I. Metshin: “The “Aksenov-fest” opened a lot of stars to the world over the years”

(KZN.RU, August 14, Anton Nozdrin). The XI Literary and Music Festival “Aksenov-fest” will be held in Kazan from 19 to 23 of August. The presentation of the award “Star Ticket” will be held on August 21 at the Kamal Theater. In total, more than 30 creative meetings and film screenings are in the program of the festival. Azat Abzalov, the head of the Department of Culture, said today on the Business Monday in the Kazan City Hall that this year, the motto of the cultural forum will be “Aksenov without quotes”, that is, there will not be a direct citation of the writer during the festival days.

Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan, noted that the award “Star Ticket” is becoming really “starry” as Vasily Aksenov dreamed about it. “The festival is being held for the second decade. There are new participants, new topics. The “Aksenov-fest” opened a lot of stars to the world over the years. Today they are already shining on the Russian sky and abroad”, said the Mayor of Kazan. He called the common availability of the festival important. “It is necessary that as many citizens, admirers of the writer's talent, visit the events of the Aksenov-fest”, said I. Metshin.

A. Abzalov said that the entrance to the events will be free but the number of seats is limited. In this regard, the head of the department urged everyone to register in advance. The ticket can be obtained at the Central City Library on Vishnevsky Street. Telephone for inquiries 236-42-93.

This year, the number of festival sites will increase. The events will be held at the Vasily Aksenov’s House Museum, the cinema “Mir”, the Chaliapin Palace Hotel, the Konstantin Vasilyev Museum, the Central City Library on Vishnevsky Street, the Aksenov Garden, the Writers' Union of the RT, the G. Kamal Theater, and the Chamber Theater “Sdvig”.

The festival will open on the eve of the Vasily Aksenov’s birthday. On August 20, he would be 85 years old. According to A. Abzalov, the guests of the event will be poets and writers Alexander Kabakov, Evgeny Popov, Alexander Pereverzin, Shamil Idiyatullin, Vladislav Otroshenko, Irina Barmetova, he chief editor of the magazine “October”, academicians of the Russian Academy of Arts Natella Toidze and Boris Messerer, as well as directors Vadim Abdrashitov and Evgeny Tsymbal.

For the first time, the Aksenov-fest will host guests from China and Sweden. Liu Wenfei, the Doctor of Philology, professor and the head of the Department of Russian Literature of the Institute of Foreign Literature of the Academy of Social Sciences of China, the president of the Chinese Association for the Study of Russian Literature, will talk about the influence of Aksenov's work on contemporary Chinese literature. A solo concert by Elias Faingersh, a famous musician and composer from Sweden, will take place near the monument to F. Shalyapin in Bauman Street. “Faingersh and Liu Wenfei will present a bold improvisation that connects the melody of the Chinese poetic line and jazz. The audience will hear Pushkin's poetry in Chinese, Tatar, and Hebrew”, said Azat Abzalov.

The premiere of the festival will be the presentation of the Boris Messerer's book “Bella’s Flashing”, dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the poetess Bella Akhmadullina. “The book can rightly be called an encyclopedia of the life of the Sixtiers generation”, said the head of the department.

The central event of the “Aksenov-fest” will be held on August 21 at the Kamal Theater. The winners of the award “Star Ticket-2017” will be announced on stage. This year, the direction “Music” was added in addition to the nomination “Literature”. The prize in the new nomination is presented for the first time in honor of the writer's anniversary.

The culmination of the festival awaits citizens on August 22 in the Aksenov square. On this day, the opening of the art object “Read in the Garden” will take place in the park. “The sculptural composition of bronze in the form of three name chairs is a gift to the city from friends of Vasily Aksenov”, said A. Abzalov. On the same day, a literary and musical concert will be held in the park with the participation of jazz bands, and open film screenings of documentary and feature films and creative meetings with directors will be held at the cinema “Mir”.

The Literary collection “Russia is a plural number” will be held in Kazan within the framework of the festival. The large-scale event is designed to strengthen bonds between the regions. It will unite writers, literary critics, theater and film figures, culturologists, journalists, publishers from Moscow, Kazan, Naberezhnye Chelny, and Sviyazhsk. The main events within the framework of the literary meeting will be held in the conference hall “Shalyapin Palace Hotel” and in the historic mansion of the Writers' Union of the RT.