Konstantin Ignatov: ‘There are much more musicians on Baumana Street than points. The quality has dropped a lot’
The famous performer again criticises the rules of work on the street
Popular street musician Konstantin Ignatov has addressed the audience. He criticises the digital platform for street musicians and artists that has been working for two years, because of which he remains without concerts in his usual place at the House of Tatar Cuisine (now the Palace of Impressions), where he performed for 10 years. The head of the Directorate of Parks and Squares of Kazan, Aygul Latypova, in a conversation with Realnoe Vremya, admitted that the platform is imperfect in terms of use. At the same time, according to her, the artists themselves periodically violate the current regulations. Read the details in the material of Realnoe Vremya.
“When the regulations were introduced, I said that the quality of music on Baumana Street would drop, and so it turned out”
“The place that many of you associate with me has become occupied by a band (it should be noted of a very dubious level), while I remain without concerts, and accordingly, I will not be able to please you," Ignatov writes in the post. “When the regulations were introduced, I said that the quality of music would drop on Baumana Street, and so it turned out. As a result, I, a participant in Nashestvie, Grushinsky, etc. festivals, a frequent guest on TV channels, radio and podcasts, find myself out of work. And not because I'm too lazy to book a place, but because a group of 5-6 people attracts friends and acquaintances to help with booking. Accordingly, leaving me no chance to book a place.”
As Ignatov points out, the famous Kazan group, Semya, also remains without a place for Baumana Street. “The regulations equalised everyone's possibility to book places, but dramatically reduced the quality component!” the musician sums up.
Now, in order to perform at Baumana Street or other popular locations with musical, theatrical performances or work as an artist, you need to book a place on the website (the authorisation is through the Gosuslugi website).
To book a time, one do not need to prove that you are a musician and coordinate the material — you need to fill in the data, including the genre of the performance, and attach a photo. The playing time allocated is three hours. After that, you can't perform in the same place, you need to change the location.
On the main tourist arteries, there is no time lot, except in the morning, already in the first minutes of the next opening of the reservation for the week ahead. But you can safely play in Tinchurin Park, there is time at the rotunda on Pushkinskaya. But this is for musicians with sound-amplifying equipment. One can just sing with a guitar, for example, near the house No. 9 on Baumana Street, but this means that the musician will be drowned out by the surrounding cafes and restaurants. And colleagues.
How Art-prospect platform appeared
Back in January 2021, the rules of work of street performers were discussed in the Saidash Recreation Centre, indicating that “the activities of artists in public places are not regulated in any way in the legal field. There is no official ban on such performances, as well as official rules.” And they offered to create a platform.
In July 2021, Konstantin Ignatov, whose performances near the House of Tatar Cuisine traditionally attract large crowds, addressed listeners on the Internet. He pointed out that with the adoption of the new rules, one location can only be taken for two hours. Then the head of the Culture Department of the executive committee, Azat Abzalov, promptly contacted Baumana Street and met with the musician and journalists.
By the way, even then, colleagues suggested introducing a rating system in the application so that you could vote for your favourite artist from your phone, and then he would have more preferences when choosing a good place and time. Or create a special commission of professional musicians.
The Art-prospect digital platform, after being tested by 50 activists for three weeks, was launched on May 17: 26 venues, the duration of the performance is 3 hours. Two weeks later, 150 Kazan street performers, musicians and artists registered and 401 performances were agreed upon.
Ignatov remained on Baumana, the Directorate of Parks and Squares of Kazan, which manages the platform, even turned him into a tour guide in 2022: the musician, accompanied by 40 guests, walked from the clock on Tukay Square to the Kremlin and told about his work on Baumana.
They plan to improve the system
The head of the Directorate of Parks and Squares of Kazan, Aygul Latypova, commented on the situation with booking to Realnoe Vremya:
As Ignatov himself told the publication, the problem with booking arose last week: “I think this is a consequence of the administration cutting the number of places for groups. I contacted the group, they book this place, attracting friends and acquaintances, respectively, sharply reducing the chances of booking me to almost zero.”
