Mikhail Shvydkoi: “It is important to understand that we are open to the world”

2023-05-05 00:13:09

In an era of global change and trials, the system of international relations is changing, cooperation with foreign cultural institutions is becoming more difficult or stops altogether, says Mikhail Shvydkoy, Special Representative of the President of Russia for International Cultural Cooperation.

Shvydkoy’s background includes more than 50 years in the field of culture, work as the Minister of Culture, his own program on the country’s main cultural channel. In the present – the leadership of the Moscow Musical Theater and the International Theater Festival. A.P. Chekhov, whose president he became in December 2022.

Despite everything, the cultural interaction between Russia and the world, according to Shvydkoy, manages to be preserved: on May 20, the XVI International Theater Festival named after I. A.P. Chekhov, and the Musical Theater plans premieres with the participation of foreign colleagues. In an interview with Vedomosti, Shvydkoy spoke about international cooperation despite the geopolitical situation, as well as about the main events of the upcoming Chekhov Festival and the secrets of optimism in difficult times.