John Barbier

My internship at Art. Lebedev was a short two months. The chance to come to Russia and experience a totally different culture and market was something I could not pass up. Generally, I enjoyed my stay at the firm and I learned quite a bit. Would I recommend it to anyone? Yes, I would, of course with a strong warning about what could happen.

I started work here on January 21. Unfortunately for me, this happened to be a slow time in the studio. I worked very hard on two major projects and I learned several new programs in the process.

The studio is a great place to work. It is much less formal than the American work atmosphere I was used to. This was great but could get frustrating for a westerner. It was cool though. It had a very relaxed and “chilled” feeling about it that was great for creativity.

I found out later that the two, rather slow moving projects, I was working on were actually older projects that had stalled. This brings me to my suggestion to the studio for future interns. It is important that they be given MEANINGFUL projects with real deadlines. This is not to say that the projects I worked on were not interesting, but it was incredibly frustrating to see months of work lead to very few results.

As for the stay in Moscow: it was great. I had a chance to meet some very interesting people and form very good contacts. The people in the studio were very helpful in get settled in and showing me around. Russia is a wonderful country with lots to do and see. I would HIGHLY suggest to any intern that they visit the art galleries in Moscow. Also, St. Petersburg is a must.

Timur was VERY helpful in every aspect of my stay in Moscow. He was able to teach me alot and I don’t know what I would have done without him. He was always willing to help in any way he could and it goes without saying that his ability to speak english was very helpful. He is a great person and a dear friend.

I found the people in the studio to be very welcoming. The managers in my department invited me to go to lunch with them every day. They were also always willing to help me with the menu. This brings up another point: food. As a westerner, I must admit that I was somewhat… nervous about the food. But, it was very good. It is important that one tastes everything before asking what it was. This is good advise because I discovered many different things I never could have dreamed myself eating before.

Overall, it was a great trip and I am very greatful to everyone for helping me.