Naked Poetry Movement Emerges from Russian Economic Collapse and London Festival
In August 1998, the inaugural International Festival of Naked Poetry was held at the London Institute of Contemporary Art, organized by poets Tim Gadaski and Vladimir Yaremenko-Tolstoy. The duo's initiative originated in spring 1997 following an unfavorable reading in St. Petersburg, where they chose to undress to enhance their connection with the audience. Yaremenko-Tolstoy, who was born in 1962 in Yakutsk, and Gadaski, born in 1967 in Oymiakon, Yakutia, advocate for the idea that poetry can be expressed in the nude, highlighting the relationship between body and text. They are compiling an anthology featuring over 100 poets, including Anthony Howell and Paula Edwards. While critics like The Guardian view it as a passing trend, an international symposium is set for autumn in Cambridge, though recruitment remains a challenge.
Key facts
- The first International Festival of Naked Poetry took place in August 1998 at the London Institute of Contemporary Art.
- Poets Tim Gadaski and Vladimir Yaremenko-Tolstoy founded the movement after a 1997 reading in St. Petersburg where audience members hurled tomatoes and eggs.
- Yaremenko-Tolstoy photographs nude poets for an anthology with over 100 contributors from Europe.
- The movement includes performances by poets such as Anthony Howell, Paula Edwards, and Matthew Fraser.
- Critics compare it to Allen Ginsberg's work, while The Guardian criticized it on August 22, 1998.
- The poets perform Siberian shamanic dances and stage street actions in London.
- An international symposium on Naked Poetry is scheduled for autumn in Cambridge.
- Julian Blaine, Chairman of the Paris Naked Poets' Club, restricts membership to 'well established' poets.
Entities
Artists
- Heike Wegner
- Vladimir Yaremenko-Tolstoy
- Tim Gadaski
- Anthony Howell
- Paula Edwards
- Matthew Fraser
- Ivor Stodolsky
- Reiko Iwano
- Emmanuelle Waeckerle
- Allen Ginsberg
- Julian Blaine
- Andrey Borisovich Gubin
- Semyon Antonovich Paramonov
- Nikolay Petrovich Aleksandrov
- Yuriy Grigoyevich Gavryushin
- Pavel Vladimirovich Sorokin
- Alexey Ivanovich Kirogasov
- Sergey Sergeevich Borodulin
- Oleg Arkadyevich Chvostopadov
- Michail Michaylovich Savushkin
- Mark Leonidovich Zakharov
- Panteley Nikanorovich Bagirov
- Bogdan Tymofeevich Belkin
- Rasul Makhmetovich Gamsatov
- Piotr Yaroslavovich Peredelkin
- Kapiton Adamovich Kovyrialkin
- Leonid Davidovich Timiriasyev
- Stepan Romanovich Marfutin
- Arsen Vissarionovich Abrakadabrashvili
- Terenty Feodorovich Golopupov
- Gennady Savelyevich Golopusov
- Vladimir Pilatovich Pilatov
- Dimiry Igorevich Volkogonov
- Vassily Viktorovich Kalashnikov
- Filaret Stepanovich Mukhin
- Taras Ostapovich Lasarenko
- Juriy Kapitanovich Dubrovsky
- Daniil Arkadievitch Chromosomov
- Maksim Konstantinovich Babushkin
- Galina Sergeevna Starovoytova
- Aleksandr Sergeevich Rudakov
- Moisey Abramovich Rabinovich
Institutions
- ARTMargins Online
- London Institute of Contemporary Art
- Central Exhibition Hall
- The Guardian
- Paris Naked Poets' Club
Locations
- Vienna
- Austria
- Moscow
- Russia
- Kursk
- Vladivostok
- NizhyNovgorod
- Petrosavodsk
- Krasnoyarsk
- Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk
- Novosibirsk
- Krasnodar
- Irkutsk
- Pensa
- Blagoveshtchensk
- Yoshkar-Ola
- Peredelkino
- Kaliningrad
- Tashtagal
- Magnitogorsk
- Ufa
- Barnaul
- Vladikavkas
- Tambov
- Ivanovo
- Volgograd
- Murmansk
- Bratsk
- Yakutsk
- Tomsk
- Omsk
- Saint Petersburg
- Afrika
- London
- United Kingdom
- Oymiakon
- Yakutia
- Cambridge
- Paris
- France