'Culture as a Growing Point': HSE University–St Petersburg Hosts International Forum of Creative Industries in UNESCO Cities
The Fifth International Forum 'Creative Industries in UNESCO Cities' brought together hundreds of specialists from various countries and Russian regions. One of the event venues was HSE University–St Petersburg. Representatives of city government, filmmakers, artists, and international experts met with university professors to discuss the ways in which the creative economy has helped to develop tourism and what role young people have played in it.
For one day, the forum united experts from Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Tunisia, Egypt, the RSA, the UAE, and others. The experts considered alternative routes for travellers and public art, the phenomenon of the 'St Petersburg style,' and ways for museums and philharmonics to attract people to the regions.
'We love HSE University, especially the Rope Shop building, and we hold industry events. This forum is about creative industries, and HSE has creative workshops carrying out international and regional projects. Apart from the guests who came along, the university has its own audience: caring, experienced, actively asking questions. This year, we chose your venue and hit the jackpot,' shared Yevgeny Pankevich, chairman of the St Petersburg Tourism Development Committee.
One of the main questions of the forum was how to draw young people's attention to cultural heritage. According to Valery Gordin, academic supervisor of the Laboratory for Management in Culture and Tourism at HSE University–St Petersburg, young people rarely visit the city's landmarks without a good reason. A poll of Sevkabel Port visitors showed that the majority of tourists from Moscow under 35 have never been to the Hermitage or the Russian Museum, but they eagerly visited modern attractions and creative spaces like New Holland and the Berthold Centre. Valery Gordin believes that it is representatives of creative industries who can change the situation. For instance, virtual reconstructions can show what buildings used to look like, and using AI, it is possible to 'bring them to life' and recreate not just walls but also events which happened there.
Valery Gordin
Academic Supervisor of the Laboratory for Management in Culture and Tourism
Unfortunately, the fact that it is a beautiful place or that one's parents have been there before and strongly recommend visiting it doesn't work anymore. Young people have different behavioural models. We have to hook them, give them a reason.
At a special session, leading designers, architects, and art experts of the city discussed the uniqueness of the St Petersburg style and its maintenance. Ksenia Malich, academic supervisor of the Master's programme 'Design' at HSE University–St Petersburg, believes that conciseness and modesty have been a focus for St Petersburg at all times, and the local tradition has raised in architects a special sensitivity to context, discipline, and an ability to see the bigger picture.
The legacy of the avant-garde is a special page in the history of the Leningrad school, but here, the language of the local architects was different from the general constructivism. One can feel courage, independence, and the experience of the pre-war Petrograd artistic experiment in it.
Ksenia Malich
Academic Supervisor of the Master's programme 'Design'
When we curse out modern projects, we often don't understand why. The discomfort which they cause is related not just to the quality of materials or the level of professional performance. Often, it is about the lack of context, the lack of ability to pay heed to something built before you. A real artist doesn't beat out the competition—they highlight their individuality using what was created by their predecessors and contemporaries. The Leningrad school has always known how to do that.
The researcher gave the example of the Rope Shop educational space, a former building of the Red Nailer factory and the only preserved building by avant-garde architect Yakov Chernikhov. After the renovation, it became a new academic building of HSE University–St Petersburg and consolidated its status as an open educational space. The building has hosted more than 30 international and federal forums and conferences since the beginning of the year alone, and the exhibitions and fashion shows of students and professors have become a part of the city's cultural programme.
The same logic—to preserve the past and pass it to future generations—is applied by Lenfilm. The main film production studio in the city is located on the site of a pleasure garden and the Aquarium theatre, which held the first film screening in the country 130 years ago. The studio preserves tradition, and according to Director General Dmitry Davidenko, continuing this tradition is a task for the young.
'We really want the Lenfilm studio, which has become the property of the city after federal ownership, to become a place of attraction for creative young people, filmmakers, and experts. Maybe some of the students who will come to visit us will discover a passion for directing, acting, and producing and decide to make films,' shared Dmitry Davidenko.
Dijana Grbić, director of the National Theatre of the Republic of Srpska, recommends that young specialists take initiative. She says that the youth should go beyond institutions, create interdisciplinary projects, and actively promote them on any available platforms.
'Work in culture and tourism is a never-ending process. That is why young people should look for new ways to speak to audiences, notice everything around them, and use it in their profession. Today, we have to cooperate with the audience, rather than wait for them to come to us,' summed up Dijana Grbić.
HSE University–St Petersburg trains in-demand art managers, curators, and entrepreneurs in the creative industries in the Master's programme 'Arts and Culture Management.' Find out more about studies on the programme in this interview with academic supervisor Elena Zelenskaya.
