Traditional Charity Gala Reception in the Winter Palace
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On 30 June 2017, the State Hermitage was the venue for the twelfth annual Charity Gala Reception. It was organized with the support of Gazprombank JSC, Social-Cultural Foundation ‘Hennessy’, Ingosstrakh, and other sponsors and patrons of the State Hermitage.
This year’s theme was inspired by two unique exhibitions: Nefertari and the Valley of the Queens from the Museo Egizio in Turin, one of the most important collections of Egyptian antiquities outside Egypt, and Anselm Kiefer: For Velimir Khlebnikov, an exhibition created especially for the Hermitage by one of Europe’s foremost contemporary artists.
Guests of the evening included Dorrit Romanov; members of the State Hermitage’s Board of Trustees and the State Hermitage Development Fund – Dean Gilfallan, Pierre de Labouchere, Yury Liubimov, Alexander Sokurov, David Yakobashvili, Larisa Zelkova; directors of major Russian museums – Marina Loshak, Zelfira Tregulova, Olga Taratynova, Olga Sviblova, Yekaterina Mtsituridze; the world-famous actor Ralph Fiennes and other members of the international elite.
The theatricalized musical programme prepared for the evening featured ballet dancers and the operatic soloist Irina Matayeva from the Mariinsky Theatre and the Taurida International Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mikhail Golikov.
Guests became the first viewers of the documentary-fiction film Hermitage VR. Immersion in History created in a virtual reality format with the participation of the distinguished actor Konstantin Khabensky and Mikhail Piotrovsky.
A banquet supper was served in the Jordan Gallery of the Winter Palace.
The ball in the Field Marshals’ Hall featured Natalia and Alexander Berezhny, champions of Russia in the Argentinian Tango. As is traditional, a diamond prize was awarded to the most graceful lady at the ball.
The event ended with a cocktail offered as a “stirrup cup”.
The donations collected will go to the Russian-based Specialized Fund of special-purpose capital for the development of the State Hermitage Museum, which is the country’s largest museum endowment.