This interview features a candid conversation with the legendary artist, researcher, and thinker Mihail Chemiakin about his childhood in post-war Germany, his return and subsequent exile to the USSR, life in exile in France and the United States, the French provinces and the wild New York of the 1980s, nostalgia and Peter the Great, as well as the price of creative freedom, culture, identity, and memory. This interview explores the master's remarkable life, profound reflections, personal stories, and subtle humor.

🙏 We thank Mikhail Mikhailovich for the warm welcome at the Château de Chamuseau – for the endless inspiration of his craft, collection, place, creativity, research – spirituality and cosmopolitanism 😊

🧳 Topics we'll explore:
• How Shemyakin "left" the Soviet Union
• Why France "degraded," while America inspired gigantic canvases
• Gypsy romance and recordings of rare performers
• The mysticism of childhood in post-war Germany and the architecture of Leningrad
• Tragic stories of Russian émigrés
• Why the suitcases of old émigrés remained unpacked for 50 years
• What it's like to leave home "forever"
• Why freedom is important to an artist – and why it's more important than awards

🧠 Shemyakin speaks sincerely, profoundly, and at times provocatively. This isn't just an interview; it's a reflection on the 20th century through the eyes of someone who lived on the front lines of history.

💬 Quote:
"I just wanted freedom. To do what I wanted. And to know that no one was waiting for you at the entrance with a bar..."

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00:00 Introduction. Mikhail Shemyakin on relocation, freedom, and borders
02:12 Childhood in Germany: Life between military trucks
04:18 Return to the USSR. Leningrad through the eyes of an artist
07:10 Forced emigration. A conversation with the KGB
08:12 The first emigration: Paris, freedom, fear, and isolation
12:18 America: Rise, 30 years in New York, new energy
16:17 Return to France. Why Europe again
18:57 What's it like to leave forever? On Nostalgia and Loss
23:13 The Cybella Sculpture: The History of an Iconic Art Object
24:40 The Secret of Spiritual Adaptation: How to Be a Cosmopolitan
28:48 Gypsy Songs and the Cultural Salvation of Traditions
31:23 A Man Without a Country. Refusal to Obtain French Citizenship
35:42 Chemiakin's Castle in France: Libraries, Workshops, and a Research Laboratory
42:54 Creativity and Geography. The Fates of Emigrants
49:50 Carnivals in Chemiakin's Works
54:49 Tourism and Emigration Feel the difference - a joke told by the artist's wife, Sarah De Kay

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Creators:
= Author, host, and expert - Alexander Alekseev, founder of GSL Law & Consulting
= Author and host - Katya Pal
= Director - Elizaveta K.
= Camera operator - Kirill S.
= Producer - Maria M.
= Designer/illustrator - Elizaveta K.
= PR manager - Yulia Dmitrenko

Filming took place on June 2, 2025.

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Useful links for you:

= Company registration in France: https://gsl.org/ru/offers/registraczi...

= Company registration abroad: https://gsl.org/ru/offshore/offshore-...

= Tax systems of foreign countries: https://gsl.org/ru/taxes/

= Opening bank accounts: https://gsl.org/ru/offshore/banks/

= Audit of foreign companies: https://gsl.org/ru/audit-foreign/

= Informed relocation: https://gsl.org/ru/relocation/