Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Tashkent hosted the second Russian Arts Festival in Uzbekistan, titled “World of Arts”.
Over four days, the programme featured an opera gala concert, performances by ballet and dance companies, an exhibition of works by Zurab Tsereteli, a Cinema Day and educational events for professionals. This was reported by the press service of the Centre for Film Festivals and International Programmes.
The festival was held with the support of the Russian Ministry of Culture. The organisers were the Centre for Film Festivals and International Programmes, the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Khakassia, the Russian Academy of Arts, the A. Ya. Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet and the Rosconcert Federal State Budgetary Cultural Institution.
The project was implemented with the support of the Art, Science and Sport Charitable Foundation and the Melnichenko Foundation.
“We are very pleased with the results of the second World of Arts festival, a joint project involving the Russian Ministry of Culture, our Centre and the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation, chaired by Gayane Umerova,” said Tatiana Shumova, president of the Centre for Film Festivals and International Programmes.
According to Shumova, this year’s programme brought together traditional genres of Russian art and educational initiatives.
“The central event was the exhibition of Zurab Tsereteli’s works, around which we organised an intensive educational programme with the participation of the Russian Academy of Arts and the Moscow Museum of Modern Art.
The masterclasses conducted by the A. Ya. Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet also attracted considerable interest. Demand was so high that the classes had to be moved to the stage of the Alisher Navoi Theatre,” Shumova said.
The festival opened with Zurab Tsereteli’s exhibition “More Than Life” at the Uzbekistan Gallery of Fine Arts. The exhibition featured the artist’s paintings, sculptures and enamel works.
The opening ceremony was attended by Gayane Umerova, head of the Department of Creative Economy and Tourism of the Presidential Administration of Uzbekistan and chair of the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation; Tatiana Shumova; and Vasily Tsereteli, president of the Russian Academy of Arts.
Vasily Tsereteli donated one of Zurab Tsereteli’s paintings to the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation. The exhibition will remain open for two months.
The opening ceremony concluded with the “Opera Masterpieces” gala concert at the Uzbekistan International Forums Palace. Accompanied by the National Symphony Orchestra of Uzbekistan under the direction of Alibek Kabdurakhmanov, performers included Olga Zhigmitova, a soloist with the Buryat Opera and Ballet Theatre; Bolshoi Theatre soloists Alexander Chernov and Guzel Sharipova; and Valentina Pravdina and Konstantin Brzhinsky, soloists with the Helikon Opera Theatre.
Cinema Day was dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the birth of film director Stanislav Govorukhin. A photographic exhibition about his life and work was held at the Palace of National Cinema Arts of Uzbekistan.
After the exhibition closed, it was donated to the Tashkent branch of the S. A. Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography (VGIK). Audiences also met actor Boris Kamorzin, who appeared in Govorukhin’s final film, “The End of a Beautiful Era”. The meeting was followed by a screening of the film.
At the Alisher Navoi Bolshoi Theatre, the “Kÿn suzy” Khakass dance ensemble of the V. G. Chaptykov Khakass Republican Philharmonic presented its programme, “Rays of Sunny Khakassia”.
The festival concluded with a concert by young performers from the A. Ya. Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet.
The programme was hosted by the academy’s rector and People’s Artist of Russia, Nikolai Tsiskaridze.
The educational intensive accompanying the Tsereteli exhibition was organised by the Centre for Film Festivals and International Programmes, the Russian Academy of Arts and the Free Workshops school of contemporary art at the Moscow Museum of Modern Art (MMOMA).
Lectures were delivered by Tatiana Kochemasova, vice-president of the Russian Academy of Arts; academician Alexander Ponomarev; Andrey Egorov, deputy director for research at MMOMA; and Viktoria Vasilyeva, head of the museum’s research department.
The programme concluded with a roundtable discussion on the development of creative practices and art education.
Teachers from the A. Ya. Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet also conducted masterclasses for members of Uzbekistan’s professional and educational communities.
