Closed circuses, fired directors, groups on the street - how in the regions they are fighting for fire safety after Kemerovo. The “year of culture” began with the closure of the house of culture Theaters in Crimea - everything is in smoke
The President discussed with the Governor of Stavropol Vladimir Vladimirov the development of the region. They talked about medicine, the improvement of cities and towns, as well as the future of cultural centers.
“I know that you are ready to talk about some aspects related to the implementation of the Address to the Federal Assembly, and then I propose to talk about the socio-economic situation in the region,” the head of state began the conversation.
The Address contained many tasks related to the socio-economic development of the country, noted Vladimir Vladimirov. “As part of the implementation of this Address, starting work ahead of time, we are already prepared today for the implementation of the Children’s Medicine project, we have prepared a project for our hospital building of the regional hospital and are included in the program of the Ministry of Health,” he reported.
“The second direction - I think that we have done a very good job in this regard - is the involvement of people, as you said, in the program for arranging their own territory,” the speaker continued. “There is an “Urban Environment”, which was initiated by you, we are participating, "We were allocated 609 million in 2017, this year - 694 million. We have more than 200 courtyard areas, we have made 21 city playgrounds."
“We also have our own program, a program of local initiatives, we finance it with 200, this year 300 million rubles and will continue,” said the head of the region. According to him, people come to the head of the settlement with a problem, for example, they need a sports ground or a community center, a road, a park. And the region allocates funds on a competitive basis, based on the volume of co-financing. “Over the past year, we made 119 such objects, and this year we want to approach the figure of 198 and will already allocate 300 million rubles,” he said.
“You gave us instructions to develop medicine in terms of the fight against cancer, we have prepared a project for our regional oncology center for 22 thousand square meters,” Vladimirov also said. “I would like our region to become a pilot region for the implementation of oncology.”
The governor also proposed making the region a pilot region for the implementation of cultural programs. “Just don’t encroach on the existing ones, so that the existing ones (cultural centers - RG note) don’t close,” the president said.
The volume of federal funds for financing rural cultural centers in the Stavropol Territory last year amounted to 156 million rubles
“Not a single one, Vladimir Vladimirovich,” the interlocutor assured. “Last year you decided to finance rural cultural centers. We were given 156 million rubles. Two new cultural centers were built and 19 cultural centers were renovated. This is unprecedented,” he said.
“This year we are sending 300 million to cultural centers. We are not closing any of them, we are just renovating them. You know, a cultural center in a village is still a center of attraction,” Vladimirov explained.
"Okay. Let's see," the president replied.
That one of the most visited youth clubs is being closed. For more than five years, the “House of Culture” has become a home for many, and there were sympathizers at the closing, because during this time the club hosted a lot of talented groups on its grounds, showed art-house films, threw parties... We attended the last event and decided find out where hipsters and musicians, designers and artists, poets and freelancers should go now...
First, we asked this question to the management of “DK”, and received the answer:
To all other entertainment establishments in Ryazan, and to Pavlov’s house-museum, of course.
Then we turned to those who like to visit the House of Culture. Among them producer and organizer of “Black Cat” Igor Krysanov:
I don’t see a replacement for the House of Culture. It was a place where you were not ashamed to go, where there was always a good and cozy atmosphere, and there were never idiots. Where will I go? Maybe to the “Old Park”, but young people don’t particularly go there. And I don’t even know where to go now. There is no analogue to “DK” in our city!
Doctor of Philosophy, Professor, Lecturer at the Department of Cultural Studies of the Russian State University named after S.A. Yesenin Alexander Solovyov visited the “DK” more than once, and managed to take part in the “Lecture Hall” project. He also worries about the fate of youth culture:
- “DK” (after the closure of Club 42) was, perhaps, the only place with a high “density” of youth culture, which can be classified as a modern form of the underground. There were many non-mass projects, non-grossing authors and performers. “DK” willingly met intellectual projects halfway - it was here that we held the final part of the first cultural jam. The Lecture Hall of the House of Culture gathered a full hall of those interested in the problems of modern and not so modern art. And so, as the song says, “another one bites the dust.” Unfortunately, our Ryazan non-state cultural sector is represented mainly by the so-called entertainment, leisure and shopping centers, and one can only dream of opening a youth art center, the idea of which, I have been trying to voice for several years now. "DK" in this sense was a worthy prototype.
Evgeny Moskovsky, musician of the groups “Mistville”, “MoHITo”:
Of course, the closure of “DK” is a sad event. Although, if there is a demand for live concerts, then most likely there will be a place that satisfies this need of music lovers. Apartment houses and anti-cafes are definitely not my thing. There is no drive, no energy of a live concert. By the way, I’m going to DEEP for Trubertskoy. I played there a couple of times, the stage is a bit small, but the sound and equipment are decent!
Editor-in-Chief of ONE AGE.RU, presenter of music journalism courses Mikhail Savotikov rather critically stated that there was nowhere else to go:
Where to go now? Nowhere, really. In terms of concerts, the next one on the list is the Planetarium, but they are going to close that too.
Anton Svirkin, leader of the group "Skladen", comments the closure like this:
Thank God, for now we still have “Old Park”, “Fountain” and “Planetarium”, where you can listen to good music, no matter how anyone feels about these establishments. Another thing is that the “House of Culture” raised a layer of slightly different music that was not heard anywhere else in Ryazan. I won’t say that I personally like this kind of music, but the fact itself shouldn’t be ignored. However, time will tell what will replace this. A holy place is never empty.
Victor Grakov, journalist, comments on the closure of a small but kind club:
In Ryazan, there is generally a big problem with small venues. With all due respect to the Planetarium, it is currently too big for local groups. 100 spectators in the House of Culture is a full hall, and in the Planetarium the same number is like semolina porridge neatly spread on a plate. It seems there are people, but where are they? I think someone will step up and occupy the niche of a small concert venue. I can’t say who. The task is not very simple, because now the new small club will be compared with DK.
Director of the Planetarium Art Club Andrey “Krishna” Shkuratov as always laconic:
I don’t particularly need the people who went to the House of Culture, but the Planetarium is open to everyone. I love those who come to our club, who create the atmosphere there, but I will also be glad to see new people, especially since there are a variety of concerts prepared.
And Pavel Ezhikov, member of VIA Impossible, positive:
Let's start by congratulating everyone on the New Year and, no matter how blasphemous it may sound, on the closure of the House of Culture. It’s like this: the party was a success, emotions were over the edge, and each ending is a harbinger of a new beginning. It is not yet clear what it will be, but “a holy place is never empty.”
TV journalist Nikolai Potapov
Residents of the village of Fishnevo and other nearby villages appeal to you with an urgent request to understand the situation that currently exists in our village of Fishnevo, Bezhanitsky district, Pskov region and threatens the closure of the village cultural center.
House of Culture Fishnevo is one of the best rural clubs in the region. There are always a lot of theatrical and entertainment events held here: Interactive festival for children from 1 to 14 years old (weekly during school holidays); Autumn Ball; Day of the Elderly; New Year; New Year's parties for children; Defenders of the Fatherland Day; International Women's Day; Victory Day; Russia Day, etc.
At the club, the district administration and local authorities hold annual meetings and elections.
The club has long been running clubs organized by residents: dramatic “Mask”, vocal “Leisya Song”, children’s “Sun”, dance “Illusion”.
With various concert programs, the club team travels to perform not only in rural clubs of the Bezhanitsky district, but also in Pskov.
On their own, with the support of the villagers, the team uses the money they earn to make repairs and update the interior of the club. The club premises are warm and in good technical condition.
The local population is more than 360 people, and in the summer the population doubles due to visiting summer residents. All these people will be deprived of the opportunity to celebrate public holidays, because in fact, cultural and entertainment activities in the village will cease to exist, and the beautiful building will be smashed and destroyed. The building of the cultural center cannot be sold (a good example is the school building) and it will remain to rot and collapse.
The proposal to visit the district club, which is located in the village of Bezhanitsy, does not stand up to criticism, since many residents do not have their own vehicles or are limited in mobility (elderly citizens and families with small children). After all, even providing additional transport will be more expensive than maintaining our club.
In the same building there is a library, which is also closed along with the club.
We want local authorities to hear our opinion, take it into account and reconsider their decision. We ask you to preserve the rural cultural center in the village of Fishnevo. We hope that the district administration will meet citizens halfway in their desire to exercise their rights to cultural life.
We sincerely ask that our appeal be considered as soon as possible and that the district administration find an opportunity to save our rural club.
We reserve the right to appeal to higher authorities.
Residents of the village of Pasynok (Sosvinsky District) addressed the editorial office of the Regional Newspaper with a letter - they want to close their House of Culture and library. Residents raised the alarm, wrote letters to various authorities - and they decided to keep the club. The money was allocated and the responses were positive. Everything ended well, but the story of how 140 people in the north of the region literally defended an island of culture by force deserves a separate topic. OG correspondents visited Pasynka and found out why it is impossible to deprive people of the House of Culture and the library.
Before the trip, I was surprised to discover that the village is not on the now popular Google Maps. A regular paper map of the area reports that this is only a railway station. The village with a very symbolic name is located approximately 450 kilometers from Yekaterinburg, east of Serov. At the entrance there is no sign with the name of the settlement, the network on the phone does not pick up, there is not a soul on the street. Fortunately, it’s impossible to get lost here - Stepson consists of three streets. Having driven along the main road - Pervokhodtsev - you come across a large building - “Pasynkovsky House of Culture and Library”.
Unanswered question
When I found out that the club was being closed, I cried,” admits Tatyana Parsegova, Pasynkovsky’s school teacher. Tears well up in her eyes again. - Understand, the club is everything for us.
We are sitting in the library. Every square meter is occupied by children's crafts, and certificates of honor hang on the walls. Under the shelf with Daria Dontsova’s books there is a neat stack of the literary magazine “Ural”. The club is clean but cold.
Children's crafts occupy a separate room. Photo: Vladimir Martyanov
In the summer, we learned from the cultural department in Sosva that we were being closed,” adds library manager Tatyana Yakimova. “We’re closing,” was the phrase. We decided as a whole village that the club needed to be saved. We started writing letters. Yes, these were cries for help, but what else could we do?! A month later, answers began to arrive from both the Ministry of Culture and the manager of the Northern District. Result: the club is saved.
Why did you decide to close?
We were not given a specific reason. But it is clear that it is expensive to maintain. The building is large - the population is small. Of course, there is no profit from either the school or the library. The premises are more than 400 square meters. It needs to be heated, but we need 200 cubic meters of firewood just for one winter.
Let it be cold, but as long as it works. Expensive, we understand, but how easy is it to close? We survived the hardest 90s, and now we have to close it?!
This question echoes from the high ceilings of the club. The question is truly difficult. Closing the case is a simple matter, but when you look at the real picture, you understand why residents hold on to their club to the last. For them, the Stepson himself is these very walls, stage, corridors and rooms.
And all that remains in Stepson itself is a school, consisting of a couple of rooms, and a recreation center. The store (private) will be closed in a few days. The medical center has not been licensed. Production - the timber industry enterprise - has not been working for a long time.
Even the bus doesn’t come to our village. You have to walk four kilometers to the stop,” says local resident Lyubov Svinina. - We have been trying to resolve this issue for many years, but to no avail. We go to Serov or Sosva for shopping, and pay utility bills there. We are told that there is a train. But he walks once a day and early in the morning - very inconvenient.
Despite the fact that Pasynka has only 140 residents, the library has 58 regular readers. Book funds are rare, but replenished. Periodicals also arrive once a week. Photo: Vladimir Martyanov
“We’re all on our own here”
The village of Pasynok is 65 years old. It was built as a temporary settlement. Nobody thought that people would stay here for more than half a century. But, as they say, there is nothing more permanent than temporary.
At the same time, the club itself was built, I must say, conscientiously. It was rebuilt in 1972. Huge ceilings, a spacious auditorium (with up to 120 seats), a large stage, a costume room and even a movie booth, which is still in working order - put in films and show movies...
Behind the stage there is a mosaic portrait of Vladimir Lenin. I remember the workers laying it out. When we were little, we ran to the construction site to look at it,” recalls Tatyana Parsegova.
The village is located in a swamp, so the houses often need repairs. The last time the club was completely renovated was in 2002. The roof and floor were completely replaced. Since then, every year residents paint, whitewash, and repair something at their own expense. The club is open almost every day, as is the library. Although there are officially two people working in the entire building - Tatyana Yakimova, the head of the library, and Nadezhda Sanina, the head of the club. They are also supply managers, cleaners, and sound engineers.
Want to try on a Santa Claus costume? - asks Tatyana Yakimova. - It's new, recently sewn. By the way, we make all the costumes ourselves, using our own patterns. We're all on our own here. The floor, for example, has to be painted every year. During discos, the paint is washed off.
As it approaches four o'clock, the children arrive for the rehearsal. They don't have far to go - literally from the next house. The school, library and club essentially work as one. There are actually no problems with school. There are 25 children studying in the “beginning” - they all spend their free time in clubs.
The kids immediately after school run to the club for classes,” explains Tatyana Parsegova. - Dancing, local history, singing. Do you think we made these toys ourselves? No! These are all our children. We used to hold regional competitions, but now we go on tour more often. We take part in all district events. But where should kids go if not to the club? We are surrounded by forest. And so they have additional education.
We say goodbye warmly, and finally I give away three recent issues of the Regional Newspaper that we brought with us. In Pasynka you have to wait two weeks for a newspaper.
“Just don’t write bad things about us,” the women say almost in unison. - You can understand us too. Of course, there are only 140 of us living here, but can we just be forgotten? We are living people! We will fall with bones, but we will save it. There will be no club - that's it, death will come.
...We are driving back, and for some reason I feel guilty. 140 people are ready to defend the last island of hope. What are they fighting for? Not for the store or even for the hospital. But everyone tries to survive in their own way. So the Stepson lives as long as there is a House of Culture and a library in it. If this doesn’t happen, what next?
The only House of Culture stopped working. Local residents are sure that the city authorities specially pulled off the closure of the cultural center in the summer so that people (many at this time leave the Arctic for the mainland) would not have time to react.
Syndrome: optimization
Vorgashor is located near a coal mine. At one time it was the largest coal mining enterprise in the European part of Russia. In Soviet times, 25 thousand people lived in the village, today the population does not exceed 10 thousand. But people don’t leave here - they work, give birth and raise children. In recent years, a school in Vorgashor has been closed, and one of the kindergartens stopped working in the spring. Now the notorious optimization has reached the temple of culture.
The House of Culture has always been a favorite place of leisure and creativity for local children. An example of Stalinist architecture, located at the entrance to the village, was considered its decoration. After classes, schoolchildren hurried here for rehearsals and clubs. Sponsors donated modern lighting and sound equipment to the cultural center. All public events and major holidays took place within these walls. The House of Culture hosted touring artists and circuses.
“Any building needs maintenance. Here they like to create a problem and then say that it is impossible to solve it,” says Vladimir Zharuk, a social activist and resident of Vorgashor. - The roof of the recreation center was not repaired in a timely manner - a leak appeared. And then a piece of stucco fell from the ceiling in the auditorium. All this could be quickly corrected. But now they say that millions are needed to restore the building. But they can’t find them.”
In July, the residents of Vorgashor learned that the House of Culture was being closed. The authorities made the decision unilaterally and did not announce public hearings.
“For us this is the center of life. Parents of children who study here immediately began collecting signatures to stop this decision. Within a few days, 400 people signed it, says local resident Olga Mikhailova. - An open letter was written to the Minister of Culture, Mr. Emelyanov. But there is no reaction yet.”
Now about 150 children from the clubs of the House of Culture are “moving” to the House of Children's Creativity (DDT). In turn, DDT students - 250 people in total - were transferred to study in two schools in Vorgashor. Neither side likes such measures. As a result, many children refused to attend clubs.
Vorgashor resident Eduard Shablo believes that optimization cannot be called anything other than killing the village:
“These measures by the authorities imply improvement, but the situation in the Arctic is only getting worse. We live 30 km from Vorkuta, there are a lot of children's clubs there. In conditions of the polar night, when in winter the sun rises only for an hour, where should our children go in pitch darkness, in a snowstorm, across the tundra? All they can do is sit at their tablets and be dumb.”
Unpopular measures
At the same time, a year ago there was no talk of closing the cultural center. The head of the cultural department of the city administration, Olga Pavelko, acknowledged problems with the maintenance of the building, but it continued to work: “The roof of the House of Culture needs to be repaired. In 2015, we went to auction twice to determine the contractor that would carry out this work. And twice the auction was declared invalid due to lack of applications. Not a single contractor showed up."
The leadership of the mining town agrees: closing a cultural institution is an unpopular and painful measure. But services for additional education of children (and this is the main task) will be retained.
“The stage in DK is, of course, larger than in DDT. But not only this fact must be guided when making decisions. I am sure that “spreading your finances all over your plate” is not only uneconomical. In today’s economic conditions, this is a crime,” says the mayor of the city, Igor Guryev.
According to the official, at least two million rubles are required to repair the roof of the recreation center. Maintenance of the building costs 300-400 thousand rubles. in year. And the city budget is not rubber. Well, in the meantime, Vorgashors are wondering what the authorities’ next step will be: closing the skating rink or the swimming pool?
