The new Council has 55 members, including 27 from the previous composition – famous musicians, representatives of theatre and cinema, heads of academic institutions in the arts, and a representative of the Patriarchal Council for Culture. The list of new members includes prominent and respected figures in culture and the arts from different generations, public figures, directors of leading theatres and museums, writers and composers.
Film director and General Director of Mosfilm Cinema Concern Karen Shakhnazarov was once again appointed Deputy Chairman of the Council, while Presidential Adviser Vladimir Tolstoy was appointed Secretary.
The list of Council members includes representatives from every federal district of Russia. St Petersburg is represented by eight council members; ten members represent various Russian regions, such as the Chechen Republic, the Republic of Crimea, the Krasnoyarsk and Primorye territories, the Voronezh, Perm, Pskov, Tula and Yaroslavl regions and the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area – Yugra.
Personal creative success and unimpeachable professional authority serve as the decisive criteria for selecting new members of the Presidential Council for Culture and Art. The list of Council members traditionally includes outstanding figures of culture and the arts, whose works have garnered widespread public recognition and acclaim in both Russia and foreign countries and received the highest state awards, plus the most respected leaders of the Russian regions’ leading cultural organisations.
The President also approved the appointment of the heads of the Council’s four interdepartmental commissions established to discuss corresponding issues of state cultural policy in the following spheres: Modern Cultural Policy and Development of Creative Initiatives; Developing the Humanities, Artistic Training and Creative Education of the Younger Generation; Preservation, Use and Popularisation of Historical Cultural Heritage and Development of Cultural and Educational Tourism; and International Cultural Cooperation.