What Awaits Attendees of CIBA-2023
On April 20, the New Stage of the Alexandrinsky Theatre will host CIBA-2023, a conference on creative industries organised by students of the Master's programme 'Arts and Culture Management'. This year's event, which is devoted to the role of art in the corporate environment, marks the third time the conference has been held. Entry to the event is free.
CIBA: Creative Industries. Business. Art is an annual event devoted to up-to-date topics in the field of creative business. Over its three-year history, the conference has become a platform for exchanging experience and networking between cultural and art figures, entrepreneurs and students.
The conference is traditionally organised by students of the Master's programme 'Arts and Culture Management' in cooperation with the New Stage of the Alexandrinsky Theatre.
CIBA is not only a city event, but an important part of the educational process. The master's students gain practical experience developing their e-management skills: learning to design an event concept and defend projects in front of customers, communicating with potential speakers, working to attract sponsors, and promoting events in various channels.
Anastasia Rezova, 1st-year student of the Master's programme 'Arts and Culture Management'
I have always been interested in event management, and participation in organising CIBA-2023 allows us to gain real-life experience in this sphere and work on an interesting idea in partnership with the New Stage of the Alexandrinsky Theatre. I work in the event promotion team: every day, my creative colleagues and I solve tasks which are new for us.
The central topic of CIBA-2023 is the role of art in the life of a company at every stage of its development. The programme consists of three parts, each of which features speakers who will look at a company as a living organism with a unique origin story, DNA, and ways of interacting with the external environment. Guests can also participate in networking sessions, take part in an interactive quest-quiz, and get acquainted with the art objects by sculptor Victor Grachev which are displayed in the halls of the New Stage.
Daria Lukonina, 1st-year student of the Master's programme 'Arts and Culture Management'
I have been interested in 'corporate anatomy' from a professional point of view since the beginning of my master's studies. I am happy that the team decided to explore this complex phenomenon through art integration. CIBA allows students to learn how to communicate with project participants and real company representatives. While preparing, you start to feel how valuable you are in the organisational process, realise what strengths and weaknesses you have, and grow!
CIBA-2023 speakers include:
- Valentina Antiushina, marketing director at Sevkabel Port
- Olga Ginzburg, designer of the brand Ola Ola
- Maria Grudina, ideologist and founder of the First Line healthcare resort
- Lada Efimova, PR director at the Anton is Right Here charitable fund
- Elizaveta Zinoveva, co-founder of Bigсity.art
- Evgeny Pavlov, head of partnership management projects at Gazprom.Neft
- Julia Sanachina, head of the Steamship Company media centre
- Nikita Ulybin, Director General of the Vokzal 1853 food mall and others
In the last two years, the CIBA conference has reached more than 140,000 people, including those who have attended online. The offline event was attended by more than 400 guests. In 2021 and 2022, the CIBA platform featured the gallerist Marina Gisich, the founder of the Stereoleto music festival and the Morze club Ilya Bortnyuk, the curator of Sevkabel Port Alexey Onatsko, the creative director of the brand IANIS CHAMALIDY Yanis Chamalidi, and many others.
Those interested in participating in CIBA-2023 must register in advance.
Olesya Strokina, co-head of the project, curator of special projects at the New Stage of the Alexandrinsky Theatre
Without false modesty, I can say that CIBA is a unique project. For the master's students, it is a chance to test themselves and learn what is best and most relevant to them during the educational process. For me as a curator, it is important that we cover topics at the intersection of art and business, adding working business mechanisms to the creative environment. The project speakers are leading specialists and experts from the creative industries—we would like to thank them for their trust specifically. Every year, the level of the project only grows; it cannot but inspire future work.
Elena Zelenskaya, co-head of the project, academic supervisor of the Master's programme 'Arts and Culture Management'
I have been working on the CIBA project for three years already, and it keeps surprising and inspiring me. We have built a very warm relationship with our partners. I think that the New Stage is close in spirit to HSE University-St Petersburg—it is a very open space for creative, unconventional ideas. The partners provide huge resources for implementing the ideas of our students—it is a unique opportunity for us. I believe that CIBA fills an important niche in the programmes of the New Stage by talking about creative industries, and the intersection of art and business as business is not widely discussed within the New Stage.