ZvizzchiRU
Zvizzchi is a former Kolkhoz (Soviet collective farm) village along the Ugra River in Kaluga Oblast. The village has no church, but an old lime tree avenue – did that belong to an estate? We have to find out. The village school is attended by around 16 children; there is a club house with a library; and the concrete architecture of the first village shop brings us back to soviet-times. The Kolkhoz is now partly a ruin – some stables are reused, for instance as a studio for Nikolay Polissky’s (a famous land artist) team, because in 2013 he had to leave his church-studio in Nikola Lenivetz, the sculpture park where the festival takes place.
Over the last three decades, since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Zvizzchi villagers have reinvented their lifestyle, economics and culture. This means that servicing the summerhouse gardens, catering, rebuilding saunas and leading guided tours of the nearby sculpture park Nikola Lenivetz can all be done by people from Zvizzchi; such as former agronomists, architects living in dachas, or a student from Moscow that loves to come to this village. Beside these freelance services, the Zvizzchi people are quite autarkic; producing fresh food for their households and selling the surplus to tourists; making direct sales over a telephone tree or hot meals in a garden restaurant.
The Timeline “MADE IN ZVIZZCHI” (MiZ) is remembered by Wapke Feenstra.
| Region | Kaluga Region |
|---|---|
| Local partners |
|
| Population | Winter: around 150 people. Summer: ‘dachas-people’ double this number |
| Common fruit, vegetables, animals | Chanterelles, brown dogs on the dirt roads, dill |
| Tradition | People meeting in front of the shop, the Archstoyanie Festival |
| Scent | Sawing, chopping and burning wood |
| Distances from Zvizzchi | Distances
|
The start of the Rural School of Economics in Zvizzchi.
A group of youngsters and adults from Pushkino Style visit Zvizzchi for a long weekend. The trip is possible thanks to a trans-local-travel-grant of the Dutch Embassy in Moscow.
Natalya Serova tells me that they sold the Janus Candle to a candle-collector from Moscow for a very very good price, and they used the money to make new shelves and stickers for Made in Zvizzchi. And they still have some money left.
Events
| Region | Kaluga Region |
|---|---|
| Local partners |
|
| Population | Winter: around 150 people. Summer: ‘dachas-people’ double this number |
| Common fruit, vegetables, animals | Chanterelles, brown dogs on the dirt roads, dill |
| Tradition | People meeting in front of the shop, the Archstoyanie Festival |
| Scent | Sawing, chopping and burning wood |
| Distances from Zvizzchi | Distances
|