Teatralnaya and ulitsa Bolshaya Pokrovskaya, next

different pictures included in this photo and video exhibition,

to the Academic Drama Theatre, in the very heart of Nizhny

intended to illustrate and symbolize the ties between Nizhny

Novgorod.

Novgorod and Maastricht. They are two portraits of two

The picture of Stan and Nieck was taken in the very heart of

young brothers, one taken in Nizhny Novgorod, the other

Maastricht, on Grote Looiersstraat, in front of the statue of

in Maastricht. The connection between them is not only that

one of Maastricht’s most famous and beloved sons, Alphons

both boy couples have a Russian mother and a Dutch father, but

Olterdissen (1865–1923). As an unsuccessful business man he

also a common godfather, Professor Joseph (‘Jo’) Spaubeck,

started writing, in Maastrichtian dialect, popular plays and

who meets them regularly when Jo is teaching either in Nizhny

musical comedies in order to pay off his debts. The final stanza

Novgorod or in Maastricht.

of his opera Trijn de Begijn eventually became the local anthem

Danil (right on previous page) and Felix are the sons of Roeland

of Maastricht.

Van Gestel, who features in a portrait of his own; Stan and

Both Danil and Felix, and Stan and Nieck are true children of

Nieck are the sons of Bert Schroën, who is the Director Faculty

the 21st Century, growing up bilingually (at least!) – speaking

of Bèta Sciences and Technology at Zuyd University.

Russian with their mothers and Dutch with their fathers.

The similarities between both pictures are, of course,

And sometimes, for instance when they are talking with each

intentional. Not only did Guy Van Grinsven have the boys

other or having an argument, they are not even aware of what

positioned in more or less the same way, but there is also a

language they are speaking.

special relation to the location where the pictures were taken.

In Nizhny Novgorod, Felix and Danil are sitting on a bench in front of a statue of famous Russian writer, literary critic and journalist Nikolay Dobrolyubov, who was born in Nizhny

Special thanks to • • • • • • • • • • •

The City of Maastricht: Deputy Mayor Jacques Costongs, Head of International & Public Affairs at Municipality of Maastricht Ton Wanders, Project officer International & Public Affairs Marianne Ravestein, Richard Hansen Noble House, Moscow: Theodorus Schreurs Carglass, Russia: Pim Bemelmans TGC Group of Companies, Moscow: Ostapishin Alexander General Director, John Habets Lukoil InterContinental Hotel Tverskaya, Moscow: Mathieu van Alphen Lebedinoye Ozero (Swan Lake) Restaurant, Moscow: Nick Grachev InterPunct: Frans T. Stoks Vera Pepels Film & Media StudioPress: Linda Jansen NIVEAU BiZZ magazine euregio

This exhibition was made possible thanks to the generous contributions of: