Art without Borders: Advancing Cultural Diplomacy
Tectonic changes in the global humanitarian agenda have taken cultural diplomacy to a whole new level. In 2024, Russia’s leading art institutions are relaying the values inherent in Russian culture to the international community – far from the context of ‘cancel culture’, but by recognizing them as reference points. Examples of this can be seen in the cultural dialogue between Russia and China, the creative unity of the humanitarian values of Russia and Serbia, a new round of creative project exchanges between Russia and Azerbaijan, and the continuous demand from Western audiences for the great heritage and current Russian culture – not thanks to, but in spite of the unfriendly trends in relation to Russia. Does the Art Without Borders strategy exist today in Russian art first and foremost? Or is this a global trend towards bringing cultural diplomacy to the forefront of international relations? Could we say that cooperation in culture and art is jumpstarting economic processes?
Moderator
Sergey Emelyanov,
Director, National Drama Theater of Russia (Alexandrinsky Theater)
Panellists
Rodrigo de Lima Baena Soares,
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federative Republic of Brazil to the Russian Federation
Milorad Dodik,
President of the Republika Srpska
Alexander Zharov,
Chief Executive Officer, Gazprom-Media Holding
Victor Kim,
Director, "Prugio Art Hall" Seoul Art Center
Elena Lazko,
Partner, Head of Strategy and Operations, Kept
Dmitry Mednikov,
Managing Director, Russian Media Group
Mikhail Piotrovsky,
General Director, The State Hermitage Museum
Hans-Joachim Frey,
Stage Director; Artistic Director, Talent and Success Foundation
Mikhail Shvydkoy,
Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for International Cultural Cooperation