A creative team is a special environment in which standard rules and project management models often do not work. Alexandra Konnikova and Albert Albert are dancers, choreographers, teachers and founders of the Po.V.S.Tanzy Dance Company, participants of the Russian and international projects in contemporary choreography, improvisation and legitimate theatre. They spoke of the ways to organize the work process within a team of creative people so that the potential for personal and professional growth of every individual could be kept and that the process, at the same time, would cause the general concept to be turned into reality; the ways of allocating responsibility and giving up temporary leadership in a team.

Mikhail Korobko, architectural historian, author of more than one hundred publications about Moscow, its environs and the heritage of the Russian province, spoke of the unknown nooks of Moscow with a special focus on old manor houses. In our guest’s opinion, manors are of particular interest as the quintessence of art, architecture and lifestyle of the past. There are a lot of monuments of manor architecture within and beyond Moscow apart from the well known Arkhangelskoye, Kolomenskoye, Ostankino and Tsaritsyno. The roads that lead to other monuments are closed to visitors for a variety of reasons. Mikhail shared the secrets of those places and showed rare pictures and photographs to illustrate his story.

Exhibitions are like a clock dial hiding the clockwork movement but reflecting the passing of time. They evidence the invisible work, which constitutes the goal and public purpose of any museum. Since it was established, the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts has opened about one thousand five hundred exhibitions. Many have been really “star-spangled” but not a single one has avoided aspera while being created. Zinaida Bonami, Deputy Director for Exhibitions and International Relations of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, told how the museum has overcome all the adversities and obstacles that have come its way. She shared the unique experience of creating great exhibitions and described the expositions that have proven emblematic and which trends have been set by the Pushkin Museum.

Andrey Tolstoy, Deputy Director for Science of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, told how the artefacts already represented in the current collections are investigated and how the new ones get there, how scientific ideas about a given epoch in the art history evolve in time, how the principles of presentation of the permanent exposition change. Andrey devoted some time also to the theme of creation of temporary exposition concepts and talked in detail about the School of Paris exhibition dedicated to the international community of several generations of artists from the 1900s to the 1960s, for whom Paris was not only the cultural capital of Europe but also sort of a school.

Modern Russian poetry is so diverse that someone exposed to it for the first time is bound to have difficulty deciding which path to follow. Linor Goralik talked to us from the point of view of an interested reader about why modern poetry needs to be studied in the first place and about how to find one’s way around it. In the opinion of our guest, poetry is an expansion of human experience through words. There are two mechanisms that make people more introspective – the first one is getting new experiences and the second one is reliving old experiences.

One obstacle to appreciating poetry is resistance to the new forms that modern poets tend to choose for their work. But this is little more than a prejudice that hides the rich world of the new literary works from the reader. Linor told us about some interesting ways to find modern poetry.

Since the late 19th century many Russians have been moving abroad in search of a better life. Efim Pivovar, the president of the Russian State University for the Humanities, doctor of philosophy in history, professor, an associate of the Russian Academy of Sciences, presented a lecture on Russians abroad as a cultural and socio-historic phenomenon; how Russians have been living abroad; what reasons they have had for emigration and how a Russian diaspora abroad can develop.

The lecture opens a series of lectures by leading lecturers of the Russian State University for the Humanities. The lectures are devoted to the 100th anniversary of A. Shanyavsky People’s University, whose original buildings are now part of the campus of the Russian State University for the Humanities.

Next year the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts will be celebrating its 100th anniversary. Today the Pushkin Museum has the largest collection of foreign art on display that is viewed by about half a million people every year. Irina Antonova has been the chief executive officer of the museum since 1961 and so she knows about the museum more than anybody else. Live on the Rain TV Channel, Irina Antonova told us about the museum’s past as well as about where it’s headed in the future. Those participating in the discussion learned about how the art masterpieces now found in the museum were saved during the Second World War and how the museum’s buildings are going to be rebuilt and turned into an art campus.

Andrei Logvin is a legendary Russian graphic artist, poster artist, designer, laureate of more than 30 Russian and international design and advertising contests, founder and CEO of the logvindesign creative group. Andrei told us about symbolic communication systems and how old signs and symbols get rejuvenated and acquire new power, about verbal and non-verbal perception of symbols and about the impact of symbols on human history.

One of the greatest mysteries of the history of mankind is the emergence and collapse of empires and civilisations. Our guest considers that our generation, too, has to go through similar ordeals. Evgeny Ponasenkov, a historian and theatre director, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Arts, has given his view on the causes and essence of what is happening, on how the situation will develop in the near future and what we can do.

Success is quite a relative concept, but it is unquestionably linked to the state of mind and to the attitude towards the things around us. Our guest, Marat Guelman, a publicist, political consultant, collector of modern art pieces, gallery owner, director of the Centre for Contemporary Arts and the Perm Museum of Contemporary Art “PERMM”, is convinced that no obstacle can impede your progress once you are determined. Marat has shared with us his idea of how to be ready for unexpected turns of fate and to learn to gain positive experience from every mistake, citing examples from his own life.

Interacting with lots of people and attempting to communicate your point of view to them, it is important to keep your auditory attentive and make it interested. Aleksandr Gordon, a TV host, director, and journalist, believes that there is nothing more effective to reach these goals than creating a conflict or provocation that would make it possible to focus attention on the necessary topic. One person’s action is an event for another, and throwing in certain elaborate events, you can drive your interlocutor to do what you need or expect. It is necessary to learn how to understand well what people need and to recognize their types and characters. This can be achieved through daily simple exercises; for example, watching different people in public places, paying attention to each detail of their images, and writing down your observations. Even if these notes do not form the basis for a story or a film, they will definitely make you a more sensitive and interesting interlocutor capable of steering a conversation into the right direction.

Alexander Turkot, Executive Director of the Information and Computer Technology Cluster of the Skolkovo Foundation, and Aleksey Chernyshov, Head of the Center for Strategic Initiatives and Forecasts, argued with each other in a live broadcast over Russia’s destiny. Will this country be able to stop being a resource-dependent economy and switch to its intelligent potential? In Alexander’s opinion, efforts should be focused on high-tech production. Aleksey noted that we can no longer use our hands to create anything or produce any natural commodity. He thinks that this may result in a real catastrophe, and even high technology will not help … . The discussion included the showing of a film about young entrepreneurs’ trip to the Silicon Valley.

Your success in business and everyday life is directly linked to the ability to correctly word your questions. A well-made question will encourage your business interlocutors to answer. It will enable them to answer or will make them think it over. Tigran Keosayan, a Russian film director, actor, writer, and a TV host, shared his secrets of this important artistry. To become a good questioner, our guest believes, you should above all learn how to relax before the audience. Keosayan also thinks that you can try to find something of interest to you even in a topic that, at first glance, seems unworthy of your attention. In this case, it is necessary to get the measure of your interlocutors, watch their behavior and emotions, and ask a question that can make them tell you much more than in reply to any leading question.

What is the role of a contemporary artist? What is an artist’s mission? These are the questions answered in a live broadcast by the directors and producers of an arts film series, Yevgeny Mitta and Aleksandr Sheyn. Looking back onto the days twenty years back in time, Yevgeny and Aleksandr noted that one of the most significant things that distinguished the 1990s artists was that they did not have any specialized education. On the one hand, this is a negative factor, but on the other, this allowed them to go beyond certain limits and standards existing in the arts and develop their originality. This was also facilitated by the almost complete absence of relations with the foreign art environment. Now everything has changed; but the artists’ goal of showing what and how they see, expressing their feelings and pain remains the same. The meeting included a showing and discussion of the film Vinogradov and Dubossarsky: a Tailor-made Painting about these two famous Russian contemporary artists.

Irina Hakamada, a renowned and widely recognized public politician with extensive work experience in the legislative and executive branches of power, a candidate of science (economics) and a writer, spoke of what it means to be a leader, how to find your true vocation, and how to develop leadership inside yourself. In her opinion, the most important for a leader is to know how to preserve the energy of a child dream and transmit it to all new ideas no matter how far-fetched they seem to be. In this connection, it is important to take overall responsibility for what you do and to develop professional insight. That was followed by communication skills helpful to resolve any conflict and turn it positive. And, of course, it is important to be capable of “withstanding the blow” as any leader is bound to face harsh situations.

Mikhail Aldashin, one of Russia’s best contemporary animation directors, with an inimitable style of his own. Mikhail directed a good dozen of animated films and took part in the production of more than a hundred animations, including Kele, Nativity, The Hunter, The Other Side, The History of Russian Tsars, and Bookashkies, which have received over 20 prestigious awards. These include a Nika Award from the Russian Academy of Cinema Arts and an Audience Award from the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. Aldashin worked for such studios as Soyuzmultfilm, Teko, and Cartoon Network. In 1998, Mikhail joined the Pilot studio as a director, writer, and producer. Mikhail shared his innermost thoughts with the audience: the process of how creative ideas come into being. He used himself as an example of how you can identify in your everyday routine the very thing that can be then used to create a masterpiece and how to keep hold of it so as not to let this special moment slip off your memory.

What is professionalism? Andrey Arkhangelsky, a columnist, publicist and the editor of the culture department for Ogonek magazine, talked about his take on the issue. In his opinion, in today’s Russia professionalism is regarded as the only universal quality that a person must have, and professionals are not expected to have any ethics, a well-rounded education, ability to make decisions or even ability to take on responsibility. Professionalism has killed art, and now it is killing professions; in the past when a person was asked to go against his or her principles, it was usually done by emphasising that he or she was a ‘soviet person’, these days in similar circumstances an appeal is made to their ‘professionalism’ but the crux of the matter is still the same.

Yury Kozyrev is a Russian photo journalist, laureate of several Word Press Photo awards, laureate of the Press Photo Russia contests in 2002 (Chechnya) and 2003 (the best photo project of the year, Factory in Iraq). Yury has done projects for such publications as Los Angeles Times, the Times, Time Magazine, Het Perool, Elseiver, Ogonek, Itogi and a number of others. He delivered a most moving lecture that kept the audience captivated from start to finish. And the issues he touched upon weren’t limited to the supposed death of photo journalism but also included a number of important issues faced by humanity today such as war and peace, life and death, friendship and reliability, professionalism and amateurism as well as about how a good photo reportage can draw the attention of the entire world to an important issue and bring together people of all nationalities and all walks of life in an attempt to resolve it. And that is the special mission of each photo journalist, a postulate that Yury conclusively proves with each new project.

Yury Grigoryan, an architect, director of the educational programme of the Arrow (Strelka) Institute of Media, Architecture and Design, co-owner of the Meganom Project architectural bureau, talked about the various components that go into the architectural image of Moscow and how it’s going to change in the future. Yury believes that 95% of Moscow is a new city where there is a clear cut distinction between prestigious and unattractive neighbourhoods with large numbers of industrial parks; therefore it’s important to rectify this situation by setting up comfortable and well-appointed recreational areas such as the modern Gorky Park. Our guest talked about the ways this can be achieved and about how architecture can affect not only people’s daily lives but even the political climate.

Tea School teacher Sergey Andreev talked about the culture of tea growing and about the intricacies of drinking this beverage whose history spans several centuries. In conclusion of his lecture the audience was shown a documentary titled History of Tea, which told them about how tea has come to be what it is today and the tea plantations in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and other countries.