The Muses are not silent: the main results of the XII Forum of United Cultures
Dozens of signed agreements, frank conversations about the problems and achievements of modern culture, concepts of heritage preservation and secrets of taming a technological beast called "artificial intelligence" — this and much more were discussed at the XII Forum of United Cultures. On September 26, it ended in St. Petersburg. "Izvestia" tells us what cultural mastodons discussed at business sessions and what they shared on the sidelines.
Bridges and windows for unfriendly countries
The full hall of the Mariinsky Theatre applauds the Alicia Alonso National Ballet of Cuba, which brought "Giselle" to Russia for the first time in 15 years. In the hall are top officials of the state, including Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova, Minister of Culture Olga Lyubimova, Governor of St. Petersburg Alexander Beglov, as well as members of international delegations and cultural figures. The performance not only became the brightest event of the first day of the forum, but also the best illustration of the fact that while guns are rattling in the world, the muses are not silent.
From September 23 to 26, 2.5 thousand participants from 73 countries, 45 official delegations spoke, argued, concluded agreements, signed memoranda and established international cultural ties. It's time to take stock.
The most important event of the forum was the speech of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Head of State noted that culture builds bridges where political and economic ties are frozen due to various contradictions and sanctions. But true art belongs to everyone. And Russia builds culture not as a privilege, but as an opportunity for everyone.
Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova, who heads the organizing committee of the forum, even before its opening called the site the best place for dialogue between representatives of different countries and peoples about the present and the future of culture. And after the event, most of its participants agreed that it had become even more effective than the SPIEF and the WEF.
Another thing is also characteristic: among the participants of the forum were representatives of 11 countries that the Russian authorities consider unfriendly. The organizers did not disclose their specific list. But the very fact of the participation of representatives of these States is significant.
Chairman of the Union of Theatrical Figures of the Russian Federation Vladimir Mashkov at the XII International Forum of United Cultures in St. Petersburg
— The politicians of unfriendly countries are doing everything to destroy our ties, but these ties are indestructible. The multinational art of Russia has and will have a huge impact on the development of mankind," Vladimir Mashkov, chairman of the Union of Theatrical Figures of Russia, told "Izvestia".
Cultural thaw
This was confirmed by the opera director Hans-Joachim Fry.
— Many artists come to Russia, sing here, many Russians come to Europe — not the most famous, but still. And when I talk to my European colleagues and friends, they tell me: "Mr. Fry, we are so glad to see you. We want the Russians to come back. We need them. We want to work with Russians. And for Gergiev to come back. We are still on your side. But we can't show it," Fry told "Izvestia".
At the forum, he presented his new book, "Loving Russia as Part of World Culture," in which he describes his life here. Fry has been cooperating with leading venues in St. Petersburg for many years and holds Russian citizenship. This is his second book about our country.
— My mission is to show that Russia is a part of world culture. Don't discuss the cancellation culture, don't cross anything out. I love Russia as a part of my culture. We are one European house of culture," Fry told "Izvestia".
Edgard Zapashny, General Director of the Bolshoi Moscow Circus, at the XII International Forum of United Cultures in St. Petersburg.
As if to continue these words between business sessions, Edgard Zapashny, director of the Moscow Circus on Vernadsky Avenue, told us that a certain thaw was coming for circus performers.
— Next spring we are invited to the International Circus Festival in Spain again. And this is after a five-year pause. Today they are ready to receive 45 artists, and together with Rosgoscirk we are on the verge of concluding a three-way contract. Although, as you understand, there is serious pressure on Russia in Spain," Zapashny told "Izvestia".
A number of international agreements were signed at the forum, including a memorandum of cooperation between the Hermitage and the Sichuan Museum from China, as well as agreements on joint film production between Iran and Russia.
— This agreement creates a very good basis for cooperation in various fields of cinema. Russian cinema has a long history. It is known in Iran, and, conversely, Iranian cinema is known here in Russia. This means that they can use the necessary locations together," Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic Orientation Seyed Abbas Salehi told "Izvestia".
Alexander Beglov, Governor of St. Petersburg, Olga Lyubimova, Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation, Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director General of the State Hermitage Museum, at the XII International Forum of United Cultures in St. Petersburg
A separate conversation was devoted to the creation of a single CIS cinema space. The former Soviet republics have a common history of cinema, but there has been no unified production and distribution system for 35 years. Olga Lyubimova suggested moving from stating a common past to joint mechanisms.
The annual Hermitage Prize has become the crowning achievement of international history. It was awarded to Italian theater director Giancarlo Del Monaco and Mikhail Shvydkoi, representative of the President of Russia for International Cultural Cooperation.
Not just fairy tales
There was a lot of talk about Russian cinema. The share of Russian films in the national box office increased from 22-23% to 67% in fees and 69% in attendance. The audience of Russian films in cinemas reached 100 million viewers for the first time. But at the same time, the industry is struggling with another problem — illegal rental. In the first half of 2026, the volume of such impressions was estimated at 1.5–2 billion rubles.
There are also reasons to be proud. For example, the most anticipated historical blockbuster of next year is "Black Silk". It will be a continuation of the first Russian-Chinese painting "Red Silk". The "Alpine Ballad" based on the novel by Vasil Bykov, created in co-production with Serbia, is also waiting for the audience.
And what about the Russian box office? Sergey Selyanov, Chairman of the Management Board of APKiT, believes that the industry is in dire need of a variety of genres. He was supported by Konstantin Ernst, whose speeches at the forum turned out to be one of the most discussed. He noted that movie stories have become the driver of profits today. They generate 40% of revenue, although they occupy only 15% of the rental. However, by the New Year, we will no longer have three magical stories, as on previous holidays, but as many as seven.
New adventures of "Ivan Ivanovich" in Russia
A third of the sessions were devoted to artificial intelligence. Although, in fact, it was discussed at almost every one. Speakers of different positions, ages, and views tried to figure out what to do with "Ivan Ivanovich," as Mikhail Shvydkoi and Tatiana Golikova affectionately dubbed him.
There were positive examples of economically beneficial use of technology, as well as literary warnings in the spirit of George Orwell, Leo Tolstoy and John Steinbeck.
According to IRI, 78% of the surveyed productions use AI regularly, 89% have increased the frequency of its use over the year, and 30% of the content in the top charts was created using artificial intelligence. It will take only five hours to create a music track and video instead of a month of work, and news announcements and digests instead of 10-15 minutes will take only 25 seconds. According to Alexey Goreslavsky, CEO of the IRI, within three years AI will dissolve into the production process and will no longer be perceived as a separate technology.
And director Anton Maslov calls neural networks a kind of agrarian revolution and calls on humanity to be better than machines.
— The tractor is already with us. He's not going anywhere. And someone will sit on it, someone will plow on it. AI is an agrarian revolution in cinema. He will take professions and transform them. On the one hand, it's good that this tractor is there. But in no case should we say that we want to deprive people of jobs. We need to be better than AI. We must be such workers on our land that certain things are assembled exclusively by manual labor. Intellectual ones, too," Maslov told "Izvestia."
For four days in St. Petersburg, we talked about how culture can change, become digital, protect traditions, and discover new routes and ways of development. Each country has its own distinctive and unique code, but this code is written by more than one programmer. Thousands of threads from other countries, nationalities and cultures lead to it.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
