Episode 09: Olga Mamonova, Kino Teatr

In this series I talk to local entrepreneurs about their journey to creating a business they love and how they’ve found themselves along the way.

In this episode I speak with Olga Mamonova who runs Kino Teatr, an arts venue in the heart of St Leonards which opened its doors in 2014.

Olga talks about rescuing the old theatre which first opened as a cinema in 1913! When she discovered it, it was being used as storage space for a bathroom shop but now the Kino has developed into the cultural heartbeat of the local area.

Olga talks about what life was like in 1970’s Moscow in the Communist Soviet Union - How she loved her life and fondly remembers shows at the Bolshoi theatre, music lessons and how easily accessible the arts were to her and her family.

I find out how her father came from a poor background to become a novelist and a poet, that he shared his love of culture with Olga and it became her passion too.

She talks about how she grew up with a desire to work with and in culture and so pursued a career in the arts at a contemporary gallery in Moscow where she met her future husband Russell.

Finally we talk about the importance of culture to a community and what it was like starting an arts business not long after a recession.