All Together Now

St. Petersburg celebrates 100 years of International Women’s Day with an exhibition of rare memorabilia.

By Larisa Doctorow

The St. Petersburg Times

Published: March 6, 2013 (Issue # 1749)

FOR SPT One of the graphic works on view at the History of St. Petersburg Museum at the Peter and Paul Fortress.

Beside New Year’s Eve, few days in Russia are as important as International Women’s Day, which takes place annually March 8.

A newly opened exhibition at the History of St. Petersburg Museum commemorates the 100th anniversary of the celebration, offering visitors a chance to trace the changing role of women in Russian society.

Illustrating how this popular holiday arose and transformed over time, “We Are All Sisters” is a compact and intelligently conceived show drawn from the museum’s holdings that features a fascinating selection of graphics, sculptures and porcelain figurines.

In addition to the wide array of decorative art objects, didactic texts provide context with historical sketches of the women’s movement through various epochs. Particularly valuable is the way in which the exhibition juxtaposes developments happening in Russia, such as the admission of women into higher education, with similar advances in Western Europe.

The result is more flattering to Russian society than one might expect.

International Women’s Day, which began to be celebrated early in the 20th century, was a political statement expressing women’s struggle for equality in the work place. Russian women were only slightly behind their European and American counterparts in their search for parity with men, but their embrace of the holiday would have far-reaching consequences that reverberated throughout the 20th century and beyond.

In St. Petersburg, the first demonstration by female workers took place in 1913. The second, which was held in February 1917, took a political turn and eventually led to the outbreak of the February Revolution (part of the Russian Revolution of 1917).

In 1921 the Soviet state made March 8 an official holiday, and throughout the many difficult years of industrialization, war and reconstruction the country continued to celebrate the powerful image of a strong woman. As man’s equal, this new woman worked in the country’s factories and on its collective farms; she fought the nation’s enemies and served in its militia.

Among the most interesting items on view from this period is an advertisement for Alexandra Kollontai’s lecture “What type of a woman does the proletariat need?”

Kollontai was an associate of Lenin and one of the leaders of the Bolshevik party. She played an important role in establishing the new Soviet society through her lectures, her writing and her lifestyle.

Another key feature of the exhibition is the inclusion of unexpected and illuminating quotes from authorities as diverse as Bertrand Russell, Madeleine Albright and Golda Meir.

Over the years, the holiday gradually lost its overtly political aspect, becoming a holiday emphasizing family values and celebrated — both at home and at work — with flowers and gifts.

As this change was taking place, society served up yet another image of women, now a beautiful, romantic and desirable one. As the exhibition demonstrates, clothing was transformed along with the image and military uniforms for women were supplanted by lace-covered wedding gowns and corsets.

Reflecting the change, the Russian poet Nahum Korzhavin wrote a poem in which he extended an oft-quoted verse by Nikolai Nekrasov to sum up the discrepancy between what society expected from a woman and her own dreams: “She is ready to stop a galloping horse or rush into a burning house to save lives, but she dreams about balls, waltzes and evening gowns.”

“We Are All Sisters” is on view until May 12 at the History of St. Petersburg Museum at the Peter and Paul Fortress. M: Gorkovskaya. Tel. 230 6431.