OREANDA-NEWS. The new urban cultural festival, ART OVRAG 2014, will be held from June 13 to 15, 2014, in the town of Vyska (in the Nizhny Novgorod region). The festival is held annually by United Metallurgical Company (OMK CJSC, based in Moscow) and the OMK-Uchastie Charity Fund. This year, the festival's theme is “Go Out to the People,” which conveys the population's high level of involvement in the festival.

“ART OVRAG provides an annual impetus to the development and transformation of the urban environment of Vyksa. Architecture, street art, theater, music, sports, dance, and food are the main directions along which the new festival will develop. There will be a strong focus on master classes, lectures, contests, and seminars,” said Oleg Shapiro, the festival's curator and a partner with the WOWHAUS architecture and design bureau (famous for its projects in Gorky Park, Sokolniniki Park, and at Red October in Moscow).

The festival's main program will include street dances and graffiti classes, master classes by the STOMP theater show, BMX racing and parkour, a DJ school, an exhibition from Pasha 183 (a famous street artist), and concerts and master classes from prominent Russian indie musicians. The “Tasty Food Festival” and street theater shows will be also held for Vyska citizens and guests. The “Courtyards” project will open the inter-festival program. Citizens will describe their dream courtyards, and the curators will help make those dreams come true. Metal scraps will be turned into art objects, and city walls will be painted by citizens as they are guided by professional artists. The preparation for the ART OVRAG 2104 festival has entered its active phase.

“Our festival has become the first experimental creative scene in Russia, an open laboratory with master classes, contests, and seminars. Our aim is to show the festival's spectators and guests the versatility of modern art, to bring out their own creative capabilities, and as a result-to prompt them to transform not only the town's environment, but their own lives. Vyksa is one of Russia's industrial centers. One of the leading industrial enterprises, Vyska Steel Works, is located here. We feel responsible for the people who live and work here,” said Irina Sedykh, Chairman of the Supervisory Board at OMK-Uchastie Charity Fund.

During the three years of ART OVRAG's existence, it has become a remarkable event for the Russian cultural community, and it has received support from Russia's Ministry of Culture. OMK, with its ART OVRAG festival, got recognition in 2013 from experts in the community, winning several prestigious awards. Over 5,000 people take part in the festival each year. Around 50 art objects have been created and remain in the town, transforming it into an integrated art site.