Asya Filippova: “Fabrika” is more than bricks, it is a community

We met the director of “Fabrika” Center of Creative Industries Asya Filippova and asked her about how in the 1990s she became the director of the actual Soviet paper factory and transformed it into the first innovative cultural center in Moscow. With no professional art training (she graduated from the Economic faculty of the Moscow State University) but with a great passion for art, Asya turned into one of the most influential figures on the Russian contemporary art scene.

Since 2005 “Fabrika” has operated as a hub for creatives from art, design and architecture, music and theatre fields. In 2014 the “Fabric workshops” project was launched, aimed to support artists and provide them with the space for work and exhibiting their art. One of the most notable residents was Valery Chtak (1981–2024) whose memorial studio is preserved after his passing away.

Soon the building of the factory will be demolished, and the territory on which it stands will be developed by the Moscow city Government. “Fabrika” will no longer exist here as a physical object, and our movie is intended to preserve the memory of this place and its cultural heritage.