Will Tatarstan have its own festival of inclusive theatres?

Everything is fine with holidays of Semyk and Ivan Kupala!

Let us remind you that these goals are first determined, as indicated in the ministry of culture of the republic, by experts together with the population, they are discussed and submitted to an open online vote. Among those that won the majority of votes last year, the Public Council under the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Tatarstan selected six.

The first is “providing information, methodological and financial support to children's and youth theatre studios to promote their activities, including through the publication of information about the studios in the media and on the Internet.

The answer was given by Ayrat Fayzrakhmanov, the head of the Department of Interaction with Public Organisations. His story about the young theatrical movement did not raise any questions, but afterwards Ildar Yagafarov, the chairman of the Union of Cinematographers of Tatarstan, complained that the interests of his field were not voiced during the discussions. To this, the head of the council, Niyaz Iglamov, advised that when forming the next list, creative forces should be mobilised through their communication channels — after all, the voting is open.

Everything is fine with the goal to increase the attendance of socially vulnerable citizens at events “promoting the culture and traditions of the peoples of the Republic of Tatarstan” by 5%.

Here, the correspondent of Realnoe Vremya noted the interesting statistics of visits to folk culture festivals. Despite that the so-called online attendance is growing for everyone, the Mari “Semyk” has seen its attendance drop from 4,000 to two in a year, and the festival of Slavic culture “Ivan Kupala” — from 18,000 to 15,000. While the Kryashen Pitrau has grown from 35,000 to 50,000.

“A lot depends on the site and its range, but in general, our attendance has not decreased," said Fayzrakhmanov.

“Two years is a very short time to provide infallible statistical information. It is necessary to collect statistics for at least five years," Iglamov added. “Two years is not a trend, it's a coincidence.”

“There were obviously more people at the festival," Timur Kadyrov, the director of the House of Friendship of the Peoples of Tatarstan, defended the Zelenodolsk district. “Semyk” was in the Mamadyshsky district, associations choose their own place, this is a nomadic holiday. And in 2023, it was held in the Agryzsky district, where many Mari people live, besides, the visit of the rais influenced it. There is no need to jump to conclusions based on these data.

How the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts will help the districts

It is also fine in the republic with the goal to “increase the attendance of school-age children at expositions dedicated to world and domestic art culture by at least 5%". At the same time, attendance at municipal museums by school-age children under 16 fell slightly, from 258,732 to 255,419 people.

“The problem is that municipal museums have permanent exhibitions of local lore and they practically do not change," said Rosalia Nurgaleeva, the director of the Museum of Fine Arts of the Republic of Tatarstan. “We have started working in this direction. We had an expedition last year. We decided that we would take exhibitions and work with children. I would also like to note that the Pushkin Card has increased attendance, but the children of the republic rarely come to exhibitions, there are no buses, there is no money.”

The fifth public goal of the Ministry of Culture is to organise creative laboratories “for the aesthetic, moral, and agitational-patriotic education of the younger generation, involving at least 50 young authors in each field.” Among them, there was not only the theatrical puppet laboratory Ekiyat-LAB (after which a sketch of the performance based on the Russian folk tale “Marya Morevna” appeared), but also, for example, an open lecture laboratory “Wings, beaks and tails”, which was conducted by Oleg Zhemost, a parrot trainer. This is an open rehearsal, lecture and communication with the audience. The council members dispelled our doubts about whether such a format is a laboratory at all.

“The laboratory is educational in nature, sometimes it has a result, sometimes not. I think there is no strict laboratory format," Iglamov replied. “But what about the music labs? Didn't they reveal themselves?

There was one, Timur Kadyrov reassured him, calling the December Republican song and melody competition “Voices of the Volga Region” a laboratory (in preparation for the gala concert, its participants attended master classes).

Fayzrakhmanov spoke in detail about the fifth goal, a series of free cultural and entertainment events in support of SVO participants and their family members. Angelina Galimova, the head of the Committee of Families of Soldiers of the Fatherland NGO, thanked him for his work and separately focused on visiting the circus:

“Is there any chance to be flexible in the following: it is clear that this is a children's performance, but one accompanying adult ticket is provided for it. But then father suddenly came on vacation, and he and his family hadn't seen each other for six months. And only one person should go to the circus.

The participants asked if it was impossible to create lists in advance in this case. But fathers are often allowed to go home suddenly, Galimova replied.

The sixth goal — at least “10 patriotic theatre festivals involving youth, student, and school theatres of the Republic of Tatarstan” — is also considered fulfilled. At the same time, the artistic director and director of the E-motsia creative inclusive studio, Nelya Surkina, complained that her organisation could not find itself in them. Fayzrakhmanov advised to participate in the festival of folk theatres Idel-yort.

“There is a problem of people with disabilities who grow up," said Iglamov. “A person turns 18 years old, and a lot of grant programs, support, and the means by which these children existed are cut off. What about them? Has their disability disappeared?

Iglamov suggested that Surkina create a concept for a festival of inclusive theatres without age restrictions for participants:

“It is clear that certain conditions are needed. They cannot be accommodated in any hotel, provided with any site. We had a similar goal in the general list, but unfortunately it didn't get many votes...”