70 years ago, on April 21, 1954, Soviet Ambassador to the United Kingdom Yakov Malik signed the UNESCO Constitution on behalf of the USSR Government. “Our country has been a proactive and responsible member of UNESCO. The provisions of the UNESCO Constitution on contributing ‘to peace and security by promoting collaboration among the nations through education, science and culture’ and fostering ‘intellectual and moral solidarity of mankind,’ hold enduring value and significance for us, said Sergey Lavrov on April 22, at the opening of the photo exhibition prepared by us jointly with the TASS News Agency.A virtual tour of archival photos offers a glimpse into many glorious pages of Russia’s participation in UNESCO.
When our country joined UNESCO, Russian became one of its official languages. On June 6, UNESCO headquarters in Paris hosted events dedicated to Russian Language Day. Artists performed in Russian, translators and interpreters argued in Russian and about Russian. Even the astronauts sent their congratulations directly from the ISS.
“A people’s immortality lies in its language,”Kyrgyz author Chinghiz Aitmatov once said.As a multinational country,Russia is making significant efforts to preserve and develop its numerous indigenous languages. Multilingualism is our traditional priority at UNESCO. Sharing expertise in this area was the focus of one of the key events of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages,the Second High-Level International Conference “World Treasury of Mother Tongues: Nourish and Cherish.”
The language of music needs no words to be understood. But it takes a lot of effort to study and teach this language.When the Gnesin sisters opened a private music school in February 1895, driven by the desire to pursue their educational ideals, they could not image that their name would become synonymous with excellence in artistic performance, and their small school would once become an academy, gain worldwide fame, and even include a folk faculty.
A traditional Mordovian wedding cannot do without a lyrical song performed in the groom’s house.Its rituals date back to ancient times and have amazingly been preserved almost intact, just as the beautiful town of Suzdal, the pearl of the Golden Ring of Russia, which celebrates its 1000th anniversary this year. Our exhibition also includes a photo of Minister of Culture Evgeny Sidorov presenting Archbishop Eulogius of Vladimir and Suzdal with a certificate of inclusion of the white monuments of Vladimir and Suzdal in the World Heritage List, which is also part of Russia’s 70-year history at UNESCO.
Tatiana Dovgalenko, Secretary General of the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO