Telling Stories urban festival 2026

Supported by the DAFES competition platform.

Telling Stories is a major urban festival established in 2018 by the Faculty of Creative Industries at HSE University. Each year, the event unites professionals from the creative sector — visionaries working with stories and images across the spectrum of culture, media, and art.

Telling Stories at a Glance

20000+

Visitors

200+

International Participants

50+

Lectures, Workshops, and Exhibitions

For eight years, the festival has continually evolved alongside the creative industries — reflecting, reimagining, and often anticipating their key trends.

The Telling Stories program features lectures, workshops, exhibitions, performances, and music events. It is a space where thought leaders speak, experts share insights, discussions unfold, and new collaborations are born.

Telling Stories x Open Lectures

Telling Stories is not just a major annual event; it is also an interdisciplinary program of events leading up to the festival. It features a public lecture series with leading voices from the creative industries. We cover design, fashion, architecture, the digital space, and contemporary art, exploring the key trends driving their evolution.

24.02.2026. Open Lecture

Double Exposure: Chinese Photography at the Intersection of Art and Commerce

We will discuss how contemporary Chinese photographers build careers at the crossroads of artistic practice, commercial demand, and cultural identity.

Speakers: Liu Xiaoxia, Zhang Xulong, Irina Chmyreva
Date & Time: February 24, 2026.
Doors open at 18:30.
Location: 12 Malaya Pionerskaya St., Room 384

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Past Event

The Good, The Bad, and The Product: A Public Talk on Design

Speakers: Nikita Lukinskiy, Valentina Kurenkova, Maria Stepanova
Date & Time: February 5, 2026. Doors open at 18:30.
Location: 12 Malaya Pionerskaya St., Room 384

Watch Recording

Upcoming Event

Street Art: Street, Brand, Museum

Speakers: Maryana Daynorovich, Sasha Powet, Misha Most, and Maxim Trulov
Date & Time: March 6, 2026. Doors open at 18:30.
Location: 12 Malaya Pionerskaya St., Room 384

Подробнее

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Telling Stories Festival 2026 will take place on May 23 at the Digital Business Space (DBS), located at 47 Pokrovka St., Moscow.

Festival Registration

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Key Figures

Andrey Bystritskiy

President of the Festival Dean of the Faculty of Creative Industries, HSE University.

Tatiana Rivchun

General Producer of the Festival Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Creative Industries, HSE University Director of the HSE Institute for Creative Industries Development Academic Supervisor of the "Management in Creative Industries" Program Co-founder of the HSE Art and Design School.

HSE Faculty of Creative Industries

The visionary force behind the Telling Stories festival is the Faculty of Creative Industries at HSE University — one of the largest training centers for creative professionals in Russia and Europe.

The faculty’s educational platform brings together world-class leaders from the digital industry, new media, marketing and PR, as well as the design and fashion communities.