Sergei Sobyanin: Moscow boasts a uniquely large network of cultural centers

About 250 cultural centers function in Moscow. Under the Culture national project, the city is doing extensive reconstruction in order to turn them into modern spaces for creativity, sports, work and recreation, Sergei Sobyanin wrote in his blog.

Many cultural centers’ origins are rooted in Soviet houses of culture that served as gravity points for generations of Muscovites for decades. But after years of active work, the buildings themselves, along with everything inside them, became worn out.

88 cultural centers were reconstructed in three years; plans for 2024 cover 14 more.

“Building reconstruction goes hand in hand with equipment updates. Since 2020, we have outfitted cultural centers with nearly six thousand units of equipment, including musical instruments, stage equipment, computers, house appliances, etc.,” pointed out the Moscow Mayor.

New functions let them broaden their traditional scope of work, open new clubs, hobby circles, creative teams, including popular ones in modeling and robotics. Last year, the total number of hobby circles and creative associations went over 7.5 thousand; 118 thousand Muscovites of all ages are regulars there.

Every day they show stage and music performances, sports competitions, book readings, and other events. Last year alone, over 26 thousand events took place there. Record attendance was registered in 2023 as a result: cultural centers of Moscow welcomed 2.5 million visitors. This is 3.6 percent more than in 2022.

ZIL Cultural Center

The ZIL Cultural Center is among the most popular in Moscow. It is located close to Avtozavodskaya metro station. Over 30 clubs, hobby circles and associations function there. 12 of those opened for the first time in 2023, while others have long, storied history. S. L. Shtein Drama Theater, for instance, was founded in 1937. Many of its participants went on to become professional stage actors: Vasily Lanovoy, Vera Vasilieva, Igor Talankin, Valery Nosik, and Vladimir Zemlyanikin, among others. Bruno Belousov’s band was founded in 1966. They featured in the 1980 Olympics and the 1 st World Youth Games cultural programs.

Being multi-format as it is, the center is able to run multiple large projects in parallel. The ZIL Theater Laboratory functions there. Its objective is to support private theaters and young directors who are experimenting. On top of providing them with a venue to try out their plans, ZIL makes them able to do public showings of their finished products.

Another project of theirs, Music. Dances. ZIL, aims to support young artists. They get a music show venue, while the audience members get opportunities to listen to pieces that are not streaming yet.

Zelenograd Cultural Center

The Zelenograd Cultural Center offers over 60 clubs and amateur associations. 27 of them have honorary titles and have won multiple national and international competitions. Kontakt, Kovcheg and Gratsiya teams have been functioning there for 41 years, since the center’s founding.

The Kontakt drama studio has dozens of extremely popular stage shows on its resume. They participated in the Zvezda Teatrala (Theatergoer Star) award and other stage competitions. The Kovcheg academic choir makes regular tours around Russia and abroad. Their repertoire includes Russian and foreign classics of the 16 th-20 th centuries, along with church music.

“In many years of its functioning, the Gratsiya ballet studio formed several generations of dancers that made ballet their calling and their lives’ work. Gratsiya’s repertoire is based around classical and modern choreography, as well as narrative game dances,” added Sergei Sobyanin.

The Zelenograd Cultural Center runs over 600 events per year. The Zelenograd Gala is one of its traditions. It is an opportunity to listen to classical music, get acquainted with choreography and etiquette.

Since 2018, the center has been running a regular public awareness festival called Environment. Important. Necessary. Interesting!

Meridian Centre of Culture and Art

The Meridian on Profsoyuznaya Street is one of the largest cultural centers in Moscow. It has about 80 hobby clubs, including Shkolnyye Gody (School Years), a dance troupe founded in 1960. The center regularly hosts stage shows, famous performers, festivals, exhibitions, movie runs, various public talks and master classes.

Since 2021, the Meridian serves as a key venue for the Videt Muzyku (See the Music) festival: an opportunity for musical theaters from various Russian cities to show their performances in Moscow. Some iconic collectives that are considered national treasures, like the Pyatnitsky State Academic Russian Folk Choir and the Berezka Folk Dance Ensemble have performed on that stage.

The cultural center also has some exciting projects focused on cinema, tourism, literature and theater. Thanks to the Meridian. Cinema Club program, for instance, young movie directors and cartoonists can show their works to the public. Meetings with writers and literature scholars are organized under the Meridian.Books project.

Fans of traveling have the Meridian. Tourism project. They invite historians, tour guides and travel bloggers to speak there. The Meridian. Theater project presents stage shows made by independent theaters, small troupes and theatre laboratories.

I am confident that this year, Moscow cultural centers will have no fewer exciting and useful events on offer. They keep their doors open for all Muscovites,” concluded Sergei Sobyanin.