Malevich Festival of Modern Culture to be held in Moscow region

On August 30 and 31, 2025, the first Malevich Festival of contemporary culture will be held in Malevich Park near Moscow, dedicated to rethinking the ideas of the Russian avant-garde in various artistic forms. Readings and performative practices, the premiere of Nikolai Polissky's new art object "The Suprematist Forest", lectures and discussions about the avant-garde, concerts by Ellie on the poppy field, Zventa Sventana, Tim is looking for light, Nikola Melnikov and the Octo Ensemble, Gleb Andrianov and the Cinematica Orchestra and other musicians, and events for children are planned as part of the festival. The festival will be held with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Moscow Region. The organizer of the festival is the Moscow Regional Directorate for the Development of Parks. The project is supervised by the Nikola-Lenivets bureau.

The Malevich Festival is conceived as a meeting place for modernity and the heritage of the Russian avant-garde, where the ideas of the early 20th century find a new meaning in art, music, theater and education. The festival's guests will enjoy several thematic areas: the Square of Sound music stage, the open lecture hall "What does Malevich have to do with it?", the children's educational program "Be like Kazimir", performances, readings and performative practices in the Zero Forms, Zero Feelings program, the Suprematism of Things art market and the food court.

A separate area of the festival will be an exhibition of images of cities in the Moscow region, which artists and architects fantasize about. Igor Shelkovsky's sculpture "The Running Man" will turn into a platform for avant-garde poetry readings "Victory over August" with the participation of Egor Zaitsev (Yerog Zaitsve), Sofia Petrova and Anna Potebni, and will also become a space for Japanese buto dance practice under the direction of choreographer Nikita Petrov. Leonid Tishkov's object "Private Sun" will become the stage for the performance-storytelling "Green Forest — Red Sun" about the artist Mikhail Matyushin, directed by Alexandra Nikitina, the playwright is Elina Petrova. There will also be a theatrical reading of Malevich's treatise "Laziness as the real truth of Humanity" in four acts, directed by Polina Kardymon, playwright Egor Zaitsev. An audiovisual installation by Oleg Makarov, Nikolai Popov and engineers from the Center for Electroacoustic Music will be presented at the "Sitting Man" art object. The installation will run on both days of the festival from 11:00 to 23:00.

The two—day music program will present a variety of genres, from hip-hop and electronic music to jazz and the modern academic scene. On August 30, Ellie at the Poppy Field, Tima is looking for the light, the CINEMATICA orchestra led by Gleb Andrianov and DJ Tanya Andrianova will perform. The Zventa Sventana project, pianist Nikola Melnikov, Dizzy Dutch Duck jazz band and DJ Timur Omar are scheduled to perform on August 31.

The Suprematist Forest art object, created by Nikolai Polisky specifically for the Malevich Festival, integrates forms of suprematism into the natural environment. Its height will exceed 12 meters, and for the construction, the craftsmen from Nikola-Lenivets use more than 2,000 hazel sticks, a material that the artist often refers to in his projects. The central element of the composition will be a black cube, a three—dimensional embodiment of Kazimir Malevich's "Black Square". The play of light and shadow inside the cube will create a depth effect that attracts the eye and encourages a more detailed examination. After the end of the festival, the facility will remain in Malevich Park.

A series of open lectures and discussions will introduce visitors to the world of the avant-garde and its influence on modern culture. The program is curated by Irina Gerasimova, a journalist and art critic.

During the two festival days, children and teenagers will get to know suprematism, fauvism, and constructivism through lectures and practical exercises adapted for an audience of 5 years and older. On August 30, as part of the "One, Two, Three, Four, Five..." workshop series organized by the Museum of Moscow, classes on creating an avant-garde vest in the spirit of a painting by Kazimir Malevich, suprematist collage and homemade musical instruments, and other workshops will be held. In the evening, the Museum of Moscow will hold a lecture for children "The avant—garde and the avant-gardists" - about the key directions and development of the avant-garde and abstract art. On August 31, the Zotov Center will present a series of workshops on creating marionettes and postcards in a supremacist style, as well as lectures on how to talk to children about art and view a portrait in a historical and modern context.

An uninterrupted creative workshop for the whole family will also be open on both days of the festival: on August 30, participants will be able to create "suprematist athletes" inspired by Malevich's paintings throughout the day, and on August 31— cardboard dishes in the spirit of suprematism.