At the Creative Industries Agency will be held a press conference to discuss the implementation of the project «Performance in the Dark», which is supported by the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives.
Date and time: September 22, 2026, 15:00.
Location: Moscow, Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street, 17, building 2 (Creative Industries Agency).
In 2026 the project will be implemented in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Ufa. Viewers will discover a completely new format of art — in the dark. Imagine: you are sitting in a hall where there is absolute darkness. Everything that the theatre usually offers — costumes, sets, actors' gestures — disappears. Only the performers' voices, live music, immersion, and the power of your own imagination come to the fore.
About the project
«Performance in the Dark» is a creative format of literary and musical performance in which vision gives way to emotions.
The project was created primarily for the viewer and is intended to:
Give an emotional experience and allow you to fully immerse yourself in a story where the imagination paints more vividly than any artist.
Expand the boundaries of perception and experience familiar works in a completely new way.
Create a rare feeling of true immersiveness — when the viewer does not watch the performance, but passes it through himself.
Reimagine the role of vision in the perception of art and discover the power of other senses.
Evoke deep emotions and empathy, touching on themes of overcoming challenges, inner freedom, and self‑acceptance.
The project will feature three performances:
«The Musician» (dir. Egor Salnikov) — a touching story based on V. Korolenko’s novella about the maturing of a blind child. In complete darkness, the viewer becomes Petrusha themselves and rediscovers the world through sound, music, and emotions.
«Marina Tsvetaeva’s Night» (dir. Anna Politova) — a poetic immersion into the world of dreams, memories, and inner freedom, based on Marina Tsvetaeva’s work. A performance about accepting one’s «native darkness» and the birth of strength in the darkness.
«Moths on a Candle» (dir. Vladimir Bilyk) — a sparkling comedy based on A. Averchenko’s work, about a failed attempt to create a theatre with a lot of money. Bright humor and lively music in absolute darkness.
Why this is important
«Performance in the Dark» challenges conventional ideas about art, offers viewers a fundamentally new theatrical experience, and becomes an effective platform for collaboration between professional artists and creative people with disabilities.
Project partners:
- Executive authorities and institutions of Moscow;
- Art cluster «Tavrida»;
- Agency of Creative Industries;
- Federation of Creative Industries;
- The public association «Union of All‑Russian and Leading Organizations of People with Disabilities AbiArt»; -The All‑Russian public movement «Culture Volunteers».
Well‑known cultural and public figures who have supported the project have been invited to participate in the press conference.
The following will talk about the idea and mission of the project, its participants and theatre programmes:
Moderator: Igor M. Namakonov — General Director of the Federation of Creative Industries, producer, writer, coach, creative diplomat. The holder of Russia’s first Golden Lions at Cannes. Author of the bestseller on creativity development, «CrossFit of the Brain».
Speakers — project directors:
- Georgy Salnikov — Russian theatre and film actor, director, screenwriter, producer, poet, member of the All‑Russian public organization «Union of Writers of Russia».
- Anna Politova — director, teacher, actress and lecturer who works at the intersection of theater, educational programs and cultural projects.
- Vladimir Bilyk — musical theater director and screenwriter who works at the intersection of drama, music and stage acting. He participates in professional laboratories and projects related to the development of modern musical theater, and is also noted as one of the notable young directors in this field.
Speakers — project artists:
- Alexey Gerashchenko — a blind professional musician, multi‑instrumentalist and vocalist, resident of the Alexey Kozlov Club, participant and laureate of all‑Russian and international competitions and festivals, participant of the TV projects «Voice», «One in One. Folk Season» and «Well, Let’s Do It Together!» on the Russia 1 channel, «Brighter Than the Stars» on the TNT channel, laureate of the Moscow Mayor’s Award. Participant of the «Concert in the Dark» project since 2022.
- Alexander Pokhilko — an artist, actor, athlete, and motivational coach, and a laureate of the Moscow Mayor’s Nikolai Ostrovsky Award 2025. At the age of 14, his works were exhibited at the Tretyakov Gallery, after which Alexander conquered Mount Kilimanjaro three times and is now actively working in the field of inclusion.
- Ludub Ochirov — a composer and musician. He is a laureate and winner of all‑Russian and international competitions, and the recipient of the State Prize of the Republic of Buryatia (2020). He is the author of more than 100 works in various genres, including music for films and the ballet «Burged Baator».
Speakers — partners of the project:
- Milena Bogdanova — public figure, head of the All‑Russian public movement «Culture Volunteers».
- Representative of the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives — we are awaiting information about the possibility of participating in the press conference.
- Alena Shmotyeva — head of the strategic partnership service at the ANO «Tavrida.Art».
- Natalya Krel — the organizer of international inclusive creative games, an international expert auditor of the certification system in the field of preventing harm to people with disabilities and other groups with limited mobility, and the director of the Public Association «Union of All‑Russian and Leading Organizations of People with Disabilities ‘AbiArt'".
The creator and rights holder of the project is the State Budgetary Institution of Culture of Moscow «State Museum‑Cultural Center ‘Integration' named after N. A. Ostrovsky».
Project organizer: Autonomous non‑profit organization «Center for Sociocultural Programs ‘People IN'.»
The «Performance in the Dark» project is part of the organization’s inclusive initiatives. Thus, in 2024, with the support of the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives, the project «Concert in the Dark. Inclusion» was held in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Tula. In 2025, a continuation— «Concert in the Dark.» «Inclusion 2.0» — in Odintsovo, Podolsk, Kolomna, Veliky Novgorod, Ryazan, and Penza.
Contact details for confirmation and communication: Malyukov Nikita;
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