Here, the winners of the IF '26 open call, Sergey Skurtu and Olesya Vashchenko, will present an audiovisual installation.
Zapovednye Kvartaly is a unique historic district in the very heart of the city, where wooden houses from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries have been preserved, still retaining their atmosphere of antiquity.
To this day, 35 wooden houses have survived, 28 of which are cultural heritage sites. Once, writers Maxim Gorky and Vladimir Korolenko lived here. Anton Chekhov, Leonid Andreev, Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, and Fyodor Chaliapin came to visit — according to legend, Chaliapin loved to warm up his voice on the balcony of his friend Gorky's house. Continuing the tradition, opera concerts are now held on that very balcony.
Today, Zapovednye Kvartaly offers guided tours, theatrical performances, and concerts, with art objects appearing on the facades of the houses. Every year, the place transforms, thanks in large part to the residents of Nizhny Novgorod who love their city.
