10th Anniversary Forum of Free Culture “SlovoNovo”
SlovoNovo Free Culture Forum 2025
10th Anniversary Forum of Free Culture “SlovoNovo” will take place 6–11 October 2025 in Tivat, Montenegro, on the shores of the Adriatic Sea
Tickets & Pricing
6-day Forum pass — 500 €
includes access to all events from 6 to 11 October.
Couples 6-day pass — 800 €
for two persons.
1-day pass — 125 €
full-day access, including evening events.
2-day pass — 200 €
access to any two days, including evening events.
Single event ticket — 15 €
for individual sessions like film screenings, concerts, etc.
Tickets for the Forum SlovoNovo 2025
Film Screenings (ArtDocFest selections)
Confirmed Participants (2025)
Vitaly Mansky
Film director. Vitaly Mansky is a Russian and Latvian documentary filmmaker, producer, and public figure. He is the founder and president of the international documentary film festival Artdocfest and of the Russian national non-fiction film and television award Laurel Branch. Participant of SlovoNovo Forum 2025.
Vera Krichevskaya
Journalist, director, and documentary film producer. Vera Krichevskaya is a co-founder of the independent TV channel Dozhd (TV Rain) and a former journalist at NTV. Her work focuses on the most pressing issues in contemporary Russia from politics to freedom of speech and the future of independent media.
Andrey Bilzho
Artist, cartoonist, essayist, and animator. Founder of the restaurant-club Petrovich. By training a psychiatrist (PhD in Medicine), he was born in Moscow. Since 1975 he has been published as a cartoonist in Moskovsky Komsomolets, Literaturnaya Gazeta, Sobesednik, and others.
Marat Gelman
Russian art collector, gallerist, publicist, and art manager. Former director of the PERM Museum of Contemporary Art in Perm. A political consultant, co-founder of the Foundation for Effective Politics, and a member of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation (2010–2012). He also serves on the Permanent Committee of the Free Russia Forum.
Mikhail Shishkin
Mikhail Shishkin is one of the most renowned contemporary Russian authors. He began his literary career in the early 1990s but rose to wide prominence after moving to Switzerland in 1995. He has been awarded some of Russia’s most prestigious literary prizes, including the Big Book Award and the Russian Booker Prize.
Vera Pavlova
Poet. Vera Pavlova graduated with honors from the Gnessin Academy of Music, specializing in music history. For ten years, she sang in a church choir and wrote music essays for the journal Musical Life. She also worked as a guide at the Shalyapin House-Museum and for twelve years ran a children’s creative writing studio, Zodiac Stars.
Viktor Vakhshtayn
Sociologist, researcher. Viktor Vakhshtayn’s work explores how social reality is constructed in detail from language and rituals to the invisible rules of everyday life. He shows how these rules shape our behavior and how they shift in moments of crisis. Vakhshtayn combines academic theory with analysis of concrete cases, the workings of courts and schools to the dynamics of social networks.
Andrey Orlov (Orlusha)
Poet, screenwriter Andrey Orlov, widely known by his pen name Orlusha, is a poet, screenwriter, and producer. In the past, he also worked as a journalist and political consultant.
Alexander Gavrilov
Critic, publisher, editor. Alexander Gavrilov is a literary critic, publisher, and television host. From 2000 to 2010, he served as editor-in-chief of the newspaper Knizhnoe Obozrenie (Book Review). He was the first coordinator of the Independent Literary Prize Debut. He is the founder and publisher of the European publishing house VIDIM Books.
Masha Trotsky
Artist. Masha Trotsky’s work is an unconventional dialogue between national tradition and global culture. She transposes ornaments and symbols from folk art onto contemporary images and objects, creating unexpected visual juxtapositions. In projects such as Kitch Project and Classics, this takes the form of Khokhloma and Coca-Cola, Pushkin made of gadgets, or Tolstoy composed of popcorn – playful forms that raise serious questions about identity in the 21st century.
Alexander Morozov
Political scientist, publicist. Alexander Morozov is a political scientist, publicist, and researcher, well known for his analytical work and commentary on Russian and international politics. He publishes widely in various media outlets, writes blogs, and takes part in public debates. Morozov is also active in academia, giving lectures and participating in academic conferences and seminars.
Sergei Kuznetsov
Writer, journalist, cultural critic. Sergei Kuznetsov began his career in the 1990s, translating works by Stephen King and Susan Sontag, studying the prose of Thomas Pynchon, and publishing a monograph on Joseph Brodsky. He was also deeply involved in the early development of online journalism in Russia, authoring the handbook Internet for Journalists and creating several major internet projects.
Demyan Kudryavtsev
Poet, media manager. From 2006 to 2012, Demyan Kudryavtsev was CEO of the publishing house Kommersant, where he created a multimedia holding that earned him the Media Manager of Russia award. Between 2015 and 2020, he owned Sanoma Independent Media, which included the newspaper Vedomosti and The Moscow Times.
Stanislav Belkovsky
Political scientist, publicist Stanislav Belkovsky is a Russian political scientist and publicist. He has worked as a political consultant and was the founder and head of the Institute of National Strategy. A frequent commentator in the media, he publishes articles and gives interviews on pressing political issues.
Petr Shchedrovitsky
is a philosopher, methodologist, and expert in management and development. He was born into the family of Georgy Shchedrovitsky, a well-known philosopher and founder of the Moscow Methodological Circle.
About the Forum
Since its inception in 2018, SlovoNovo has brought together writers, artists, filmmakers, poets, musicians, philosophers, journalists, and cultural figures. It serves as a space for open dialogue about culture, language, freedom, and the future. The forum fosters discussion around contemporary challenges to art, education, and media within the Russian-speaking cultural field and its integration into broader European context.
Prominent past participants include Boris Akunin, Dmitry Bykov, Vladimir Sorokin, Artur Smolyaninov, Lyudmila Ulitskaya, Boris Grebenshchikov, Andrey Makarevich, Ivan Vyrypaev, Vitaly Mansky, Dmitry Krymov, Artemy Troitsky, and others.
Logistical Info & Important Notes
See how the SlovoNovo forum was held in September 2024 in Montenegro
Tickets for the Forum SlovoNovo 2025
SlovoNovo 2026
23–25 October 2026
Limassol, Cyprus
Three days of discussions, performances, exhibitions, new ideas and collaborations across the global Russian-speaking cultural community.
Once a year, the people shaping today’s cultural language come together at SlovoNovo — a meeting place for free thought, artistic exchange and projects that cross borders.
Forum highlights
Discussions
Round tables on new institutions in a transnational Russian-speaking society, the changing audience for independent media and culture, children of emigration, and the impact of AI on culture, education and public life.
Vera Polozkova
Concert
“Salyut”
A stage production based on Ivan Vyrypaev’s debut novel.
Oleg Radzinsky
Presentation of the new novel Paper Sun.
Boris Akunin
Meeting with the writer.
Vladimir Tsesler
Exhibition
Artdocfest
Documentary film screenings.
Alexandra Arkhipova
Why do dictators need Newspeak? Scholarly experiments and political manipulation.
Vladimir Sorokin
Exhibition
Vera Pavlova
A poetry showcase by Ver-libr Publishing House.
Confirmed participants
Nikolay AlexandrovLiterary critic
Anna MongaitTV presenter
Nikolay MedvedevMusician
Andrey KordochkinPriest and publicist
Georgy UrushadzePublisher and journalist
Marina RatinaProducer, director and screenwriter
Filip RemundaDocumentary filmmaker
Yuri LapshinPsychologist
Olga PolevikovaActress and educator
Zhanna AgalakovaJournalist, TV presenter and director
Vladimir TseslerArtist
Pavel MuntyanProducer, screenwriter and animator
Sasha FilipenkoWriter, screenwriter and journalist
Dasha ShaminaDirector, curator and editor
Maxim KurnikovJournalist and media manager
Teal House TheatreTheatre company
Tatyana LazarevaTV presenter, actress and public figure
Vadik KorolevMusician, poet and actor
Boris BarabanovJournalist and producer
Demyan KudryavtsevPoet and media manager
Alexander MorozovPolitical scientist and publicist
Alexandra ArkhipovaAnthropologist
Vitaly ManskyFilm director
Vera PolozkovaPoet
Oleg RadzinskyWriter and businessman
Vera PavlovaPoet
Mikhail ShishkinWriter
Boris AkuninWriter
Vladimir SorokinWriter
Marat GelmanCollector and gallerist
The list will be updated as new participants are confirmed.
Tickets
Full Forum Pass
Full access to the three-day programme, including discussions, concerts, performances and public lectures.
Buy ticketDay Pass
Access to the full programme on one selected day.
Buy ticketSingle Events
Tickets for selected individual concerts, screenings, performances and other events.
View ticketsForum venues
Roundtables
NYX Hotel Limassol
Anexartisias Street & Christodoulou Sozou Street, LimassolMain venue
Carob Mill Complex
Vasilissis Street, Limassol“Salyut”
Versus Theatre
Dimitri Mitropoulou, Limassol 3036Plan your visit
Accommodation and transport
The organizers do not provide accommodation, meals or transfers. Guests may book any hotel near the forum venues. The programme begins on the morning of 23 October and ends on the evening of 25 October.
Getting to Limassol
- Larnaca International Airport (LCA): approximately 65–70 km from Limassol.
- Paphos International Airport (PFO): approximately 60 km from Limassol.
- Airport Express buses, taxis and car rentals are available.
Entry requirements
Visa and entry requirements depend on nationality and travel documents. Please check the current official Cyprus guidance before booking travel.
Official visa informationForum language
All forum events are held in Russian. This English page provides essential information for international visitors.