Festival of Festivals at VI St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum
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 the 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 dialogue.
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 dialogue 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.
