The First Contemplative Festival “Places for the Soul” named after Tonino Guerra will be held in Suzdal

Tonino Guerra is a famous Italian poet, artist, writer and screenwriter. Films by Michelangelo Antonioni, Federico Fellini, Andrei Tarkovsky, Vittorio de Sica and the Taviani brothers were shot according to his scripts. Guerra composed fairy tales and poems, created designs for fountains, palaces of poetry and birdhouses, was engaged in ceramics and sculpture, and was even president of the Marecchia River. Being “Russian” by his wife, Laura Guerre, he visited Suzdal many times. It was here that he discovered that “Russian sadness can be cut with a knife.” The Spaso-Evfimiev Monastery today has an exposition dedicated to his life and work.

Photo: Press service of the festival

The festival will include screenings of films based on Guerra’s scripts and two exhibitions dedicated to Tonino. The project-intervention of the curator Nina Gomiashvili “The Air is Full of Lost Sounds” will be located in the Kremlin, the Posadsky House and the Spaso-Evfimiev Monastery. Personal belongings of Tonino, flags with his poems translated by Bella Akhmadulina will be included in the permanent exhibition of the museum. The project “1+1=1” by Nastya Grigoryan and Anya Petrova in the “Mira Center” and other locations will connect the Russian avant-garde, modern art objects and memories of the writer’s friends – Natalia Dabizh, Nina Popova, Valery Sirovsky, Yuri Rost.

There will also be an audio performance in the courtyard of the “Mir Center”. The production, which was created by Irina Mikheyshina and Marina Shibaeva, is full of music, sounds, thoughts, poems and feelings. This is an amazing “closet”: as soon as the viewer opens the door, for 24 minutes he will find himself in a poetic world inspired by the work of Tonino.

Photo: Press service of the festival

The headliner of “Places for the Soul” will be Petr Nalich. 10 installations will appear in unexpected, sometimes even hidden places in the city. Kirill Lebedev (Who), Blue Pencil, Svetlana Rastebina, Misha Rubankov, Margo Trushina, Olga Bozhko, Vladimir Marin, Ulyana Podkorytova, Dmitry Barbanel’s Workshop will become participants in this project. To see their works, it will be possible to use a special card – during the days of the festival or after its end: art objects will remain in their places, and viewers will be able to create new stories about the city with their help.

Direct speech

Director General of the Vladimir-Suzdal Museum-Reserve Ekaterina Pronicheva:

– The festival was born in partnership of various people and organizations. This is both a tribute to a great man and an ardent desire to develop and continue the creative process born from the synthesis of the arts, to show the world of culture in all its diversity. We plan that the festival will be held annually.