Oles, Pinwin, Sake, MayB, Boortorrie & Lady Missing are back from St. Petersburg where we did a retrospective photo exhibition with some additional paintings in the Mayakovski Public Library.This part of the building used to be the Dutch Reformed Church and was re-opened last year as an (pretty conservative) exhibition space by Mayor of Rotterdam Ivo Opstelten.

The content of the expo was very unusual to this place and the organisation "Foundation Friends of St. Petersburg". They were quite worried if the expo would be ready in time (opening next day) and if the public would like it or not. Big part of the visitors are Dutch diplomats and acquaintances.

The day we arrived we barely had time to put away our stuff in our terrific appartment. Immediately we had to come over to the place and start putting up the expo. After a lot of hassle and worries of the organisation the show looked tight. The opening was a big succes, and the organisation was very surprised and pleased that besides all the officials there were a lot of youngsters present at the expo, drinking champagne, Baltika beers (!!) and eating Dutch cheese and sausages that the organisation insisted millions of times we should bring. We met some nice people and young starting streets artists like Solea at the opening that later showed us some nice Ins and Outs of St. Petersburg. Still we were worried where our friend ACAB was hanging out. He was supposed to travel to St. Petersburg by himself but we did'nt hear anything from him for two days, phone dead, etc. We thought he might be confiscated by KGB, deported to Siberia, or prostituting or smoking crack somewhere on the streets… In the end it appeared that he could not find his passport and the possibilities to take his flight, bummer! After the opening the locals showed us some bars and clubs where at some point when we entered all other visitors immediately left… We had the greatest time drinking, dancing on the tables and Sake kicking around the furniture on crap early 90's house music and great Balkan beats.

The following days we walked across town and the river, eating soljanka soup with undefinable pieces of meat in it. We painted trackside in the outskirts and a Lastplak tribute to St. Petersburg wall in some nice alley. Of course we were embraced by the local inhabitants and even a complete wedding showed up for a romantic photoshoot. Then we hooked up with TRUN and his friends, a bunch of the very few serious graffiti writers around town. Graffiti like we know it is very young in St. Petersburg and has only been around for about ten years.The guys showed us an interiour of a shop they were painting, these guys gained superior skills in a short time! Besides the photorealistic sprayed portraits, shoes and the Manhattan skyline, these guys also understand very well how to drop a decent piece out on the streets. Near the end of our stay we spend a nice at the Primorskaya "beach" were we painted a nice wall together. Also we had a "carpe diem" moment and rolled a big fun "beachbuster" on a wall on the beach. Then it was time for some more drinks, dinner and partytime before returning to Rotterdam. We said goodbye to all of our new friends, PinWin and MayB made a piece with the last drops of paint en everybody spent their last money on touristic crap, chocolate and  drinks.

We hope to be back soon, Russia!