Afisha

Founded in April 1999[3] by Moscow journalist Ilya Oskolkov-Tsentsiper, American entrepreneur Andrew Paulson and businessman Anton Kudryashov Afisha was intended as Moscow's version of Time Out which Oskolkov-Tsentsiper and Paulson tried and failed to license.[4] It quickly outgrew its initial purpose as a bi-weekly listing magazine and ended up having a profound effect on Moscow’s cultural and nightlife scene.[5] In the next 10 years Afisha turned into a Russia's leading publishing house by launching an array of spin-off publications such as monthly travel magazine Afisha-Mir, alternative weekly Bolshoy Gorod, food magazine Afisha-Yeda and a series of Afisha-branded travel guide books.[6]

A team of young journalists, designers and photographers brought together by Oskolkov-Tsentsiper created a unique Afisha style which had a major impact on Russian media. Many high-profile Russian artists made their first public appearances on Afisha's front cover and the magazine popularised several new fashion trends – even introducing numerous new words into the Russian lexicon, from “deadline” to “hipster”.[7] A number of Russia's now prominent cultural figures started their careers writing for Afisha including film directors Avdotya Smirnova, Mikhail Brashinskiy and Roman Volobuev, award-winning writers Lev Danilkin and Yulia Yakovleva and Elena Kovalskaya who went on to become artistic director of Moscow’s Meyerhold Theater.[8]

Afisha played an active part in 2011–2013 Russian protests with its senior stuff helping to organise rallies in Moscow,[9] publishing manifestos demanding fair election[10] and at some point putting the opposition leader Alexey Navalny on the print edition's cover.[11]

In 2014 Afisha's parent company ProfMedia was bought by a Russian state-owned energy corporation Gazprom.[12] Soon after the new owners have shuttered magazine's struggling print edition[13] and fired most of the editorial staff.[1] Plans to relaunch the Afisha as a quarterly were announced but never realized.[14][15]

In 2013 Afisha launched daily updated sites "Vozduh", "Volna" and "Gorod", promptly telling about the latest developments in sphere of culture, music and life in Moscow, and "Serialy" - Russia's largest online television series library.

Annually the magazine held a music festival Afisha Picnic, a one-day outdoor festival held in Moscow, Russia every summer. It took place on the territory of Kolomenskoye, a former tsar’s estate, now a state-owned historical, architectural and nature reserve museum, located only 10 km south-east of the city center.[16] Since its start in 2004, the Afisha Picnic has followed the concept that mixes professional music festival featuring performances of international artists and local independent musicians, and urban-style event with all sorts of entertainment, such as designers’ market, gastronomic area, games and crafts, sports and amusements, lectures and workshops,[17] and, on one occasion, even a dance floor on the rollerdrome. The festival was visited by 50,000 visitors that spread out over 1,000 acres (4.0 km²) of land.[18]

• Official website

• Media related to Afisha (magazine) at Wikimedia Commons