Irada Ayupova: 'We have revealed cultural institutions that exist only on paper'

It will be the year of cultural heritage next year in Russia

The increased attention to cultural heritage is especially significant in modern conditions, because we are witnessing continuous serious pressure on Russian traditional values, said Alexander Zhuravsky, the deputy head of the Presidential Administration for Public Projects, who took part in the work of the board:

“The fixation in our political and public consciousness of the importance of preserving the cultural code suggests that this is our ethnic, national priority. This is reflected in a large number of software tools being developed at both the federal and regional levels.”

Zhuravsky named the financing of the Cinema Fund, the allocation of 15 billion rubles for the development of a global network, as well as support for creative industries at the expense of the Fund for Cultural Initiatives as such instruments. Last year, 8 billion rubles were allocated for this line, this year — 10 billion, and the amount is going to grow. Huge funds are allocated in various forms of support for cultural projects, and our republic demonstrates a high level of activity here:

“The bid campaign finished only yesterday. Tatarstan is the second after Moscow in terms of the number of applications. This indicates a high level of organisation of the work of the Ministry of Culture of the republic.

Cultural heritage is not only our funds and monuments

The board summed up the results of the Year of Native Languages and National Unity. The coming year will have a special significance for the republic. In June, Kazan hosts representatives of 194 countries at the session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. Besides, the country is preparing to celebrate the 1100th anniversary of the adoption of Islam by Volga Bulgaria. Minister of Culture of Tatarstan Irada Ayupova reminded about the republican strategy for the development of culture until 2030:

“The implementation of the strategy should be considered as a value guideline, which is impossible without changing the thinking paradigm. Our strategy is based on three main components: modernisation of infrastructure, improving the efficiency of personnel policy and the introduction of innovative solutions in the industry.”

According to the minister, residents of each locality should have the opportunity for high-quality cultural leisure, and children — for creative development. Unfortunately, more than half of the residents of Russia have not heard about the national project “Culture”, which indicates the need for more active information work.

We not only repair the existing ones, but also create new one

More than 20 million rubles have been allocated from the federal budget for the overhaul of the local history museum in Laishevo. For the first time, the School of Creative Industries will open on the basis of the Kazan Art School — the new cultural space for teenagers from 12 to 18 years old, aimed at developing creative abilities, design thinking. The school is created with a grant of 58 million rubles.

In general, the approved limit from the federal budget in 2022 is 1,29 billion rubles, Irada Ayupova said. And this is by 30% more than the amount of the previous year.

“Since the start of the implementation of the national project in 2019, the volume of funds raised from the federal budget to the republic has doubled," she noted.

Currently, an international competition is being held to develop an architectural concept for the new building of the Kamal Theatre, summing up the results is scheduled for February. This year, within the framework of the national project “Culture”, the reconstruction of the Nizhnekamsk Young Spectators' Theatre starts. In general, in 2021, capital investments amount to 2,3 billion rubles. Over the past three years, 13 large facilities have been repaired. But more than half of the republican cultural institutions require repair.

Update await almost 27% of rural houses of culture, 3,5% of museums, 23% of buildings of children's art schools. The minister said that in 2021, for the first time, an on-site audit of 13 districts was conducted:

“On the one hand, there are functioning cultural institutions that do not even have their own building, but we also found institutions that exist only on paper, with zero performance indicators.”

Irada Ayupova said that within the framework of the Pushkin Card project, Tatarstan has overtaken even Moscow in terms of the number of tickets sold. Two hundred and forty-three cultural institutions participated in the project. The most visited were the Galiasgar Kamal Academic Theatre, Kachalov Russian Bolshoi Academic Theatre, and Tykay Tatar Philharmonic. .

The Yelabuga Architectural Museum-Reserve, which sold almost 14 thousand tickets, and the Kazan Kremlin Museum-Reserve, which sold almost 11 thousand tickets, were in the greatest demand among museums. Within the framework of the Pushkin Card, a project for schoolchildren was held, which has united a record number of participants this year.

It is extremely important for the republic to preserve traditional crafts

In recent years, much attention has been paid to the point of the inseparability of economy and culture. Creative talent and folk traditions today, according to Lilia Nurgatina, the deputy director of the department of industry development of socially significant goods, are the main competitive advantage in the post-industrial economy. This point found expression in the Tatarstan pavilion at the Dubai exhibition and in the concept of creative industries adopted by the government last year.

“This type of industry is now called the creative industry all over the world and is regarded as a rapidly growing sector of the economy. As well as an effective tool for the development of territories. In Tatarstan, 50 types of folk crafts are recognised as economically significant," Nurgatina said.

In the republic, according to the speaker, there are huge opportunities to create and develop their own national brands that can become quite competitive not only in the Russian market, but also gain significant export distribution.

More than 10k events are what directly shaped the culture of multinational Tatarstan

Leyla Fazleeva, the deputy prime minister of Tatarstan, highlighted the difficulties of 2020. However, the pandemic did not disrupt the plans of the cultural life of the republic. At the same time, the previous year provided extremely valuable experience in working in harsh pandemic conditions.

“In 2021, we could approach the indicators of 2019. Under these conditions, we are starting the year 2022. The only thing I want to note is that it is necessary to strengthen the work on familiarising the population with what kind of work is being carried out in the republic in the areas of culture.”

According to Leyla Fazleeva, it is necessary to pay great attention not only to the development of infrastructure, but also to the content of what we provide as a cultural product. Certainly, it is necessary to combine the efforts of a number of ministries and departments, including the Ministry of Education, as much as possible. Today, a lot of money for culture is allocated under various grant programmes. In this regard, we should mention the Foundation for Cultural Initiatives. Tatarstan has become the second by the number of applications of the fund. Today, it will be necessary to make every effort to fulfill all planned, the deputy prime minister concluded.