On the eve of the XI St. Petersburg Forum of United Cultures, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Tatyana Golikova told TASS Director General Andrey Kondrashov about the number of participating countries and the forum’s main theme. She also outlined the cultural program that residents and guests of the city will be able to see this year.
— Tatyana Alekseevna, thank you very much for the opportunity to talk on the eve of our wonderful XI St. Petersburg United Cultures Forum. Don’t you feel that lately all those hackneyed voices from the Western side calling for the “cancellation” of Russian culture have quieted down?
— I completely agree, it has quieted down, but that is probably in large part due to Russia’s position, to our President, and to what we are actually doing and how it is being evaluated. Our St. Petersburg Forum of United Cultures is proof of that; its roots go back to 2013. Last year marked the 10th anniversary, <…> and given the challenges and that very propaganda-driven attempt to cancel Russian culture, we relaunched it—not only with the new name, “United Cultures,” but also in its substance—because at that moment it seemed to us that cultural exchange, a discussion of sovereign cultures and, at the same time, their coming together on the basis of traditional values is the key that can deliver results. As for attempts to “cancel” Valery Gergiev’s tours, I would note that nobody “cancelled” the International Tchaikovsky Competition; everyone came anyway, and the same was true of the S. V. Rachmaninoff International Competition for Pianists, Composers and Conductors.
And in fact this shows that it is impossible to “cancel” anything, least of all our culture.
— What will we discuss this time at the Forum of United Cultures? What new formats of interaction with foreign states are emerging?
— Every time we try to bring in something new. Last year we held events connected with the CIS countries and with BRICS. This year we will introduce a format devoted, among other things, to the upcoming 25th anniversary of the SCO, to be marked next year.
This year we will host a round table dedicated to theater. It is linked with our friends from Africa, South and Latin America, the Middle East, and Asia. At the same time, we agreed that the stage of the Alexandrinsky Theatre will host staged readings of works by cultural figures from BRICS countries. It is a unique format. We do not yet know how it will go, but in any case it has piqued everyone’s interest, and we think it will not be just a reading—it will also be a discovery of something new, an immersion in the culture of these states.
— Are we talking about BRICS or BRICS+? How will this be presented on stage?
— It will be <…> a new format of readings of the best works. I hope it will interest connoisseurs, our audiences and, of course, the guests of St. Petersburg. As you know, there are many tourists in St. Petersburg and many people who come for the forum.