A meeting of the Council of Representatives of Karelians, Veps and Finns of the Republic of Karelia was held in the Republic of Karelia.

The meeting of the Council was held by Igor Korsakov, Deputy Head of the Republic of Karelia for Internal Policy.

One of the issues discussed is measures of state support for creative industries and the creative economy in the Republic of Karelia.

In August 2022, a Creative cluster of the Republic of Karelia was created in the republic, within the framework of which training events are held with leading experts in the field of creative industries, business missions, and funds are allocated for marketing services.

“The goal of the Creative Cluster is to become a “technopark” in the field of creative industries, converting creative energy into working businesses,” said Evgeny Perov, General Director of the My Business Center of the Republic of Karelia.

With the participation of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Karelia, a School of Creative Industries is being created on the basis of the Karelian College of Culture and Arts named after Hero of the Soviet Union A.M. Lisitsyna to teach children aged 12-17 years in order to immerse them in the context of creative industries through project work. Training in this field will be a multi-stage system, students will be able to continue their education on the basis of the Department of Technology, Fine Arts and Design of Petrozavodsk State University.

Another project that is being implemented by the Ministry of Culture is a craft art space that will become a professional and creative platform for specialists, residents and guests of the republic.
“Here we will be able to demonstrate the richest palette of folk crafts from all regions of Karelia, and guests of the art space will have the opportunity to get acquainted with samples of traditional Karelian decorative and applied art, the technology of their manufacture and the history of their origin,” said Alexey Lesonen, Minister of Culture of the Republic of Karelia.

The experience of the project activities of the ECHO Association was presented at the meeting. In 2023, with the support of the Grant Fund of the Head of the Republic of Karelia, the project “Created by the North: methods for the development of local crafts” is being implemented, aimed at the modern development of the sphere of crafts of the Republic of Karelia, a deeper understanding of ethno-cultural DNA that is “sewn” into the products of craftsmen and craft technologies.

“The educational materials created within the framework of the project will help the masters to implement creative ideas based on the ethnocultural, natural local features of the region, to feel more confident in economic activity, which will contribute to increasing the self-employment of local residents in the creative sectors of the economy,” said Svetlana Kolchurina, Director of the ECHO Association.