FSC a Special Guest at the International Cultural Forum in St. Petersburg
A special guest of the VIII International Cultural Forum in St. Petersburg, the Forum of Slavic Cultures with its delegation of 40 members from 11 Slavic countries organised 11 events. The FSC thus marked its 15th anniversary with a notable promotion of Slavic heritage.
At the opening ceremony of the Cultural Forum (where the attendants were addressed by Olga Golodets, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Medinsky, Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation, and deputies of China and Turkey’s ministries of culture) Andreja Rihter, Director of the Forum of Slavic Cultures, stressed: ”It is our job to create opportunities for exchanges of knowledge, experience and ideas, to be able to learn from each other and boost our creative potential.”
In the eight years since its inception the International Cultural Forum in St. Petersburg has developed into a global arena and a space of debate on contemporary developments in culture, conservation of cultural heritage and development strategies for national cultures. This year it was attended by 40,000 participants from 96 countries. It hosted 56 foreign delegations of which 18 arrived with ministers of culture at the helm. These included ministers from Slavic countries: Slovenia, Serbia, North Macedonia and Belarus.
Together with heads of delegations from FSC member countries these four ministers attended a special meeting at the invitation of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and Alla Manilova, Deputy Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation. With special guests Mikhail Shvydkoy, Special Envoy of the President of the Russian Federation for International Cultural Cooperation, Mikhail Khorev from the Department for Humanitarian Cooperation and Human Rights at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Mikhail Bryzgalov, General Director of the Russian National Museum of Music, Elena Kalnitskaya, General Director of Peterhof Museum and other guests from Russia they talked about FSC’s 15th anniversary and challenges for the future. They agreed that although the bonds between us have strengthened in this decade and a half, Slavic nations still have a lot to give to each other, and even more so to the world in general. After this year’s notable presentation they proposed that such activities should become a regular feature. As early as in 2020 we could organise a Slavic museum dialogue, launch preparations for the international Slavic Film Festival, and organise joint concerts. The attendants also put forward a proposal for the Year of Slavic Cultures project.
As part of the FSC programme a discussion on national media took place at the Hermitage. It was led by Mikhail Shvydkoy, Special Envoy of the President of the Russian Federation for International Cultural Cooperation, with guests: Zoran Poznič, Slovenian Minister of Culture, Hysni Ismaili, Minister of Culture of North Macedonia, Jani Virk, author and editor of documentary programme at national television TV Slovenia, Aleksandar Gatalica, author, editor and journalist at Radio-Television Serbia, and Ivana Kocelj, Head of Music Department at Croatian Radio Television.
A special part of the programme was a series of film screenings titled New Bulgarian Film , accompanied by debates with Bulgarian filmmakers Christina Stojanova, Kiril Kolarov, Galina Toleva and Ivan Savov.
PDF FSC Programme brochure
FSC a Special Guest at the International Cultural Forum in St. Petersburg
Photo: Press Office of St. Petersburg International Forum/Author/TASS