Creative industries think tank is to launch in St Petersburg

A new think tank focused on the role of the creative industries in Russia is to launch in September. The Calvert Forum is a project of the St Petersburg State University Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences (Smolny College) presented in collaboration with the State Hermitage and Calvert 22 Foundation. It aims to explore the role of culture and the creative industries on the rapidly developing economy of Russia, especially its regions.

The think tank will undertake research and host events and seminars bringing together international experts in a bid to provide policy makers with key lessons derived from global best practice. The first Forum event is a public panel discussion which will bring to Saint Petersburg leading figures from Berlin, Russia and the UK to learn lessons from how Germany’s capital transformed itself into a major creative and financial destination. The discussion will take place in the new contemporary art wing of the State Hermitage on 14 September.

Participants will include Ingrid Walther from the Berlin Senate Chancellery Administration for the Economy; Alexei Kudrin, dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences and former Russian finance minister; and Mikhail Piotrovsky, director of the State Hermitage Museum.

“The power of cultural and creative industries to transform a city is clear in the case of Berlin,” said Jonathan McClory, soft power and creative industries expert. “We want to explore how Russian cities can learn from such an experience and leverage Russia’s creative potential for economic development.”