Head of the Ministry of Culture Olga Lyubimova spoke in the State Duma

Minister of Culture Olga Lyubimova on Wednesday spoke at a meeting of the State Duma during the “government hour”. She spoke about the attempt of unfriendly countries to undermine the cultural sovereignty of Russia, the protection of traditional values ​​and assistance to participants in a special military operation (SVO). The deputies, in turn, scolded the artists who left Russia and argued whether culture should engage in propaganda.

Today, culture is “the most important resource for the socio-economic development of the entire country,” Olga Lyubimova immediately outlined the importance of her field of activity. “Through images in cinema, theater, music and other areas of creativity, we transmit to Russian and foreign audiences the traditional values ​​of our society,” the minister explained to deputies. She referred to performance President Vladimir Putin at the IX St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum, where he said that over the past decade, spending on culture has increased more than 20 times. “At the same time, we face challenges,” Ms. Lyubimova warned. “It is obvious that unfriendly countries have unleashed a hybrid, information and, one might say, cultural war against us. The campaign is aimed at destroying basic moral and cultural norms, religious foundations, the institution of marriage, and family values. This is an attempt to fully undermine Russia’s cultural sovereignty.”

However, the answer to this challenge has already been prepared, Olga Lyubimova said: this is a new edition of the culture development strategy until 2030 developed by the ministry. One of her priorities is supporting national cinema.

“Particular attention should be paid to projects that emphasize spiritual, moral and patriotic values, as well as the cultural sovereignty of the peoples of Russia,” said the head of the Ministry of Culture. She referred to the preferences of viewers who like “animated, adventure and family films, good comedies”: the highest-grossing film this year was the film “Cheburashka”, and in second place was “At the Command of the Pike”.

Olga Lyubimova paid great attention to the integration of new regions “into the all-Russian cultural space.” According to her, federal museums have taken patronage over 77 museums in the new territories, are helping in their restoration, and are holding exhibitions. Another important cultural area is support for SVO participants. The minister spoke about the festival-review of patriotic songs, which in 2022 was organized in military units, hospitals and mobilization points. Also, exhibitions dedicated to the Donbass were held in federal museums, and a section “Serving Russia”, dedicated to the heroes of the Northern Military District, was opened at the Tula Arms Museum.

The deputies readily supported the concept, from which it follows that the cultural sphere is another front in the struggle for Russian values.

Chairman of the State Duma Committee for Family Protection Nina Ostanina (Communist Party of the Russian Federation) was concerned about the “anti-family policy” in cinema and television, which, according to her, is carried out contrary to the president’s words that large families should become the norm. “Look, we even have one Cheburashka with grandparents, and not a large family,” the communist gave an example. Olga Lyubimova replied that museums, theaters, libraries and other institutions of the Ministry of Culture do everything “for the family,” and family cinema is “one of the most important and expensive areas.”

Chairman of the Tourism Committee Sangadzhi Tarbaev (“New people”) proposed “to begin developing standards of Russian hospitality, to the point that hotels would have Russian baths instead of Turkish hammams.” At the same time, “you cannot sell in souvenir shops something that was not made in your own region, and even worse, not in your own country,” the Minister of Culture accepted.

Deputy Ekaterina Stenyakina (“United Russia”) spoke about a party project, within the framework of which about 500 SVO soldiers undergoing treatment visited the Tretyakov Gallery, Pushkin and Historical museums, and proposed expanding this practice throughout the country. The ministry is already developing a corresponding “road map” together with the Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation, Ms. Lyubimova answered.

In their speeches from factions, deputies mainly focused on topics related to the Northern Military District. So, Nikolai Ivanov (Communist Party of the Russian Federation) shamed the artists who “left Russia at a difficult time for the country, allowing themselves to speak insultingly about their homeland”

According to the communist, the Ministry of Culture should not let them back into Russian cinema and television, but, on the contrary, should support patriotic actors. Mr. Ivanov also ordered the Ministry of Culture to “closely monitor” the Yeltsin Center, which “has become an incubator for foreign agents.” “Some over the hill, to Izrailovka, and some to the front,” the actress and deputy from “A Just Russia – For the Truth” Elena Drapeko. In her opinion, the elite “who abandoned us” was brought up by Western festivals and competitions, previously respected in Russia, and their laureates formed an expert community in the country. “And in creative unions there is the same mold, the same disease,” Ms. Drapeko complained knowledgeably.

Andrey Svintsov (LDPR) proposed during the Northern Military District “to show the achievements of our armed forces on all possible platforms”, and to organize an “exhibition of damaged NATO equipment” on Red Square: “After all, culture is also propaganda.” However, Oleg Leonov (“New people”) argued with this idea: “This is a completely different activity. The task of culture is to educate a well-rounded person with a high level of critical thinking. And the task of propaganda, on the contrary, is to make a person insensitive to all points of view except the one that is being promoted.”

Summing up the discussion, Olga Lyubimova suggested that the deputies, who “see our viewer more often at receptions,” together respond to his criticism in a timely manner.

Ksenia Veretennikova