I welcome myself back to Substack:)
It sounds much better than “I force myself to write again... because... What if my readers find my stuff useless, boring, inappropriate, a complete waste of their time?” Here it is. I've said it.
I stopped writing on Sustack two weeks ago technically because I was on my way to Maastricht for TEFAF - an annual exhibition of “The European Fine Art Foundation”. Though it was one of the most important and as expected one of the most interesting events for me, I had a lot to say about it, I was too overwhelmed and tired physically to do so. Simply fell asleep with opened laptop in my bed after every day of work there.
Then my way from and back to Moscow, changing planes and buses, sleeping in the airports, wasn’t relaxing as well. In the end I was stuck in bed - the dental surgery’s complications manifested themselves on my return home. The recovery took another week, which I spent reading all the news I had missed while I lived in the art and jewellery, their history and esthetics parallel reality. A conflict of simulacrums, I would say.
It was difficult to return to our time.
It was difficult to find motivation again. A ground for further talks, discussions, and a creative meaning for life in general actually. Sounds particularly serious if not exaggerated and pathetic, unless it’s true.
The shock after the last few months - the Ukrainian-Russian conflict and the changes and troubles it caused for me personally, the shift in my consciousness, the private conflicts that I managed to live through, all the diplomacy and survival tricks, intensive writing and permanent reflection and analysis - all the stress, tension, efforts to bring sense if not peace into my personal world, to keep it from falling into despair - I guess, it had a price. And that was a moment when I needed to pay it.
A shiny mass of anger, frustration, disillusionment mixed together and spiced with exhaustion and overall feeling of emptiness, glazed with helplessness because my body refused to heal itself as it was supposed to do, as it used to do.
And I missed you, my readers. I felt obliged to work because you supported me, and some of you even crowdfunded my feeds here and on Instagram by buying the Substack subscription. Here’s my huge “THANK YOU”!
If you didn’t know there’s such an opportunity, now you know it. Link is above.
I don’t write for profit, most of the posts are opened for everyone, as well as my Instagram is free for you - for your inspiration, information, artists search, works, thoughts, whatever use you find for it. But as far as I need to feed myself and my family I depend on my income and my time is limited by my health, sanity, responsibilities and so on... I’m a human being, after all, I’m limited in all senses. I need to diversify my mental and physical investments so keep me running. And honestly it’s more like “surviving” at the moment.
I highly appreciate your support. Not that I think about myself as a tiny version of BBC, but I rely on you, my public, - in the financial matters as well as in the feedback. It’s not just my ambitions and dreams I serve, but in large part your desire, your mind, interests and wishes. I need to know your thoughts, to have conversations, to answer and share our questions, to follow your suggestions for subjects and problems to write about.
The sense of community we share on my Instagram is what I try to build here, and that is partly one of the difficulties I faced on Substack, which undermined my enthusiasm after the first months of posting. Plus I really struggle with illustrations and videos publishing here - it’s a challenge to adapt local functionality to my needs as a journalist addressed to visuals as much as to verbal content. I’m sorry for that.
I decided to separate writing from showing, so my Instagram digests will be sent separately from now on. And I try to incorporate my Pinterest folders when it’s possible so you could look for more images and could save them easier for your purposes - whatever they are. Just keep the authorship signs in order.
In conclusion
I kindly ask you to do one very important thing for me.
Please, reply to this email or leave a comment under the article (if you are logged in to Substack), and tell me what you like to read about, what was/is interesting, what you don’t want to read about anymore.
As you know I specialise in fashion, jewellery, and the culture and industry around it.
What do you want to know? I really don’t want to waste my time on descriptive articles, I believe there are tons of such and of better quality, I can surely share with you the best I’ve read. I believe my strong part is criticism. But you tell me, what do you think about it?
Do you want to read interviews? Do you want to get into specific subjects, like ethnic fashion, costume history, reflection on contemporary designers' works, ecological responsibility, overconsumption, overproduction, diversion, cultural expropriation, copy-paste culture, trends (just not “skinny jeans are out, latex bodysuits are in”, “yellow is back” - kind of stuff)… If you are a professional, tell me, what do you need? Let me be helpful when our interests go well together.
If you are into other topics I used to write about, please, please, specify which. I feel I stand in between categories here, so if you want to read about my reflection on news and politics and on cancel culture, culture in general, I need to know so I could be sure I don’t disturb your privacy by spamming you with unrelated emails.
I want to balance my space and invent a schedule so it will be easier for everyone to navigate and get what we want. That includes me, I will know which part of my content is more popular, which should be less, which is better to drop as a permanent subject. Let's make it a comfortable read :).
Thank you for reading, for your patience, understanding. Till next time.
Sincerely yours,
Olga Zakharova Kaetano
My platforms
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zakharova_kaetano
Twitter: https://twitter.com/olga_kaetano
Telegram: https://t.me/f_simulacrum
Tumblr: https://fashionistaru.tumblr.com
If you like F! Simulacrum and want to help make it even better, give me feedback, point out factual errors or typos, or send me news subjects you want to describe. My email: o.zakharova@adlifestudio.ru
Substack says you can now read my F! Simulacrum in the new Substack app for iPhone. And it will be easier and more comfortable.
I am suggesting to do podcasts on fashion, hystory of fashion ( more educational podcasts for idiots like me) or whatever you like to talk about! I am following your IG fror long time and you post great stuff :)! You are very inteligent like all Russian intelectuals and you are maybe living between Moscow and Milan?? Moscow and Russia are the next capital of European culture and Russia is the country that needs to take its first & well deserved pleace of saving our civilisation and develope in a healthier way! Anyway! Why to do posdcasts? : Because people have no time to read articles but they can listen and do something else! You can get much more followeres and money hopefully by doing podcasts! Best from me! ;)