People, Places, Initiatives: Watch Russia Magazine Presents the «Hommage» Award for the First Time

On October 12, the Moscow Yermolova Drama Theater hosted the first-ever «Hommage. Watch Russia» award ceremony. Representatives of theaters and museums, design and charity, architecture and gastronomy, local production, cultural festivals, and international initiatives all came together on a single stage.

The award is founded on the desire to recognize people and projects that do not merely achieve professional success, but create a new environment around themselves: preserving and reinterpreting heritage, developing territories, finding a contemporary language for culture and design, launching new civic initiatives, and building connections between people, cities, and countries.

“When preparing materials for Watch Russia magazine, we pay special attention to topics that allow us to present a new Russia — one that cannot be described by a few familiar images. It is made up of very different stories: a theater in Arkhangelsk, the new life of historic architecture, contemporary product design, small-scale local production, an international festival. The laureates of the first ‘Hommage’ are precisely what showcase this vast, vibrant, and modern country,” says Natalia Shastik, Editor-in-Chief of Watch Russia.

The award brought together six main categories – «Hommage to Place,» «Hommage to Land,» «Hommage to Culture,» «Hommage to Design,» «Hommage to Initiative,» and «Hommage to Dialogue.» A separate honorary nomination was the «Hommage to the Elders» – it was awarded to people whose many years of contribution to culture remain significant today.

We present the Award winners in each category.

Hommage to the Elder

• Maxim Dunaevsky – for his outstanding contribution to Russian culture.
• Stas Namin – for his outstanding contribution to Russian culture.

Hommage to a Place

• Elena Zhuk, VDNKh – for transforming historical heritage into a vibrant cultural space.
• Tatiana Rybkina, All-Russian Museum of Decorative Arts – for preserving and reinterpreting Russian artistic crafts and material culture in a contemporary context.

Hommage to the Earth

• Dmitry Myshkin, «Senokos» (Haymaking) Theater Festival – for transforming the Suzdal land into a space of contemporary art and living theatrical dialogue.
• Natalia Bakushina and Marina Volkova, «Dushistyya Radosti» Museum and Manufactory – for reviving the traditions of Kolomna craftsmanship.

Hommage to Design

• Anton Kochurkin, Archstoyanie International Festival of Landscape Objects – for a new understanding of the connection between architecture, art, and landscape.
• Elina Tukhtamisheva, Svetlana Popova, and Irina Batkova, «Tryn*Trava. Contemporary Russian Style» – for shaping the contemporary language of Russian product design.

Hommage to Culture

• Yulia Petrova, Museum of Russian Impressionism – for a new perspective on Russian art.
• Elena Kharlamova, Arkhangelskoye Museum Estate – for preserving the artistic landscape of the Russian country estate.
• Dmitry Breitenbicher, VTB, documentary film series «Classics. A True Story» – for bringing Russian classical literature back into the space of living cultural dialogue.
• Oleg Lipovetsky, Shalom Theater – for a contemporary theatrical conversation about culture, memory, and identity.
• Pyotr Shereshevsky, Moscow Young Spectator’s Theater (MTYuZ) – for turning the theater stage into a space for intellectual dialogue.

Hommage to Initiative

• Nelly Uvarova, «Naivno? Ochen» (Naive? Very) project – for turning art into a space for professional fulfillment and social integration.
• Faina Zakharova, «Liniya Zhizni» (Lifeline) charitable foundation – for her outstanding contribution to Russian philanthropy.
• Marina Brusnikina, Kirill Rybkin, Alla Lisitsyna, and Olga Bigildinskaya, educational projects of the Russian Academic Youth Theatre (RAMT) – for nurturing a new generation of theatergoers.
• Svetlana Bolshakova, «Pryamaya Rech» (Direct Speech) lecture hall – for creating a culture of public conversation and restoring the lecture’s status as an intellectual event.
• Veronika Vyatkina, «Zvezda Rozhdestva» (Star of Christmas) charity festival – for preserving the Christmas tradition and keeping it alive in contemporary culture. Anastasia
• Razumovskaya, Alfa Human International Arts Festival – for creating a space for artistic dialogue and supporting contemporary culture.

A Homage to Dialogue

• Natalia Yustitskaya, «SVAYASI» project – for exploring the Russian cultural code through the language of contemporary art.
• Sergey Gorkov, Russian-Arab Business Council of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation – for developing a sustainable dialogue between Russia and the Arab world.
• Artur Grigoryants, International Arts Festival «Inspiration» – for transforming art into a space for international cultural dialogue.
• Maria Galperina, «Russian KoT» arts festival – for giving a new voice to Russian tradition in contemporary artistic practices.
• Vladimir Cherkasov, «Big Tours» program – for creating a unified theatrical space in Russia and fostering cultural dialogue between regions.

“I think it is important that people of completely different professions and generations have come together on the same stage. We usually look at culture, business, charity, design, or territorial development as separate worlds. But a modern country is created precisely at the intersection of these efforts. The Hommage Watch Russia award makes it possible to see them all together – and to understand just how much is happening today thanks to the personal initiative of specific individuals,” says Maria Soboleva, publisher of Watch Russia.

The first «Hommage. Watch Russia» award brought together in one space actors and musicians, museum directors and filmmakers, designers and restaurateurs, philanthropists, festival founders, and people developing Russian regions and international ties. It is precisely from such diverse stories that the image of modern Russia takes shape — the very image that Watch Russia magazine showcases on its pages.

The strategic partner of the first «Hommage. Watch Russia» Award was the theater PR agency «Three Sisters», and the communications partner was the PR agency Agenda. The ceremony’s partners included Lotte Hotel Moscow – a luxurious five-star hotel in the very heart of Moscow; RBG Russian Beauty Guru – a Russian color cosmetics brand created by makeup artists and made in Russia; KIOKO – premium tea with a Japanese character; and CAT – a travel design laboratory offering comfort and service even on the most challenging expeditions.

“Hommage. Watch Russia” is a tribute to the people, places, and projects we want to say thank you to.