At the meeting of the International Discussion Club “VISION 3000”, the theme of which was: “The culture of multinational Russia should be devoted to goodness and harmony”. Maria Kokunova, Head of the Projects Department of the “Power of Revival” Charitable Foundation, moderator of round tables and business events, ambassador of the community “Volunteers of Moscow”, made a report on the theme: “The culture of multinational Russia should be devoted to goodness and harmony”.
The network publication “Embassy life” was the General Information Partner.
The theme of the report: “Culture and art – keys to understanding the thinking of any nation and confession”.
Culture is undoubtedly a system-forming factor in terms of education of tolerance and understanding of our multinational country. If we look at the historical map, the development and expansion of the Russian state was invariably accompanied by the preservation of the cultural identity of peoples. The beautiful motley mosaic of nations and peoples of different nations and peoples is our special strength. This historical experience should be taken into account and talked about.
Russia has never said that Russians are the titular nation. More than 190 nations make up a single organism. No one from the outside is able to fully understand or defeat us, when in case of trouble all stand shoulder to shoulder in defense of the united Motherland. But we can. We can accept, understand and respect the culture of any nation.
It is important that in Russia people who stood at the foundations of state policy, creators of culture were people of different nationalities. V.I. Dahl, who created the dictionary of the Great Russian language, is the son of a Dane and a German woman; A.S. Pushkin, the creator of the Russian literary language, has roots in Ethiopia; the Lermontov family comes from Scotland; and Bagration, who was mortally wounded on the Borodino field, is from a Georgian princely family.
The peculiarity is that the Russian government has never disadvantaged people on national and religious grounds, as was the case in other countries. In our country – exclusively on merit. And, in turn, major patrons of the arts, industrialists of various nationalities were trustees, benefactors, in a common endeavor to create that beautiful Russia, the heirs of which we are.
It is sewn in at the genetic level, but we are obliged to pass on the KNOWLEDGE of this unique power to our children. Through what? The forms are known (slide). Fairy tales are a basic form of transmitting cultural heritage to children from birth. And multimedia technologies open new possibilities.
But it is necessary to start with ourselves. To ask questions, to expand their horizons, to be interested in works of art and cultural objects of other peoples and denominations.
We have a lot to work on. For example, there are 20 million Muslims in the Russian Federation, about 15% of the population. Since the beginning of 2024, the Power of Revival Foundation has held a number of round tables on the theme “The Quran – a literary miracle”, which I moderated. It proved to be incredibly difficult to find a venue for this enlightening event with the Center for the Study of Islamic Art and other renowned subject matter experts.
Let us return briefly to Pushkin (“Imitation of the Quran”). The first translation of the Quran was made at the behest of Peter the Great and who knows what influence this work of art had on the genius of the Russian classics.
The search for inspiration and knowledge of great creations of other cultures enriches the worldview and spirituality of any person. We should not forget about it now, and it is in our power, as representatives of the non-profit sector, first of all, to convey this knowledge through cultural events.
Website of the Power of Revival Charitable Foundation https://silavozrozhdeniia.com
