The Russian Language and Culture Festival “The Hidden Trace of Every Word that We Have Spoken” has concluded in the capital of Karelia. Ruben Nazaryan and Albina Abdullaeva, Assistant Professors of the Samarkand State University, visited Petrozavodsk on 11-13 October. The guests said they had fallen in love with Petrozavodsk, its landscapes, the Kivach Falls and the friendly residents of the city.
The Petrozavodsk State University hosted a number of meetings with the Head of the Philology Department Andrei Kunilsky, a round table with the professors and a discussion of the prospects of cooperation—mobility programs, conference representation, student and postgraduate training programs. Albina Abdullaeva presented a lecture entitled “Plot Elements and Other Aspects of Anton Chekhov’s Playwriting”. Ruben Nazaryan made a presentation on the history of Russian-speaking Samarkand in late 19th-early 20th century, speaking about city governor Vasily Vyatkin, gymnasium director Fyodor Kerensky and other cultural and historical figures of the Russian Empire who had made a contribution to help this old city—a pearl of the Eastern culture—thrive.
The guests introduced themselves to the creative life of Petrozavodsk, heard the legends of the Russian North at the Tatiana Kalinina Doll House, learned about the history of the region at the National Museum of the Republic of Karelia and attended the City Exhibition Hall and the Musical Theater of Karelia.
The guests were paying a return visit to
Petrozavodsk from Uzbekistan, as in the week from 29 September to 4 October Karelian delegates
went to several cities of the Central Asia. Samarkand and Tashkent hosted a series of concerts featuring actors of the Theater of Poetry KREDO and Sergei Rusanov, as well as poetry recital and children drawing contests, lectures on the Russian language and literature by PSU professors Irina Spiridonova and Andrei Kotov, round tables and official meetings at the Rossotrudnichestvo office in Uzbekistan. The project was implemented at the initiative of the Petrozavodsk Administration and the Theater of Poetry KREDO with the support of the Russkiy Mir Foundation.
“Once again, this visit proved the importance of these synthetic programs that combine creative and educational aspects via intercultural communication,” says PSU professor Irina Spiridonova.
“It is extremely important for Russian language and literature professors to be aware of the situation in the post-Soviet countries, to understand the issues in studying Russian and to assess the possibilities for reinstating Russian as a lingua franca.”
Project coordinator Albina Abdullaeva was very emotional about the Samarkand concert:
“I was particularly impressed with Sergei Rusanov’s performance. His sincerity and energy when he sang those wonderful songs about Russia, love, hope and kindness were amazing! He impressed both the older members of the audience and the youth who are raised in a different social culture, a different ethnic tradition. To be honest, we didn’t expect such a strong response from the youth. 16-year-olds are usually cynical about many things. But they were blown away! They sat with their mouths open—and it was their first exposure to the early Russian culture! Unfortunately, Russian is starting to fade away in our country. It is a matter of politics. And we would love it—as scholars, as creative people and as human beings—if Russian culture projects like this one would go on. I think it is a noble cause.”
The Festival “The Hidden Trace of Every Word that We Have Spoken” continues the Days of Russian Culture organized by Petrozavodsk institutions in Finland, Hungary, Slovenia, Georgia and Armenia.
“We are happy that we still communicate with our partners, our teachers attend international conferences and our creative teams get invitations to important festivals,” stressed Sergei Solovyov, Head of the Department of Culture, Public Relations and International Cooperation of Petrozavodsk.
“For instance, in 2017 we plan to take part in the tremendous Samarkand music festival Sharq Taronalari [Eastern Melodies]. Delegations like this are also important because, when we learn about other cultures, we get a deeper understanding of the unique nature, value and enormous potential of our own culture, traditions and language. It’s a very important and productive process. One can only support the strategy of the Russkiy Mir Foundation that has been paying so much attention to synthetic projects of this kind.”
