The overarching theme of this category was engaging with heritage without the barrier of museum distance – allowing classics, art history, and theatrical memory to continue their relevance in the present. Opening the ceremony, Natalya Shastik noted that singling out culture as a separate category is largely conditional: «Everyone who steps onto this stage today, and the vast majority of those sitting in the audience, undoubtedly serve culture. And indeed, culture is what brings us light. I am very pleased to invite to this stage the messengers of this light.»

One such individual is Dmitry Breitenbicher, who received the «Homage» award for the project «Classics. The Unfabricated Life». Its creators strive to see beyond the familiar school portraits of great writers, exploring them as living people – with their personalities, passions, flaws, and doubts.

Breitenbichler admitted with a smile that being dubbed a «messenger of light» was unexpected for a deputy chairman of VTB Bank: «I work at a bank, as a deputy chairman of VTB. I’ve never been called a messenger of light before, so I’m somewhat bewildered. Thank you for noticing our project. It seems I am now a part-time banker. People also concoct many stories about bankers, and I’ve always been interested in the other side—the human, literary, intellectual aspect. Behind each of the classics, behind the symbol we’ve painted for ourselves, there’s a living person. They fell in love, they hated, they made mistakes. Perhaps the project’s aim is to show them from the inside. Because even after a hundred, two hundred years, they still give us the chance to love, to hate, to believe in goodness and justice.» The Museum of Russian Impressionism, whose director Yulia Petrova has recently been honoured, is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. Over this period, more than 160 state collections have participated in its exhibition and publishing projects. Yulia Petrova specifically highlighted the symbolic nature of the museum being among the award winners in its very first year: «When an award is given out for the first time and it immediately goes to you, it’s a special achievement. When the award has been around for a hundred years, and everyone has received it until it finally comes to you – that’s not quite the same. Many thanks to the organisers for thinking of the cultural life of Moscow and Russia, and considering the Museum of Russian Impressionism in the very first year.»

At the Arkhangelskoye Museum-Reserve, one of the principal guardians of memory remains the Gonzaga Theatre. It is 208 years old; here, the theatrical machinery and the original sets by Pietro Gonzago have been preserved. The museum was represented at the ceremony by its director, Elena Kharlamova. Upon receiving the award, she spoke primarily about time – and how culture alone can imbue it with meaning: «It seems to me that the only thing we have no control over is time. And the only thing we can do with it is to make it interesting. Primarily for ourselves, for the people who live with you in this era. And if you do something good, perhaps it will go down in history, and future generations will study us to see what people of the 21st century were like. Thank you very much for recognising our ‘Russians’ project. And, of course, one person does not make a project – it is made by a team. That’s why we decided to come, if not with the whole museum, then at least with part of the team.»

Shalom Theatre and its artistic director Oleg Lipovetsky turn to another page of theatrical memory – the GOSET, Granovsky, and Mikhoels. In the play «LIR,» a contemporary production enters into direct dialogue with the legendary «King Lear» of 1935. Upon receiving an award, Lipovetsky immediately shared it with the entire troupe: «Theatre is certainly not a one-person show. There are 137 people in Shalom Theatre. I would like to thank each one, but I won’t – it would take too long. Let me just say: guys, you are fantastic. We are doing something tremendous. Thank you.» Another laureate was Petr Shereshevsky, the chief director of MTYZ. His work largely revolves around the very question inherent in the nature of the Theatre for Young Audiences: how to speak seriously to a person who is growing up right now. Shereshevsky’s productions engage in this conversation both through classics and new texts. The director dedicated his speech primarily to the people from whom he once learned: «Many thanks to the ‘Ommage’ award. I congratulate all the artists I work with on this award. Today at lunch, I dined with my mentor Irina Borisovna Malochevskaya. She is the only person in the world whom I regard with such a strange word – reverence. She is not feeling well right now, nor is her husband. And today she told me: ‘Petya, I read about your successes and it makes me feel a bit better.’ I would like to dedicate this award to her. Irina Borisovna, I wish you health.»

The «Hommage. Watch Russia» award was established by Watch Russia magazine as a continuation of the editorial concept of the publication – to tell the story of the country through the people and projects that not only preserve cultural memory but also continue to create new meanings.