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"Koulakov’s supreme ultimate" (film by Vladimir Nepevny) The main character of the film, Mikhail Koulakov, was one of the brightest persons of the Soviet non-official art of 1950-s – 1960-s. Abstractionist, Tachist, a participant of the first underground exhibitions, in the late 1950-s, he had to leave Moscow because of the criminal charge in ‘social parasitism’. In Leningrad he studied at the famous theatre director and stage decorator Nickolay Akimov, came in touch with poets and artists of the local underground. In 1976, Koulakov emigrated to Italy. There he became an honourable member of the Academy of Fine Arts of Pietro Vanucci (Accademia Belle Arti Pietro Vanucci, Perigia), taught at the Firenza University; a mosaic made by Koulakov, decorates one of the metro stations in Rome. So, cultures of two countries – Russia and Italy – intertwined in the destiny of the artist. Mikhail Koulakov died in 2015. Master of the sixth dan in Oriental martial arts, of Taijiquan (literally ‘fist of the Supreme Ultimate’ – and the very name of Koulakov originated from ‘kulak’ – fist), he worked and lived at the ultimate level, embodying the idea of freedom as an absolute value. The film is based on unique archive materials, literary texts by Mikhail Koulakov; it narrates not only about the artist, but also about a specific and less considered phenomenon of the Soviet non-official art – about total longing for freedom which have overcome the state pressure.
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