On Tuesday, December 15, the publishing house of "The Art Newspaper Russia" celebrated its 25th anniversary. Jubilee was celebrated in an unusual format - in the Hermitage Theatre there was a debate on the theme "Why do we need art?". Participants of the event were Anna Somers Cocks, editorial director of the British edition of the newspaper, Inna Bazhenova, the publisher and owner of the Russian version of the newspaper, Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director of the State Hermitage Museum, Vladimir Pozner, a famous TV host, Zelfira Tregulova, CEO of "All-Russian Museum Association - State Tretyakov Gallery."

Vladimir Pozner acted as "the investigator", the roles of "witnesses" were played by Irina Prokhorova, a publisher and philanthropist, Tatyana Chernigova, a biologist and expert in psycholinguistics and the theory of consciousness, Alexei Uchitel, film director, and Garrett Johnston, marketing strategist and philosopher. Mikhail Piotrovsky was chosen the chairman of the debates.

Vladimir Posner identified several key issues of the discussion: "Why do we need art? Is the word "reconciliation" applicable to the art? For whom and for what purpose is it necessary? Art is eternal, life is short. Is it possible to say that art has changed, if we are delighted with paintings by Picasso, music of Shostakovich and Bach, which takes us into a multifaceted space?"

"25 years ago the world seemed to care about peaceful coexistence, be ready for peaceful progress towards a peaceful future, - said Anna Somers Cocks. - But the reality turned out to be much worse than we could imagine. Who could imagine that we will see a revival of the destroyed monuments? Who would have thought that we would see the fear as well as terrorism, which destroys everything? ".

"Despite the difficult times, I think we're going in the right direction - expressed Irina Prokhorova. - Art is important for a person not less than warm. No man is a man without art. It's our rod. We learn the arts like we learn reading and writing. "

Session Chairman Mikhail Piotrovsky made a "judgment" to speakers, noticing that all participants in the debate in its own right. "Art is the quality of life and quality of life depends on the art", - concluded Mikhail Piotrovsky.