The Minister of Culture of Belarus presented Vitebsk residents with awards for the preparation and holding of "Slavianski Bazaar-2014" and set guidelines for the next year
The head of the country's main cultural department, Boris Svetlov, noted that the recently concluded XXIII International Festival of Arts "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk" had its unique features. This is because the organizers had to fulfill the main task set by the head of state, Alexander Lukashenko – to change the format of the annual creative forum. And the novelty that the traditional celebration acquired is the merit of the people who were behind the scenes, but without whose participation the festival would hardly have been possible. Their contribution and achievements did not go unnoticed.
The management and specialists of the festival directorate were awarded diplomas and letters of appreciation from the Ministry of Culture of Belarus, which the minister presented personally. Among those awarded were the General Director of the Vitebsk Cultural Center, Alexander Sidorenko, his Deputy for Special Projects, Marina Romanovskaya, Deputy for Concert Activities, Leonid Bogorad, Director of the International Children's Competition, Irina Kovlena, Sound Engineering Complex Service Engineer, Ruslan Stabrovsky, Head of the Festival's International Press Center, Arkady Shulman, and others.
Meanwhile, Boris Vladimirovich emphasized that the wish to find a new format, expressed by the President, remains relevant for the preparation next year. It is necessary to continue searching for new ideas, approaches, and solutions in order to
"Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk" continued to be one of the leading international festivals.In turn, Alexander Sidorenko assured that the festival directorate understands how high the bar has been raised and does not intend to stop there.
The benchmarks set for the organizers of
"Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk", are applicable to every large-scale cultural project, including the International Festival of Modern Choreography (IFMC), for the preparation of which a meeting of the organizing committee was held under the chairmanship of the minister. A number of issues raised concerned the financial side. Currently, more than half of the funds for this event are sponsorship, participants of the forum, and earned from advertising activities and ticket sales. The remaining part is from the republican, regional, and city budgets.– Any festival involves a commercial component, which ideally should approach the total cost of the project, and in the best case, exceed it, – said Boris Svetlov. – Before this process happens, a sufficiently long period of time must pass. So,
"Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk" adds 5-7% of attracted extra-budgetary funds year after year. The festival of modern choreography should follow the same path. As interest in it grows, the number of sponsors, spectators, and, accordingly, the percentage of attracted funds will increase. Nevertheless, the state always supports such significant events.Natalia Ryzhkova, "Vitebskiye vesti"
Photo by Anton Stepanishchev