In the Perm region, due to funding cuts, the civil forum “Pilorama”, known for discussions with the participation of oppositionists, will not take place this year. This year, for example, one of the leaders of the RPR-PARNAS party, Sergei Aleksashenko, and economist Irina Yasina were supposed to come to the village of Kuchino. The forum was held on the site of a former camp for political prisoners and attracted thousands of spectators who came for discussions and concerts (the headliner of 2013 was supposed to be the group “Pilot”). The region's Minister of Culture Igor Gladnev said that he personally made the decision to reduce the forum's budget from five million rubles to two and a half. Marat Gelman, who was recently fired by regional authorities from his post as director of the PERMM Museum of Contemporary Art, suggested in June that “Pilorama” could suffer due to the “censorship rage” of local officials. Lenta.ru spoke with Viktor Shmyrov, the organizer of the forum and director of the Perm-36 museum-camp.

“Lenta.ru”: What do you think you could be accused of? What activities could they present to the administration and say, look what they are doing with regional money, we need to do something about it?

Victor Shmyrov: I don’t know. I don't have any guesses.

Do you think that “Sawmill” will not take place until 2013? Or is this all for good?

Of course, we will try to hold it next year. There is only one condition now - an independent budget.

When “Pilorama” became popular and the former governor of the [Perm Territory] Oleg Chirkunov included it in the list of nine image projects of the Perm Territory, it received permanent budget funding. And this budget funding covered up to 80 percent of the entire Sawmill budget. And there was almost no private income from various funds that are now leaving Russia; the figure of five million from the regional authorities was critical. And when they suddenly cut it in half, it became clear that nothing could be done about it. In order to save ourselves from risks in the future, we will create an independent budget, create a pool of organizations that not only participate in the Sawmill, but also bear some kind of financial responsibility for it.

Tell us how you were informed about the funding cuts.

As usual, a small official reported. It must be said that we do not receive this money at all. We simply order the required number of air tickets, hand over the list, and the regional center for the implementation of projects in the field of cultural policy buys them. We say that we need audio equipment - and they rent it. In general, all Perm festivals operate and are financed by this center. And so, when we started talking about signing the contract, the manager from this center said that the Sawmill’s estimate had been reduced to two and a half million. We found out this last Thursday.

That is, two weeks before the start of the Sawmill, you still haven’t bought your air tickets?

We didn't have any money. The contract had to be signed - and then tickets could be bought.

What else is money spent on?

There are virtually no fees at Sawmill. Expenses go towards equipment rental. There is a lot of it, because we always have two or three stages and four or five pavilions, they are also equipped with light, video and audio equipment. Concerts are taking place. Shevchuk sang with us, Makarevich sang. Up to two million is spent on equipment rental. We have a large number of Muscovites who need to be brought and taken away; last year we spent one and a half million rubles on tickets. Everyone needs to be fed, everyone needs somewhere to live. Five million is not a lot of money for a forum like Pilorama.

After you were informed about the budget cuts on Thursday, did you discuss this decision with any of the officials?

The Perm newspaper “Business Class” says that the decision to sequester the Sawmill budget was made personally by the Minister of Culture Igor Gladnev.

What's your version? Why did this happen?

Version? Don't know. Don't know. Can not say.

Don't you think this is related to recent events? I mean the dismissal of Gelman, the appeal from the Kurginyan movement that “Sawmill” is aimed at destabilizing the political situation in the country (the movement’s appeal to the authorities states that “the organizers and main guests of the event were engaged in justifying the Orange Revolution in Russia, proving the illegitimacy of the past elections” , “part of the discussion platforms was devoted to justifying the hooligan action of the Pussy Riot group”; “the forum is a disgrace for the Perm region, and the participation of the regional government in this is unacceptable” - note from Lenta.ru) .

International forum "Sawmill-2011". A forum participant in the uniform of an NKVD lieutenant against the backdrop of a red tent with portraits of Stalin and Vyshinsky Photo: Andrey Korshunov / Kommersant

The Kurginians definitely have nothing to do with it. These are not serious guys, but now they will take credit for everything, of course. What happened is a very strange event that we do not understand. Only two weeks ago we fully agreed on the program with the governor’s administration, and now it’s such a bummer. They explain that the sequester affected everyone.

Why did the authorities previously give money to what was essentially an opposition forum?

He is not oppositional. There are practically no politicians there. Nemtsov only came once as a private person. When we drew up the regulations on the forum, we then indicated that party propaganda was not allowed. There were no politicians, there were civil activists. Former dissidents are our greatest friends, because the forum takes place in the camp where the dissidents were imprisoned. If we talk about the orientation of the forum, it is, of course, libertarian.

Then here's a question. Has it ever seemed strange to you that an opposition forum took money from the authorities it criticizes?

No. Somehow it wasn't like that. Everyone was happy. In the sense of politics, if we understand it not broadly, but in the exact meaning of the word, “Sawmill” was absolutely non-political. Was a civic festival. There people defended not political views, but human values.

If you collect funds for the forum entirely from private investors, will they allow you to host it?

Don't know.

That is, you still think that this is connected with politics, the new governor and the general curtailment of the Perm cultural program?

Well-uh-uh ( silent for a long time ). It's very sad that it is winding down. Marat [Gelman] did wonderful things. Everything will now tip back into provincialism.

You are part of this program.

Well, yes, yes.

Do you feel like you've been hit with budget cuts due to the shutdown of the program?

We existed in parallel. We were never part of his [Gelman's] project, we even got in the way somewhere.

Who are your private partners?

The sawmill is organized by its public council. These are the people who invented the Sawmill and ensure its maintenance every year. The composition includes [Ombudsman for Human Rights in Russia] Vladimir Petrovich Lukin, [Chairman of Memorial] Sergei Adamovich Kovalev, [President of the Glasnost Defense Foundation] Alexey Kirillovich Simonov, [Director of the Institute of Human Rights] Valentin Gefter. Our museum is one of the founders of the international association of museums of conscience. This coalition has its own budget, which is raised through fundraising. This coalition gave us serious sums, once there was a sum from the Open Society Institute.

What are you proud of that you have accomplished?

Yes, you can’t say that. When Sawmill began in 2005, it was a concert of bard song. The idea was given by Alexander Gorodnitsky. He said then that he always looks with alarm at how the author’s song is dying, how it is degenerating into chanson, and proposed holding a festival and promised the support of bards. Then new genres began to appear. The theater appeared, rock music appeared. A discussion section appeared and the most pressing topics were discussed. The forum attracted a huge number of people, 15-20 thousand. But it took place in the forest where the camp was. And people drove and drove.

"Dissidents are our greatest friends"