News
Festival of Festivals at VI St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum
16 November 2017
On 16 November 2017, key personalities of the European festival industry come to the Festival of Festivals to discuss cultural cooperation between Russia and Europe. Special attention will be given to development of partnership relations between Russian festivals and the European Festival Association (EFA), as well as the initiative EFFE - Europe for Festivals – Festivals for Europe.
‘In our relationships with European festivals we value
the process of communication and interaction. They know a few about what is held
in Russia. Of course, this makes our joint work and cooperation quite
difficult. And just because the Forums like this give an opportunity to
communicate with each other,” conductor and one of the speakers of the Festival
of Festivals Program Yuri Bashmet
told TASS.
Specifically for the purpose of discussing festival
cooperation between Russia and Europe, there will be a major delegation of
leading European organizations, which determine most parameters of cultural
development policy in the region, coming to the event. The delegation will
include writer and linguist Diego Marani,
European Policy Officer at the European Affairs Service of the European
Commission; Doris Pack, former
Chairwoman of the Committee on Culture and Education of the European Union,
Shona McCarthy, Executive Director of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Darko Brlek, Director of the Festival
in Ljubljana, former President of the European Festival Association, Haris Pasovich, Director of the
East-West Arts Center in Sarajevo and Member of the EFFE international Jury, and Patrick
de Clerck, Director of Musical projects for Brussels Program.
In this art dialogue Russia will be represented by Alexander Zhuravsky, State-Secretary and Deputy Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Grintchenko, General Director of the Russian Concert Agency, and Yuri Bashmet, conductor, violist and art director of the Winter International Arts Festival in Sochi (EFA Member) .
The key event of the Festival of Festivals –
discussion session “International Festivals: Cooperation Above Borders” will be
held on November 16 in the Main Headquarters of the Hermitage. Its main goal is
to determine the cooperation concept between Russian festivals and the European
Festival Association, founded in 1952. The EFA organizes more than 100
worldwide festivals in 40 countries. And determine the cooperation concept
between Russian festivals and the program entitled “Europe for Festivals -
Festivals for Europe” created by the European Union and the European Festival
Association to support international art festivals and designate their special
role in the shaping of cultural dialog.
Work at the Festival of Festivals will continue on
November 17. The meeting with representatives of EFA and EFFE will focus on
practical cooperation opportunities between Russian and international
festivals. For the first time the issue of setting up the first Association of
Festivals in Russia will be raised. Founding of this Association will help
improve partnership festival projects and programs and will allow Russian
culture to enter the global cultural context.
About Festival
of Festivals Direction
For the first time ever the Festival of Festivals
Direction was introduced into the program of St. Petersburg International
Cultural Forum in 2016 to facilitate intercultural dialog within forum and
festival programs. Last year the events of this program brought together such
leaders and representatives of international forums and festivals as Vangelis
Theodoropoulos, artistic director of the Festival of Athens and Epidaurus,
Walter Sampieri, Head of the Department for Cultural Diversity and Innovation
of the Directorate for Education and Culture of the European Commission, and
Jacques Montaigneac, board member of the Avignon Festival.
About Forum
VI
St.Petersburg International Cultural Forum will take place on 16-18 November
2017. Forum organizers are: Government of the Russian Federation, Government of
St. Petersburg.
VI
St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum will take place with the support of
the Art, Science and Sport Charity Foundation.
The
Forum is developing in two flows – professional and public – and three trends.
The extensive Business program is of interest for specialists from different
spheres of culture. The business program of Forum is presented by the work of
14 sections headed by prominent figures of culture making agendas and defining
the trends of section debates. The business venue creates conditions for
realizing projects and signing agreements in the sphere of culture. The
Festival program includes a lot of cultural events for the citizens and guests
of St. Petersburg.
Within
the Forum the awards will be given: “Patron of the Year” – for a prominent
contribution into the support of cultural projects, Anatoly Lunacharsky` s
award – the unique award for cultural workers representing uncreative
professions.