As part of the fourth Play DigitalArt festival, supported by the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives, works of digital art will appear on the central streets of Ekaterinburg. Artists from all over Russia and the BRICS countries will present their works. As the organisers of the event told a TASS press conference, in 2025, artists will have to discuss the theme of diffusion in culture, art and technology.

‘We want to show a full palette of digital works at the festival, so we will use not only the exhibition spaces of the Sinara Centre, but also the streets of Ekaterinburg. The artists will help to take a new look at familiar urban spaces and show how colour, light and sound can change the perception of a place. Our goal is to introduce as many people as possible to digital art and make the festival one of the main events in the cultural agenda of both the city and the country,’ said Natalia Levitskaya, Director of the Sinara Foundation for Support and Implementation of Cultural Initiatives, which is one of the organisers of Play DigitalArt.

According to Yulia Borzenkova, art director of the Sinara Centre and curator of the festival's gallery exhibition, the theme of the event in 2025 will be diffusion. The organisers will invite artists to explore this phenomenon from three sides: as a physical process (mixing of techniques, materials and mediums), as a transformation of perception (the impact of virtual space on people's feelings) and as cultural enrichment (changing traditional art with the help of digital technologies).

The festival will be attended by both established artists and beginners. Rector of the Ekaterinburg Academy of Contemporary Art Inna Akhyamova noted that Play DigitalArt acts as a tool for forming the competences required by the Academy's students.

‘The mission of our institution is expressed in the training of highly qualified specialists capable of transforming cultural processes and the space around them. For this purpose, we need a creative platform, which is what the festival is. It unites students of different profiles and gives them all an opportunity to create something new,’ Inna Akhyamova said.

Material prepared by URA.ru news agency

A new space, Sinara Art, has appeared in the Sinara Centre, which will be the centre for expositions of paintings managed by the Sinara Foundation for Support and Implementation of Cultural Initiatives. The results of project activities of various institutions will also be presented here.

‘The debut of the renovated space was the ‘Intersections’ project, which combined five exhibitions. The central one, with the eponymous title ‘Intersections’, presented key authors and works that have been in the collection of the Sinara Cultural Initiatives Foundation since the beginning of its formation and major additions in recent years. These are works by authors of different artistic trends and periods: Ivan Slyusarev and the Blue Noses art group, Leonard Turzhansky and Ilya Kabakov, Oleg Elovoy and Yuri Zlotnikov, as well as many other significant authors of the Urals and Russia.

The exhibition ‘The Power of Form. Industrial Art’ explores the work of the iconic Urals artist Valentin Novichenko, who created industrial landscapes. The exhibition presents new acquisitions by the author, which were added to the collection managed by the Sinara Foundation for Support and Implementation of Cultural Initiatives in 2024 and will show Novichenko's work in retrospective.

Damir Muratov's solo exhibition ‘Eternity of the Urals’ showcases the contemporary artist's works created as part of a residency in Ekaterinburg.

The exposition ‘Forget Me Not’ introduces guests to the promising author Ivan Zakharov, known under the pseudonym Zean Zack. In a separate hall there is an exhibition and sale of works of art by both young authors and artists who have already gained recognition.

On 15 November, the Sinara Cultural Initiatives Foundation organised a tour of the Theatre of Nations (Moscow) in Kaluga as part of the Integration programme. On that day, the main stage of the Kaluga Regional Drama Theatre hosted a production by director Marina Brusnikina entitled Jump-Skip, the Ceiling Collapsed. The main roles in the play were played by Alexandra Ursulyak, Daria Kalmykova, Artem Bystrov and others.

The play is based on a script by Soviet film playwright Gennady Shpalikov, written by him in 1974, but not yet screened. Like many of Shpalikov's works, this script raises the theme of people who are good but unbearable to each other.

‘We tried to adapt the cinematic script for the theatre and get into the amazing atmosphere of the author, because Shpalikov is a unique playwright: subtle, lively, deep, emotional and open, rare, real. ‘Jump-skip, the ceiling collapsed’ is a chain of life observations about love, absurdity, the mistakes we make, and still about love for people,’ says director Marina Brusnikina.

Tickets could be purchased on the website of the Theatre of Nations. The amount equal to the funds raised was transferred by Evgeny Mironov's Charitable Foundation ‘Theatre Initiatives’ to support the Kaluga Puppet Theatre.

‘The Integration programme has been implemented for the second year already. As part of the project, the audience attends performances of the Theatre of Nations, and the charitable component gives an impetus to the development of regional theatres. This year, thanks to the support provided, the Drama Number Three theatre (Kamensk Uralsky, Sverdlovsk Region) upgraded its stage equipment and for the first time held the all-Russian festival of professional theatres ‘Gibrid’. The Kaluga Puppet Theatre will be able to use the support to stage a new performance and create an informative video game through which players can learn the history of the theatre, get acquainted with the process of creating puppets, and try themselves as a director or puppeteer,’ says Natalia Levitskaya, Director of the Sinara Cultural Initiatives Foundation.

The presentation of the 2024-2025 season took place in the New Space of the Theatre of Nations, followed by the VI Korsh Award Ceremony on the Main Stage. The prize was established in 2020 by the theatre's Artistic Director Yevgeny Mironov. It was named after Fyodor Korsh, an entrepreneur and founder of the Russian Drama Theatre, whose building now houses the Theatre of Nations.
‘This award was conceived as an act of justice, because, as you know, the applause is received by artists who go on stage, but in the theatre a huge number of serious professionals who create a special complexity of performances. And they are not in the rays of glory, their labour is kind of off the radar. That's why we created this award first of all, to celebrate our beloved and respected theatre workers,’ said Evgeny Mironov, Artistic Director of the theatre.
The ceremony brought together friends, partners and employees of the theatre to name the new winners in 13 nominations. Mikhail Popov, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Sinara Cultural Initiatives Foundation and Vice President of TMK, presented the award to Olga Shaishmelashvili, a scenic designer, who won in the Beauty category.
‘The Foundation has long been cooperating with the Theatre of Nations and for us to stand on this stage is also an award. Theatre is a universal art, it speaks to the audience in all languages. But the most subtle and beautiful language that theatre artists can master is the language of beauty,’ said Mikhail Popov.

The Sinara Foundation for Support and Implementation of Cultural Initiatives
together with the Sinara Development was the title partner of the Ekaterinburg International Festival ‘Red Line’, which took place in the Urals capital on 23-25 August 2024.

The main location of the festival was the Historic Square of the city; museums, educational institutions, libraries and other urban institutions of Ekaterinburg also became venues for the festival. The fair was attended by more than 180 publishers and 80 speakers, and more than 50,000 visitors. Entrance to all festival venues was free.

More than 150 events took place at the festival: book presentations, meetings with authors, lectures, masterclasses, poetry readings, performances by musical groups, professional events, and the annual Book of the Year award ceremony. The speakers of the ‘Red Line’ of the year were Alexei Varlamov (author of the books ‘Myslennyi Volk’, ‘Sides of the World’, ‘Odsun’), Viktor Remizov (author of the books ‘Volya Volnaya Volnaya’, ‘Temptation’ and ‘Permafrost’), Alexei Ivanov (author of the books ‘Geographer Globus Propyl’, ‘Tobol’, ‘Nenastye’, ‘The Heart of Parma’), Alexei Salnikov (winner of the “National Bestseller” and “NOS” awards, author of the novels “Petrovs in and around the flu”, “The Department”, “Indirectly”), Yana Wagner (author of the novels “Vongozero”, “Living People”, “Who is not hidden” and “Tunnel”) and other authors. For the first time, writers and publishers from China made appearances.

In 2024, for the first time, an auction dedicated to the 460th anniversary of Russian book printing was held jointly with Litfond. Rare lots were presented at the auction, such as an edition of the first printer Ivan Fyodorov, original letters of Maxim Gorky and other interesting items. The core of the programme was traditionally a book fair.

On 25 April, the Sinara Foundation for Support and Implementation of Cultural Initiatives (Sinara Foundation for Cultural Initiatives) organised a tour of the Moscow Theatre of Nations in the Urals capital as part of the Integration programme. On that day, the Ekaterinburg Theatre of Young Audience staged a production of director Danil Chashchin's The Last Summer. The main roles in the play will be played by Veniamin Smekhov, Yulia Peresild, Mikhail Troynik, Oleg Savtsov, Vasily Brichenko, Mila Ershova and others.

The play is set during the First World War in a holiday village with the Finnish name Kuokkala (modern Repino, Leningrad Region). At the beginning of the 20th century this village was a popular summer residence for residents of St Petersburg. The main character Anna is an officer's wife, her entourage includes a neighbour-doctor, a teenage son, her husband who has suddenly returned from the war, other close relatives and servants. They spend their summer evenings in the spirit of Chekhov's characters - arguing about the fate of their homeland, bored, philosophising, reading aloud and holding séances, trying not to notice that their idyllic world is being ousted by the new cruel century.

‘For all the heaviness of the theme, I would like the play to have a sense of tenderness and light, it is for me, above all, about family and the search for home, in the broad sense of the word. It is also about the memory of a happy time, which the characters try in vain to hold on to, but it is thinning and evaporating. Hence the title – The Last Summer,’ says director Danil Chashchin.

Tickets could be purchased on the website of the Theatre of Nations. The amount equal to the funds raised will be transferred by Evgeny Mironov's Charitable Foundation ‘Theatre Initiatives’ to the development of the theatre ‘Drama Number Three’ from the city of Kamensk-Uralsky.

‘The Integration programme has been implemented for the second year. As part of this cultural project, audiences in the regions attend performances of the Theatre of Nations, and the charitable component gives an impetus to the development of local theatres. This year, the Drama Number Three theatre celebrates its hundredth anniversary, and its repertoire includes more than 30 children's and adult productions. Thanks to the support provided, the Drama Number Three team will not only be able to upgrade its stage equipment, but also to hold the first all-Russian festival of professional theatres ‘Gibrid’ in Kamensk-Uralsky,’ says Natalia Levitskaya, Director of the Sinara Foundation for Support and Implementation of Cultural Initiatives.

The Sinara Foundation for Support and Implementation of Cultural Initiatives organised a charity tour of the Moscow Theatre of Nations in the Urals capital. This is a gift from the Pipe Metallurgical Company and the Sinara Group for the 300th anniversary of Ekaterinburg.

On 9 and 12 December, charity shows of the plays ‘Uncle Vanya’ and ‘Through My Eyes’ were held. Honoured employees of industrial enterprises were able to attend them, and in honour of the Year of the Teacher and Mentor, the Ekaterinburg administration invited teachers from various educational institutions of the city to attend the performances.

On 10 December, tickets for the performance ‘Uncle Vanya’ were available for public sale on the website of the Theatre of Nations. The amount equal to the funds raised will be transferred by Evgeny Mironov's Charitable Foundation ‘Theatre Initiatives’ to the development of the Ekaterinburg Youth Folk Theatre ‘Igra’, which unites teenagers, including those in difficult life situations.

‘The joint programme of the Charitable Foundation ‘Theatre Initiatives’ and the Sinara Foundation for Cultural Initiatives is called ‘Integration’. This is a multifaceted cultural and charitable project that not only brings the best productions of the Theatre of Nations on tour to the regions, but also gives local amateur theatres an impetus for development. This charity vector is very important for us, so we invite Ekaterinburg spectators to make their contribution by buying tickets to our performance,’ says Evgeny Mironov, Artistic Director of the Theatre of Nations.
After Ekaterinburg, the Theatre of Nations' charity tour within the framework of the Integration project was followed by Chelyabinsk – on 14 December, the audience was able to attend the performance ‘Through My Eyes’.

From 29 October to 5 November 2023, the VIII International Frautschi Competition and Festival took place in Moscow with the support of the Sinara Cultural Initiatives Foundation.

The festival concerts were held at the best academic venues in the capital's cultural and historical centre: the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, the Great Concert Hall Zaryadye, the Great Hall of the Gnessin Russian Academy of Music, and the Sobornaya Palata. The programme includes the most famous works of the guitar repertoire, as well as works by contemporary composers performed by leading musicians from Russia, Spain, Brazil and China.

The Frautschi Competition is a landmark event for young classical guitarists all over the world. It is the largest international competition in Russia and CIS countries, which is among the TOP-5 world classical guitar competitions. In 2023 the competition was held for the eighth time, the prize fund was over 30 000 euros, the participants received valuable prizes from partners and master-classes of the world's leading guitarists.

Among the participants of the festival are the outstanding Spanish composer, conductor and guitar virtuoso Jose Maria Gallardo del Rey, Brazilian virtuoso Yamandu Costa, Master of the Central Conservatory of Beijing Shuanshuang Song, the best guitarists of Russia Dmitry Illarionov, Artem Dervoed, Roman Zorkin and others.