Theatres
PLASTIC DRAMA THEATRE
Address: Petrozavodsk, Suvorov str., 2
The theatre has been founded in 1987. It is a non-professional theatre for college and secondary school students. Since 1989 the theatre performs the plastic drama plays where the dramatic and the plastic arts gain equal importamnce. It seems that the performances animate pictures which defines both the staging, the palette, the scenery, etc., composing the original and inimitable style of the "Grim" theatre. The crew has gained five frist awards of the national theatre festivals; they perform the following plays: «Dogna Rosita, the Maid, or the Language of Flowers», a family drama in four gardens based on the novel by Frederik Garcia Lorka; «Levsha (The Left-Handed)», based on the novel by Nikolay Leskov; «Transformation», the dramatic fantasmogory based on the Franz Kafka's «The Transformation» and Daniil Harms' «The Old Woman»; «Skerzo and the Violoncello», a few love stories based on Yuri Levitansky's poems; «Mozart and Sagleri», tragic plays based on the tragedy by Alexander Pushkin.
STUDIO THEATER
Address: Petrozavodsk, Moskovskaya str., 1
The theater was founded in 1977. It is one of the best amateur theaters not only in Karelia, but in Russia as well. It has the title of "peoples' theater" and is the award-winner of republican, national and international festivals. The theater has had tours in Russia, Germany, Spain, Finland, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia. Over 40 plays have been staged including Shakespeare, Lesia Ukrainka, Metterlink, Alexy Tolstoi. Many amateur actors play here for over 10 years. The theater hosts Russian and Finnish children studios.
STATE MUSICAL THEATRE OF THE REPUBLIC OF KARELIA
Address: Petrozavodsk, Kirov square, 1
The theater was founded in 1955. Its capasity is 721 people. Its repertoire includes most popular classic operas and ballets for all ages, music fairy-tails and ballets for children, history of Triffuldino (A two masters' servant) for teenagers. The top of the season is the ballet "Silfida". The special pride of the theater is national ballet "Sampo" based on the Finnish epic poem "Kalevala". It was staged in 2000 at the International opera festival in Savonlinna (Finland).
PETROZAVODSK STATE PUPPET THEATER
Address: Petrozavodsk, Karl Marx ave.,19 Petrozavodsk
Petrozavodsk State Puppet Theater is one of the oldest puppet theaters of Russia. It was founded on the 15th of December in 1935 by the Government. The theater preserves with care and develop traditions of puppet art (performances behind the screen, cane-puppets). With coming of the next generation of producers, artists, actors in repertoire performances with hand puppets, table-top puppets (large puppets) began appearing. The current repertoire of the theater lists more than 30 performances of different genres and themes: Russian folk fairy tales, spectacles on karelian tales, spectacle-classes and concert show-programs for audience of any age. The last performances are: “Umka” on motives of the fairy-tale by J. Yakovlev (Laureate of “Onego Mask” - the highest theater prize of the Republic of Karelia - in the nomination “the best performance for the children in the season of 2001-2002), “Happy Prinz” by Oskar Wild (the participant of the International Festival of Chamber Performances “Lambushka”). Petrozavodsk State Puppet Theater applied to the themes and images of national folk folklore – “In the Land of Kalevala”, “Witch Louhi”, “The Lad – Ol’hovaja Churka”, “Karelian Souvenir”, “Pictures of Kalevala”.
THE NATIONAL STATE THEATRE OF THE REPUBLIC OF KARELIA
Address: Petrozavodsk, K.Marks ave., 19
The theater was founded in 1932. It is the only Russian theater which stages plays in Finnish. Its repertoire includes Finnish and Swedish playwrites, Russian and foreign dramas and comedies, experimental and traditional director work of Petrozavodsk, Sent-Petersburg, Italy. Plays are performed in Russian and in Finnish with simultaneous translation into Russian.
The plays are performed on the Small stage (60 seats) and on the Large stage (300 seats).
STATE RUSSIAN THEATRE OF DRAMA OF KARELIAN REPUBLIC
Address: Petrozavodsk, Kirov square, 1
This theater is the oldest in Karelia. It was founded in 1906. Its hall has 721 seats. The repertoire includes plays of various art concepts - teenager's top of the season "Vii", musical "Oscar", plastic play "Vanka-ratatui", dramas and comedies for all ages, romantic melodramas for beloved, fairy-tales for children. Plays are stages preferably by directors of Petersburg theater school.
THE STATE YOUTH THEATRE OF THE REPUBLIC OF KARELIA
Address: Petrozavodsk, Kirov str., 12
The youngest Karelian theater which emerged in 1988 when new art groups received an opportunity to develop. The theater is of the chamber type. It possesses the 135-seat hall. The theater clings to psychological plays. Genre variety includes traditional Russian classic plays and modern staging. The theater is a frequent guest and award-winner of festivals "Chistmas parade in Sent-Petersburg", "Belaya Vesha (Brest), "Merry she-goat" (Nizhni Novgorod), "Lambushka" (Petrozavodsk). The 2000/2001 event has become the tour to Moscow and performing on the stage of the theater "Et cetera" directed by Alexander Kalyagin.
KARELIAN CENTRE OF FOLK CREATIVE ACTIVITY
Adress: Gogol street, 6, Petrozavodsk
Tel.: 7-48-47
Attached to the centre work some folk collectives:
Folk music ensemble "Kizhi" (8 people), supervisor Valeriy Kozlov
folklore ethnographical ensemble "Karjala" (20 people), supervisors Andrei Anisimov and Marina Ustinova
chamber choir (20 people), conductor, Honored person who works in culture of Russia Yuri Klaz
quartet "Barber shop" (4 people), supervisor Valentin Bogdanov
"Karelia-brass" ensemble (6 people), supervisor Honored artist of Karelia Leonid Bulanov
If you need a spark in a holiday, skilled consultation, practical embodiment of cultural program, then Centre of folk creative activity is ready to cooperate with You.
Museums
THE KARELIAN STATE REGIONAL MUSEUM
Address : Lenin square, 1.
The Karelian state regional museum was founded in 1871 .
The main directions of the museum work are:
- the fund completing;
- storage of the fund collections (160 000 storage entries);
- studying of the funds, Karelian history, culture and natural history of Karelia;
- presenting of the collections on expositions and exhibitions, popularisation of the collections on excursions, lections, play studies, in clubs and groups attached to the museum;
- publishing and restoration activity.
In recent years the exhibition activity of the museum has increased. The exhibition "Culture of the old-believers of Vyg" was formed together with other Karelian museums. It became famous all over the world. Also, exhibitions on previously closed topics "History of the White Sea-Baltic canal", "Long way home" ( about North American Finnish immigrants in Karelia in 1920-1930 ), etc were formed. The museum takes part in the international archeological project, independently conducts archeological excavations.
THE KIZHI STATE OPEN-AIR MUSEUM OF HISTORY, ARCHITECTURE AND ETHNOGRAPHY
The Kizhi Open-Air Museum on the island of the Lake Onega is enlisted into the State collection of the most valuable objects of the cultural heritage of the peoples living in the Russian federation. The Kizhi historic, cultural and natural complex is a unique historic area having no equal in the European North of Russia reflecting the concentration of the monuments of our heritage.
Main places of interest are the 22-cupola Transfiguration Church (1714) and 10-cupola Assumption Church (1764) of the Kizhi Pogost. Pogost itself was originally built on the island, other monuments — peasant houses, mills, chapels were brought here from different parts of the republic. The collection represents the main aspects of the traditional culture of the ingenious peoples of Karelia — Karelians, Russians, Vepsians.
Alongside the active work focused on the collection, restoration, enlightment and tourism, the priority activity of the museum at present is the research into the history, culture and nature heritage and its exploitation in the context of the development of this region.
A trip to the island by hydrofoil takes 1 hour 15 min.
KIZHI NATIONAL PARK MUSEUM
The National Park located on Kizhi Island in Lake Onega was opened in l959. Kizhi is classified as one of the 300 heritages in the world.
KIVACH NATURE PARK
In the Kivach nature park, relict trees and the famous Karelian birch grow. Also, near Petrozavodsk, the first spa in Russia, Martsialnye vody, where people suffering from heart disease are treated.
THE KARELIAN STATE REGIONAL MUSEUM
Address: 185035, Karelian republic, Petrozavodsk, Lenin square, 1.
Karelian state museum of regional history was founded in 1871 when G.G.Grigoriev was the governor of the Olonets province. It is one of the oldest Russian museums. Since 1993 it has been located in the buildings of historical architectural group on the former Petrovskaya (Round) square (now - Lenin square). This architectural group is a very intersting place of federal importance, representing architectural style of XVIII century, created by Bazhenov school's architects.
In the early XX century the museum had 7 thousand items, now their amount is approximately 120 thousand. Museum possesses rich collections of porcelain from Russia and Western Europe (XVIII - XX centuries), art mending of Alexander factory, copperware of Staroobryadcheski (Old believers) communities, items made of Karelian birch, folk clothes, headgears of XIX-XX centuries, manuscripts and printed books of Cyrillic scripts of XVI-XIX centuries, Olonets money of 1918 and other unique collections.
In last years the museum has started to launche more exhibitions. As a result of immense research, collection and restoration work new original expositions were created. They explore historical and cultural inheritance of Karelia that have not been noticed before: "Pomor ship", "Copper antiquity", "Petrozavodsk municipal Duma", "Alexander factory - for its town and country" and so forth. In Germany and Finland exhibitions "Henrich Fogeler and Karelia", "Everyday life and arts of Padany Karelians", "World of a Veps woman", "Traditional northern clothes" worked.
THE FINE ARTS MUSEUM OF KARELIAN REPUBLIC
Address: Petrozavodsk, K. Marx st., 8.
The fine arts museum of Karelian republic was formed in 1960. The building of the museum is a monument of history and culture of the XVIII century. A men's gymnasium was located there, in which since 1861 till 1863 an outstanding Russian artist Vasiliy Dmitriyevich Polenov was studying.
There are more than 10 thousand exhibits of paintings, graphic arts, sculpture and applied arts in the museum funds. The most valuable and unique part of the collection is the icon collection of Novgorod school and "North icon writings" of the XV-XIX cent., including such remarkable monuments as "Saint Vlasiy", "Ilya the prophet" XV cent., "George's snake wonder" XVI cent., signed icon of the XVII cent. foreman Ignatiy Panteleyev "Fiery ascent of Ilya the prophet" and others.
The most remarkable works in the Russian art collection are the works by F.S. Rokotov, I.K. Aivazovskiy, I.N. Kramskoy, I.E. Repin, V.E. Makovskiy, I.I. Shishkin, V.D. Polenov, I.I. Levitan, K.A. Korovin, A.I. Benoir, A.A. Rylov and others. The Soviet paintings of 30-s, 60-80-s are brightly presented in the Russian arts of the 20th century. The wonderful graphic arts collection presents watercolor paintings, estamp graphics and illustrations by Russian, Pribaltic, Ukrainian and Caucasian artists. A special department presents the collection of works, dedicated to Karelian-Finnish epic "Kalevala". Unique collection of folk art of Russians from Pomorye and Zaonezhye, Karelians, Vepssians is full and diverse. Available are some exhibits by Western artists, ancient casts.
