In rain, sunshine or snow, the chances are you will see him with his glass bottle xylophone in the center of Helsinki. With his sailor cap on, he will be sitting in a corner playing Tchaikovsky. There will be an attentive crowd gathered quietly around him, marveled by the acoustic sound of the water bottles and the musical mastery of this unique street performer. He is a trained percussionist for whom street art is his job. For fourteen years the Helsinki corners in front of Stockmann and Kluuvikatu have been his workplace.
I meet Feodor Grigorev one summer evening over tea with my German friend Christina Reck, who kindly ensures the conversation flows in a mixture of German peppered with English. Feodor’s native tongue, you see, is music and Russian follows thereafter. German comes next in line. I am unfortunately not fluent in either of these languages.