An award honoring the people, places, and initiatives redefining the perception of modern Russia.

Watch Russia tells the country’s story through tangible narratives: its people, territories, culture, land, design, routes, initiatives, and professional communities.

“Hommage. Watch Russia” recognizes those whose work has already become woven into the cultural fabric. Not by fame, but by contribution.

This is an award for those who develop territories, preserve heritage, pioneer new forms, build institutions, open new spaces, champion crafts, shape taste, and help articulate a more precise narrative of modern Russia.

“Hommage. Watch Russia” is both an award and a cultural evening, placing the stories of people and projects at its very heart.
We honor those who reveal the direction in which our cultural landscape is evolving:

Who you should know.

Where you should go.

Who you
should talk to.

What you should
study and support.

The award brings together projects, institutions, territories, and individuals whose work resonates not only within their specific professional fields but also across a broader cultural and business context.

Not a mere compliment or a formal trophy, but a tribute to work that has already left its mark on a place, a profession, a cultural context, or a community.

The award honors not just the result, but the journey.
Not just scale, but precision.
Not just public profile, but tangible impact.

Each award is a homage to a specific type of contribution: to place, to land, to culture, to design, to initiative, to dialogue. And to craftsmanship that stands the test of time.

nominations

Hommage to Place

An award for a place that offers a fresh perspective on a territory.
This could be a city, a region, a resort, a hotel, a cultural route, an architectural space, a tourism cluster, or a local initiative that gives a place an entirely new voice.

Hommage to Land

An award for projects rooted in the land, product, gastronomy, winemaking, farming, local production, and responsible territorial development.
This category tells the story of Russia through taste, material, origin, labor, and connection to the landscape.

Hommage to Culture

An award for cultural, museum, artistic, educational, and research projects that help us understand Russia in all its complexity.
Here, culture is not a backdrop, but a means to preserve memory, foster dialogue, and bridge the past with the present.

Hommage to Design

An award for a contemporary language of form.
An object, an interior, an architectural structure, a visual system, a brand, or a design practice can speak about the country through material, proportion, function, memory, technology, and taste.

Hommage to Initiative

An award for entrepreneurial, social, educational, institutional, and civic projects that forge new connections and opportunities.
An initiative begins with an individual or a team, but it gains true significance when an ecosystem grows around it.

Hommage to Dialogue

An award for individuals and projects that foster sustainable dialogue between Russia and international professional, cultural, and business circles.
The core criterion is the ability to build trust across diverse markets, cultures, and professional communities.

An award for individuals and projects that foster sustainable dialogue between Russia and international professional, cultural, and business circles. The core criterion is the ability to build trust across diverse markets, cultures, and professional communities.

The Main Award
of the Evening

Hommage to the Elder

The main honorary award of the prize.

It is presented to an individual whose long-standing contribution to culture remains significant today. This could be a master craftsman, a researcher, an architect, a cultural figure, an entrepreneur, a mentor, an institution founder, or or a person of place.

Not necessarily the most public figure. 
Not necessarily the loudest voice.
But someone without whom the landscape would be fundamentally different.

Eldership here is not about age. It is about experience, dignity, trust, and the enduring legacy one leaves behind.

The ceremony will take place on

12 October
2026

Moscow,
Yermolova Theatre

The award does not end
with the evening.
Following the ceremony,
Watch Russia publishes the Hommage Dossier – a dedicated section featuring the laureates and selected projects of the award.

It includes profiles, stories of the heroes, and materials that illuminate the significance of their work within a cultural, professional, and human context.

Thus, “Hommage. Watch Russia” becomes not just an event, but an annual benchmark: a guide to who is shaping the milieu today, developing territories, preserving mastery, and pioneering new ways to talk about Russia.