David Elliott

Balagan!!! is a popular and much used exclamation in contemporary Russian that describes, with celebratory gusto, a farce, a mess, the most unholy of cock-ups.

It is also the title of an arts festival being organised by NORDWIND and MOMENTUM Berlin for the end of 2015 that showcases art, performance, theatre and music being made now in those countries that comprised the former USSR and its satellites - Russia, the Baltic States, Ukraine, the Balkans, the Caucasus, Mitteleuropa and the Commonwealth of Independent States1 - where chaos and misrule, along with the social comedy that results from it, are lovingly embraced and even manage to create a way of life that is reflected throughout creative culture.