New names and platforms: Features of the formation and development of the country's cultural code discussed at the exposition

On February 13, the plenary session "Integration of Russia's Cultural Code into the Modern Fashion Industry" was held at the International RUSSIA EXPO as part of the opening of the new exposition "Cultural Code". It was attended by representatives of the country's fashion industry, designers, experts in culture and education, regional development and light industry.

Formation, preservation and development of the cultural code is a task solved at the state level. As proof of this, the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives was established by Decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2021 to provide financial support for projects initiated in the sphere of culture, art and creative industries.

"The creation of the PFCI shows how attentive the country's leadership is to creative projects, self-realization of people, creation of new opportunities, it shows the significance of the development of cultural life, preservation of traditions of our country. It is important that any creative person who has managed to unite a team of like-minded people around his idea can send his application to the experts for consideration. The money allocated to support projects has helped to launch a real cultural wave in the regions, discover new names, create new urban venues, theaters, renovate museum expositions, large tours and educational events are held. This is a great contribution to the development of culture in the regions. Over the 2.5 years of the Fund's work, more than 25.4 billion rubles have been allocated. Never before in our country has there been support for creative industries in such amounts," emphasized Roman Karmanov, Director General of the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives.

He also noted that the New Year Trees of Russia project, implemented at the RUSSIA EXPO, in many ways anticipated the changes taking place.

"It turned out that New Year trees are also an indicator of development. For example, this year for New Year people presented a huge number of Christmas tree toys made in the old traditions, while last year there was no such thing at all. So, the idea of the project was brilliant: the New Year tree is a trend that unites us. Even though once a year, but we all dance around this holiday fir tree, and this is a reflection of the stage of development of our folk arts and crafts and ourselves. And five years ago our New Year trees were decorated with something Chinese," Roman Karmanov added.

In turn, the author of the New Year Trees of Russia project, CEO of Fashion Hub Russia, President of the International Association of Buyers Georgy Rostovshchikov noted the high importance of the Department Store space at the RUSSIA EXPO.

"Thanks to the work we have done, I can see how the attitude towards our folk crafts is changing, and the best gifts for our foreign colleagues are not goods of European brands, but products of khokhloma, Posad shawls and so on. I hope that the new step will be, among other things, the repackaging of our handicrafts, and the RUSSIA EXPO Department Store presents a huge number of absolutely unique products and handicrafts - like ceramics, from Bashkir to Altai ceramics, Krasnoyarsk vases. A huge word of thanks to the organizers for giving us this opportunity," said Georgy Rostovshchikov.

The Russian "Valentin Yudashkin" Fashion House has been making a huge contribution to the preservation of cultural traditions for many years.

"Cultural codes are both business and art. We have been using everything Russian in our collections for 35 years and we broadcast our collections as a Russian brand. We have all our production and all our workshops only in Russia, we use only Russian hands. In many ways, this is the cultural code - the hands of our craftsmen. And when we show Russia in the West, local people are often shocked when they realize how much work it is," said Galina Yudashkina, Creative Director of Valentin Yudashkin Fashion House.

The International RUSSIA EXPO is the most important achievements of the country gathered in one place. During the whole time of the Exposition, guests are welcomed by cultural events, a rich business and educational program. The expositions of 89 Russian regions, leading federal departments, corporations and public organizations are presented to the visitors.