Moscow Mayor spotlights the most inspiring cultural projects of the capital’s metro
The Moscow metro is the capital’s prominent cultural venue as it largely cooperates with local theaters, museums and other cultural spots. In 2016, jointly with the State Tretyakov Gallery, it organized an educational project called Intensive Course XX to introduce metro passengers into Russian art while traveling.
In addition, throughout the years, it has launched themed trains featuring pieces of Shchukin collection in the State Pushkin Museum or turning the spotlight on Oleg Tabakov Theater, Chekhov Moscow Art Theatre and other institutions or cultural heritage sites, Sergei Sobyanin writes in his blog. “We are proud of the Moscow metro as the most beautiful one in the world. Most of its stations are essentially art objects. Our artists and architects will always have exuberant imagination in creating unusual images for new metro stations and lines. In recent years, the metro has been widely used by figures from other fields of culture. No one will be surprised by the fact that classical and modern music is played in metro passages (the Music in the Metro project) or that one can download an e-book (the Books in the Metro project) there,” shared the Moscow Mayor.
Over the past decade, the metro has hosted more than 50 major night events, with thousands of spectators and participants, related venues and equipment being prepared on the day of the event and dismantled soon after; so, passengers on morning trains do not even know that just a few hours ago a metro station was hosting a music or fashion show.
In 2017, Delovoy Tsentr station was a venue of the world’s The Silmarillion. In Memory of Tolkien pre-show, which was timed to coincide with the 82nd anniversary of the Moscow Metro. In the same year, the metro hosted the Night of Russian Ballet campaign with the best Don Quixote, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker and Esmeralda parts performed for fans of the FIFA Confederations Cup matches.
In 2019, Delovoy Tsentr station offered the Nutcracker ice show to celebrate the New Year, with an actual skating rink set onto the metro platform; passengers were able to watch the performance, enjoy skating and take part in master classes taught by renowned coaches.
In 2021, on May 9, Devyatayev pre-premiere screening was shown at Park Pobedy station, field kitchen, a flight simulator and themed photo shoots offered in the lobby.
Passengers and tourists enjoyed a ballet at Mayakovskaya station on Moscow Transport Day in 2022 and Russian rock hits performed by Imperialis Orchestra or a Todes dance show at Arbatskaya in 2023; this September, the Moscow Jazz Orchestra conducted by People's Artist of Russia Igor Butman played at Mayakovskaya to celebrate the Moscow Day.
In addition to concerts, shows and film screenings the Moscow metro also hosts some unusual events, such as the Yoga Night in the Metro at Novoslobodskaya station in 2015, where participants were taught a yoga class on the platform and enjoyed a performance by a team from the Jawaharlal Nehru Cultural Center at the Indian Embassy.
In 2016, Sretensky Boulevard station offered a magic show for visitors to watch the performance and attend master classes to learn some tricks.
The capital’s metro has more than once become a venue for fashion shows; for example, for the 25th anniversary of Moscow Fashion Week, young Russian and foreign fashion designers presented new collections at Delovoy Tsentr station, and a MFW show given at Mayakovskaya in 2022.
“It is a safe to say that the Moscow Metro has become a focal cultural space in the capital,” Sergei Sobyanin said.
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