2013 SU Update: Kazan 2013 Executive Directorate joins Cultural Alliance

KAZAN – Kazan Mayor Ilsur Metshin signed an agreement on Kazan’s involvement in the Cultural Alliance project on June 21st. The document was signed within the framework of the White Nights in Perm Festival.

Following the agreement signing ceremony, Deputy Director of the Kazan 2013 Executive Directorate Igor Sivov delivered a presentation of the Cultural Universiade to the festival’s organizers and attendees.

The solemn meeting dedicated to Kazan’s involvement into the Cultural Alliance project took place in the Government House of the Perm Territory. The event also saw attendance of Minister of Culture of the Perm Territory Nikolay Novichkov, Perm – Territory of Culture Project Centre Director Boris Milgramand White Nights in Perm Festival initiator Marat Gelman. Mayor of Kazan Ilsur Metshin presented major creative and cultural projects currently being implemented inKazan.

The Cultural Alliance project was launched last year within the White Nights in Perm Festival under the aegies of the Perm-Saint Peterburg cooperation. Such cities as Tver, Samara,Togliatti,Ufa, Ekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Kirov and Ulyanovsk already joined the project this year. Under the Cultural Alliance project,K azan and Perm become partners in implementing joint cultural projects. However, apart from entering the cooperation in cultural exchange, the regions that joined the alliance, are to participate in the Culture of Russia project which is to become an integral part of the Cultural Universiade: creative delegations from the Cultural Alliance’s cities will organize a series of cultural events inKazanin 2013.

Deputy Director of the Kazan 2013 Executive Directorate Igor Sivov delivered a presentation of the Cultural Universiade to the festival’s organizers and attendees. It’s the first ever cultural project implemented within the University Games. The Cultural Universiade is designed to promote the city, Republic of Tatarstan and Russia through the whole diversity of cultural traditions and young talents. The Cultural Universiade acquires a nationwide scale, thus guaranteeing maximum involvement of Russians, especially young Russians, in the preparations and delivery of cultural events. In 2010-2011, a pool of 75 talented bands and performers coming from Orenburg, Kirov, Arkhangelsk, Samara and Tatarstan’s cities and regions was formed through the UNI-elite/UNI-reserve projects. All of them will perform at the Opening/Closing Ceremonies, key events of the Cultural Universiade. And the FISU Flag Transfer Ceremony in Shenzhen followed by the Flag Relay is to become the first test event for them.

“The 2013 Summer Universiade is going to be a genuine festive event, a festival of cultures and traditions. The city is to turn into not just a multi-sports venue, but a theatre and concert stage. It’s a large-scale event that will enhanceRussia’s global sports and tourist image and will leave a rich cultural legacy and infrastructure for the generations to come. That’s why we favor promoting the ideas of the World University Summer Games, building the tolerance among youth and encouraging people to live a healthy life. And our involvement in the White Nights in Perm Festival, one of the most large-scale cultural projects in our country, is a big step forward enabling us to consolidate Russia’s cultural intelligentsia in the preparations for the 2013 Sumer Universiade”, Igor Sivov said.

The creative elite of the Perm Territory got acquainted with such famous Kazan performers and projects as Radik Salimov, Ittifak band, Mubai acoustic trio and Theatre on the Bulak. The cultural program was followed by official meetings of Tatarstan’s delegation headed by Kazan Mayor Ilsur Metshin with the White Nights in Perm Festival organizers and officials of the Ministry of Culture of the Perm Territory. The parties signed a cooperation agreement which stipulates implementation of a number of cultural projects.

(Source: Media Department of Kazan 2013 Executive Directorate)

 Kazan Mayor Ilsur Metshin