Culture & art
One can speak endlessly about the development of art and culture in Perm Krai. It is not without reason that Perm is called the cultural capital. Perm art has its roots in deep antiquity, where it appeared in the first rock paintings of ancient people and developed under the influence of the Ananyino, Rodanovo, Glyadenovo, and other cultures. Many peoples lived on the territory of Perm Krai in various historical epochs, each making its own contribution. Perm Krai is rich and glorious in its antiquities.
The Perm Art Gallery holds much of what was created by talented masters, what was preserved for centuries in the towns and villages of the Kama region. The ancient peoples of the Kama region, the ancestors of modern Komi-Permyaks, in their pagan religion worshiped celestial deities—the Sun and the Moon—and believed in their descent from animals and birds. Their understanding of the world, their awareness of their place on earth and in cosmic space is told by the beautifully preserved works of bronze artistic casting known as the "Perm Animal Style."
The rich collections of local history museums of the Kama region, such as the Perm Regional Museum, the Cherdyn Museum of Local Lore, the Komi-Permyak District Museum, and others, allow one not only to see these unique items with one's own eyes but also to learn in detail about the everyday life and customs of the first settlers of the Kama region.
The gallery's collections number about 43,000 items and include works of domestic and Western European art from various art schools, styles, and movements of the 15th–20th centuries. Here there is painting, graphics, sculpture, decorative-applied and folk art of Russia and Europe. The gallery holds collections of antique ceramics, art of Ancient Egypt, Tibetan bronze, and applied art of Japan, India, and China.
Perm Krai has a multitude of its own masters—architects, sculptors, artists. Perm Krai is often called the land of children's writers. Such works as "The Arduous Life of Ivan Semyonov, a Second-Grader and Second-Year Student, Full of Hardships and Dangers" and "Lelyishna from the Third Entrance" by L. I. Davydychev, stories about nature by V. P. Astafyev such as "Vasyutkino Lake" and "The Horse with the Pink Mane," and children's stories by L. I. Kuzmin such as "Captain Coco and the Green Glass" are familiar from childhood not only to Perm residents but also to inhabitants of many other Russian cities. Besides this, the city of Perm left its indelible mark on the life and work of the world-famous writer Boris Pasternak.
One could say that "Pasternak began in Perm." He arrived here as a young man searching for himself, and, having lived in Perm for only about half a year, left as a true Writer. Soon, the Ural theme would appear in his works, both in prose and verse. Today everyone knows that the city of Perm is described in the novel "Doctor Zhivago": the "Yuryatin reading room" and the "house with figures," in which one can easily recognize the Smyshlyaev House (now housing the Pushkin City Library) and the Gribushin Mansion (today this building houses the Perm Scientific Center of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences). Later, in other works by Pasternak, one can find mentions of the city of Perm and the Kama River. In Perm, the "Yuryatin" foundation, created by philologists of Perm University, has existed for over ten years. And in the anniversary year of 2006 (the 50th anniversary of the novel "Doctor Zhivago" and the 90th anniversary of the writer's arrival in the city), the Perm Academic Drama Theatre premiered a musical fantasy based on Boris Pasternak's novel "Doctor Zhivago." The performance received many prestigious awards.
The Perm ballet is famous worldwide. Perm is called the third ballet Mecca after Moscow and St. Petersburg. But few know that Perm is home to one of the best choreographic schools. Graduates of this school have taught and continue to teach in many choreographic schools and amateur studios. Many theatres in Russia accept graduates of the Perm School into their companies. In Nizhny Novgorod, Ufa, and Perm, they are leading soloists today. In St. Petersburg, a whole Perm diaspora has formed; in Moscow theatres, from the Bolshoi to the Kremlin, ballerinas trained and educated in Perm perform. But the Perm Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre named after P. I. Tchaikovsky no less eagerly accepts graduates of the Perm Choreographic School. The only theatre in Russia where, at various times, all the stage works of the composer have been performed (ten operas and three ballets), the Perm Theatre has become a true House of Tchaikovsky.
In Perm Krai, there are many art schools, universities, libraries, and theatres. Contemporary art is also actively developing. A museum of contemporary art operates in Perm. In addition to its purely artistic tasks, the museum fulfills a special mission for the city and even for the entire Perm Krai—the creation of a new cultural heritage capable of becoming a world asset.
It is impossible to tell in a single article what Perm Krai is famous and rich for, how great its cultural heritage is. To truly appreciate the grandeur of historical and cultural monuments of art, it is worth coming here and seeing everything with your own eyes.