On January 17, Russia celebrated Artist's Day for the first time.

In Russia, Saturday, January 17th, is celebrated for the first time as Artist's Day. Congratulations are accepted by figures of cinema, theater, variety, circus, music and all other types of performing arts.

The date was not chosen by chance, January 17 is the birthday of Konstantin Stanislavsky, an outstanding reformer of the Russian theater.

At the ceremony at the Rossiya National Center, it was stated that the artists are engaged in the most important task, fostering respect for the Russian classics and love for their native language. They also recalled another serious mission.

"Russian artists and actors gave more than 25,000 concerts and performances on the front line and in hospitals for our heroes who participated in a special military operation, in which more than two thousand Russian artists and cultural figures took part, sometimes risking their lives. This is a ministry, this is a real ministry," said Sergey Kiriyenko, First Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation.

The ceremony also launched the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Union of Theatrical Figures.

"We are currently allocating almost a billion rubles for events and for the support of the Union of Theatrical Figures, and the Presidential Cultural Initiatives Foundation is allocating 441 million rubles for another 18 grants," said Tatyana Golikova, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation.

Several cultural figures were also awarded state awards today.

January 17 — Artist's Day in Russia: history, events, congratulations

On the same day, Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Russian artists on their professional holiday, Artist's Day. The congratulations of the head of state were read out by Sergey Kiriyenko, First Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of Russia, at the award ceremony for cultural figures. In the text of the message, the president noted that on Artist's Day, the country honors worthy representatives of the professional community who devoted themselves, their talent and creative energy to the theater stage and cinema, variety and circus arts.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.