Irada Ayupova: ‘A commercial component in culture is a very important asset’
The total size of the market in culture in Tatarstan topped 6.3 billion rubles in 11 months in 2023
Tatarstan residents willingly go to museums, theatres, exhibitions, festivals and create culture products themselves. The number of people visiting culture institutions and facilities was around 92 million rubles last year. In monetary terms, their interest amounted to more than 6 billion rubles. It was discussed what cultural events attracted Tatarstan residents at another meeting of Volga expert club that was dedicated to the results of Culture national project in the Republic of Tatarstan.
Money for culture
“For me, the result of the first five years of Culture national project is not the development of infrastructure. First of all, we are talking about two tendencies. It is the unity and creation of communities. Secondly, it is the reconsideration of the economic component of culture. It is no secret that we have perceived culture as public and municipal institutions,” Tatarstan Minister of Culture Irada Ayupova started the meeting of the club.
However, she said that it was a life-changing moment.
“According to preliminary data, the total size of the market in culture in Tatarstan topped 6.3 billion rubles in 11 months in 2023. Incomes of public institutions reached 2.6 billion rubles during the year. A commercial component in culture is a very important asset. It is an area that has huge economic growth potential,” the minister believes.
Cultural revolution
“We are shaping an environment a lot of people, a lot of youth are coming to,” Ayupova continued. “Up to 8.000 people a day attend our events at the National Library. As few as 2.000 people come on the most ‘modest’ days. If there is decent infrastructure with built-in modern non-public institutions, this is a guarantee that this environment will function,” the minister claimed.
However, she thinks that the most important thing is that the state isn’t going to close the national project.