Penza, 10 December 2015. PenzaNews. Russia needs a new federal law on culture, suggested Sergei Kazakov, Presidential Trustee, artistic director of the Penza Lunacharsky Drama Theater, deputy of the regional Legislative Assembly, after the Thursday, December 10 session of the task force “Education and Culture as Basis of National Identity” during the first regional APF “Action Forum.”

© PenzaNewsBuy the photo

“With all said before, we all came to the point that there is a law on culture, an obsolete one – right down from the Soviet Union, and there is no new law on culture. We have different economic situation, and political situation, and moral situation. We need a new law on culture that is relevant to the present day,” he told the press.

Sergei Kazakov expressed his belief that adopting a new law will “resolve very many issues.”

Discussing the problems in the field, he pointed out that “the times force culture to commercialize and earn money.”

“Trust me, this does not always have a good effect. Because you can earn money with private performances, with concerts, but there are some delicate notions that cannot bring money, that can only school and teach,” explained the theater artistic director.

According to him, the first and foremost purpose of culture is “education of the soul, exercise for spiritual muscles.”

“If culture doesn’t do that, it will turn into… There are many words we could use to describe it then, but not the word ‘culture’,” Sergei Kazakov summed up.