Russian Spiritual Culture Days to be Held in Five Armenian Cities
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As deputy minister of culture of the Russian Federation Alla Manilova mentioned at the Russia Today's press conference, it is more correct to call the festival Russian intellectual spiritual days, all the more so, as apart from ministry of culture and ministry of foreign affairs, the organisers also include the Russian Orthodox Church. That is why the Festival starting date is August 20 – it is Memorial Day of the Russian Soldiers, buried in the cemetery on the Hill of Honour in Gyumri. Saint Petersburg metropolia choir performance, solemn prayers and wreath-laying ceremony to the monument of the Russian soldiers are going to be held there on this day. “Temple Architecture” exhibition will also be opened in Gyumri, all the exhibit items are from the collections of the Russian Science and Culture Fund in Yerevan. A day after that, an exhibition named “Russian Orthodox Church During World War II” will be opened in Stepanavan.
Russian Days opening ceremony will be held in Yerevan on September 3, where soloists from the Mariinski Theatre will be performing accompanied by the Armenian symphony orchestra. Children ensemble “Otrada”, which has represented our country in over 30 countries all over the world, and Russian folk instruments ensemble “Bis-quit” from Saint Petersburg will also take part in the concert. Alla Manilova has told about the incredible success the famous musicians had during recently held Russian Days in Slovenia – the audience did not literally want to let them go. “We are absolutely sure that the artists we are going to present will become as much popular and beloved in Armenia, as they are in Slovenia”, emphasized Alla Manilova.
Russian organisers also tried to take account of their Armenian colleagues’ wishes. It was their request that Boris Eifman’s ballet “Anna Karenina” was performed in Yerevan on April 4 and had incredible success. So, de-facto, the Russian Culture festival started in Armenia as far back as in spring.
Apart from musical ensembles performances, an entire group of theatrical events are planned at the scene of the Stanislavsky Russian Drama Theatre in Yerevan. Alla Manilova mentioned, that the Russian ministry of culture had a special focus on supporting Russian theatres abroad.
Russian film weeks will be held in three Armenian cities from September 14 to 18; it will be opened with “Flight Crew” film, which had great success in Russian cinemas. Retrospective show of Karen Shakhnazarov’s films will also be held in the framework of the weeks and the director himself will hold a workshop for Yerevan Institute of Theatre and Cinema students.
As Mikhail Shvydkoi, a special representative of the Russian Federation President for international cultural cooperation has noticed, such festivals in foreign countries are usually aimed at compatriots, but he is sure that in Armenia the audience will be much wider. “Inner civilizational attraction between Russia and Armenia is very powerful – cultural environments of our countries are historically connected”, he said. He often visits Armenia in connection with cultural projects and has noticed the visible growth of the number of Russian tourists, which also tells about the fact our countries had never stopped cooperating in the humanitarian sphere.
As Alla Manilova told, “Russian Spiritual Culture Days“ project was being implemented in foreign countries since 2008. This year it became even more outstanding. Russian culture festivals have already been held in Greece, Macedonia, Slovenia, Kirgizia and Uzbekistan. In the nearest future, the same kind of events are going to be held in Abkhazia, Slovakia and Spain. Next year’s plans definitely include Russia Days in Bulgaria and France – bilateral meetings at the topic have already been held by the Russian ministry of foreign affairs. In October, Russian Spiritual Centre will be opened in Paris, where major events of the Festival are going to take place.
It is interesting that the Armenian festival’s programme has excelled all the previous ones. Alla Manilova told that this time the festival’s events will be held in five cities at the same time, although they are usually held in only two.