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The 2023 Russian Federation National Award in Literature and Art has been presented to Ildar Abdrazakov for his contribution to the development of Russian and international music.

Born on September 26, 1976, in Ufa, the Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, opera singer Ildar Abdrazakov holds the title of Merited Artist of the Russian Federation (2021) and has won a Grammy Award (2011), along with other regional and professional distinctions.

Today, Ildar Abdrazakov is one of the most popular and renowned opera singers, recognised for his excellence in Italian and Russian opera. He has performed at the most prestigious opera theatres around the world and has been touring globally, while also taking part in major social initiatives and charity concerts.

As the Artistic Director at the Yelena Obraztsova International Music Academy, Ildar Abdrazakov established the Foundation for Supporting and Promoting Young Talent in 2016. This institution focuses on identifying, supporting and mentoring young vocalists, as well as promoting classical music. The Ildar Abdrazakov International Music Festival is one of the foundation’s most famous projects. It spans across all Russian regions, as well as 40 countries around the world, and serves as a platform for concerts, theatre performances, charity programmes and workshops.

The 2023 Russian Federation National Award in Literature and Art has been presented to Andrei Korobtsov and Konstantin Fomin for creating monuments and memorials commemorating landmark events in Russian history.

Andrei Korobtsov is a sculptor born on April 27, 1987, in Dzhezkazgan, the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic. He holds a medal For Achievements in Culture and Art (2022) and won the Union State Award in Literature and Art (2022).

Born on July 31, 1990, in Elektrostal, Moscow Region, Konstantin Fomin is an architect. He holds a medal For Achievements in Culture and Art (2022) and won the Union State Award in Literature and Art (2022).

Having graduated from the Ilya Glazunov Russian Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, Andrei Korobtsov and Konstantin Fomin went on to establish an architecture and sculpture workshop in 2010. This led them to undertake a series of projects for the Russian Military Historical Society in Russia and abroad. Their main goal was to use art and its modern forms of expression for conceptualising Russia’s heroic and tragic past.

Their biggest projects have received universal acclaim, including the Rzhev Memorial to the Soviet Soldier in the Tver Region (2020), the Memorial to Soviet Civilians – Victims of the Nazi Genocide during the 1941–1945 Great Patriotic War in the Leningrad Region (2024), the Battle of Kursk Memorial Complex in the Kursk Region (2023), Monuments to Khanpasha Nuradilov, a machinegun operator during the Great Patriotic War, in Grozny (2018), Grand Prince of Moscow Ivan III in Kaluga (2017), Emperor Nicholas I’s Greek Legion in Sevastopol (2016), and General Pyotr Kotlyarevsky in Feodosia (2020).

The 2023 Russian Federation National Award in Literature and Art has been presented to Olga Taratynova and Boris Igdalov for their contribution to reviving the Tsarskoye Selo State Museum and Heritage Site.

Born in Leningrad on September 14, 1955, Olga Taratynova is the Director of the Tsarskoye Selo State Museum and Heritage Site. She received the Medal For Services to the Fatherland, II degree, in 2003, and holds several other awards from professional, civil society and religious organisations. Ms Taratynova is also the Board Chair at the National Association for Reviving Historical Gardens and Parks.

She has been leading the Tsarskoye Selo State Museum and Heritage Site since 2008. Throughout her tenure, she has been proactive in her efforts to carry out extensive restorations inside palaces and park pavilions, as well as restoring landscaping designs.

Director of the Tsarskoye Selo Amber Workshop, Boris Igdalov was born in Leningrad on April 14, 1956. He won the Government of the Russian Federation Cultural Award (2006), and holds several other awards from professional, civil society and religious institutions.

Boris Igdalov holds the highest rank as a restoration artist and has been one of the most prominent leaders of the Leningrad School of Restoration Artists. He has been heading the Tsarskoye Selo Amber Workshop for about 30 years. Under his leadership, this entity has evolved into a scientific restoration powerhouse. It employs a pool of talented artists who specialise in restoring the most challenging and important sites.

Olga Taratynova and Boris Igdalov have invested many years of dedicated efforts in restoring this unique masterpiece of palace and gardening art to its original beauty by breathing new life into the unique interiors of Tsarskoye Selo’s palaces and pavilions.