A panel discussion titled "Innovation. Culture. Youth" was held on the sidelines of the Forum as part of the intersessional program, moderated by Andrey Serov, First Vice President of Gazprombank JSC.
The speakers discussed experience and mechanisms for effectively supporting talented creative young people, as well as projects aimed at producing high-quality cultural content and conveying values that can unite thoughtful people from different countries. Participants in the discussion included Sergey Novikov, Head of the Presidential Directorate for Public Projects of the Russian Federation; Natalya Popova, First Deputy CEO of Innopraktika; Grigory Zaslavsky, Rector of the Russian Institute of Theatre Arts GITIS; Semyon Mikhailovsky, Rector of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts named after Ilya Repin; Elizaveta Hamburg, General Director of New Russian Circus LLC; Alexey Lebedev, Director of the Autonomous Nonprofit Organization (ANO) Art-Preparation; Anna Dunaeva, Coordinator of the Razgon project; Natalya Lokteva, Director of ANO Family and Homeland; Allen Xing Chunhui, Head of the Contemporary Dance Department at the Boris Eifman Dance Academy; Denis Solovyov, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of PJSC NOVATEK; and Fedor Popov, General Producer of ANO Creative Studio Stella.
The speakers noted rising demand for talented youth in Russia amid a shortage of high-quality cultural content. Various competitions and grant programs held across the country play a significant role in identifying such gifted individuals.
"With the internet, there is a shortage of content. For example, the film and series production market is overheated today. Actors, make-up artists, screenwriters, designers, camerapeople, editors, directors, all are in super high demand if they are talented. In this sense, Russia today is a land of opportunity, also because competition in Russia now is primarily domestic. If before the sanctions we competed with HBO and Netflix, now this market has in many ways been cleared here, and talented Russians (content producers, editor's note) compete with talented Russians. In this respect, it has perhaps become somewhat easier," said Sergey Novikov. He also stressed the need to invest more in marketing for competitions aimed at identifying talented cultural figures so that as many potential participants as possible learn about opportunities for support.
Natalya Popova spoke about international projects that Innopraktika is implementing in friendly countries to communicate the values Russia upholds and that are intrinsic to its culture. "Our culture is highly competitive, our values, our talents. We have something to say, not only within the country but across the world. As a result, truly international projects have emerged, where young people from around the world come here or work remotely, and they have the chance to understand the values we communicate and find what resonates for them," said Natalya Popova. Among such international projects are Innopraktika lecture programs that give those interested in Russian culture, history, and the Russian language access to leading teachers and knowledge. These platforms are already operating in Senegal and Brazil, with plans to open in India and China in the near future.
During the discussion, the speakers also emphasized the importance of international humanitarian exchanges for developing talent in the cultural sphere. One successful example is the art sessions of the School of Innopraktika, held at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, which bring together young creators from different countries. "It seems to me the idea of a large cultural community has not been lost... Both our competition and the fact that students from 40 countries study at the Academy and come here, and that our best students are those who travel across Europe, who have seen Italy and France and engaged with the great centers of world culture, they return to Russia and create fantastic things. I believe this shows how rich we are in resources, in talented artists, musicians, and so on. "A fantastic country," said Semyon Mikhailovsky. "Projects like the Innopraktika School are good because they have a human meaning. We are talking about what we live for."