MAUK Center of culture, art and public initiatives Dialogue

The Dialog Civic and Political Center was reorganized as a municipal autonomous cultural institution Dialog Center for Culture, Art and Civic Initiatives in December 2010. The Center currently comprises several departments each active in a different field.

 

The Dialog Center is first and foremost the Novgorod Center for Contemporary Art comprising the City Exhibition Center and the Novgorod Photography Center. The Center for Contemporary Art has hosted more than 68 exhibitions featuring work by such masters as Zurab Tsereteli, V. Yashke, Marc Chagall, A. Zinstein, Asya Nemchenok, and many others. The Center has a productive collaboration with Art Centers, museums, and private collectors in St. Petersburg. 

 

The Dialog Center is also notable for supporting civic initiatives by Novgorod residents. The Center has a department responsible for cooperation with public organizations. It is active in organizing and holding public events and activities. It offers workshops for non-profit managers, round table discussions on issues of social development, to which trained experts and government officials and elected office – holders are invited. It offers consultations on matters associated with development of the civil society. It hosted Women's Forum 2012 in early March 2012, which brought together more than 150 prominent women, including entrepreneurs, women active in social development, education, and are interested in social development of the city. Public associations of lawyers, economists, legislators, university instructors, as well as various clubs participated in that forum. Galina S. Matveeva, Human Rights Commissioner for the Novgorod Region, led the forum. The Center offers visitors master classes in Personal Financial Planning, the Dream Workshop, and other activities every Saturday and Sunday as part of the weekend lecture series. The Center also has plans to establish an information and resource center to support projects by non – profit organizations in the city, provide media exposure for them, create well – equipped and excellently appointed discussion venues for public meetings and citizens’ discussions.

 

Dialog Center hosts a wide range of cultural events, concerts and celebrations, from small corporate functions to international – level festivals and competitions, including the Sergei Rachmaninoff International Festival and Competition for Young Pianists, which has become an annual tradition. The excellent acoustics and convenient placement of seats in the audience makes the Center’s concert hall/theater especially attractive as a venue for events of this caliber. The concert hall was partially renovated in January 2013: the seats and the flooring have been fixed. The Dialog Center hosts The Dialog Center hosts regular performances of music bands, soloists, dancers, performer groups from many Russian cities and regions as well as from Veliky Novgorod. A Steinway grand piano is the pride of the Dialog Center’s concert hall/theater, helping to create an imitable experience in conjunction with performers’ mastery. Dialog invites all visitors and Veliky Novgorod residents to the annual “One – day Grand Hanseatic Tour” on the third Saturday in May. The Dialog Culture Center can organize a cycle of fun summer activities for children during the summer school break, high school graduation balls, Honey Fairy Tale family recreation days, the Milk Day, as well as organizing and holding contests, competitions, festivals, celebrations and other fun activities at different levels. A playroom opened its doors to children at the Dialog Center in September 2013. Trade shows Power of Beauty (featuring feminine products and services) and Marriage Boom (targeting couples who intend to get married soon) have become traditional events at the Center. A creative team of specialists who know and love what they do makes the Dialog Center so effective. Our goal is to make the Dialog Center appealing, interesting, and accessible to all – visitors as well as residents of Veliky Novgorod.