Schoolchildren and students of KBSU were advised how to preserve the wealth … the wealth of Russian culture

Cultural and educational excursions for students and schoolchildren were held in the scientific and educational center of the Russian language and culture of the Kabardino-Balkarian State University named after H. M. Berbekov as part of the celebration of the International Day of Culture and the Year of the Cultural Heritage of the Peoples of Russia. 

Nadezhda Chaika, director of the center, introduced the unique collection of exhibits of the scientific and educational center of the Russian language and culture: Our center has already become a kind of ethnographic museum, which brings together household items, outerwear, kitchen utensils and other things of peasant life. The collection of Gzhel ceramics, painted in bizarre bluish patterns, is widely represented; there are objects representing Gzhel majolica — this is a multi-color painting on a white background, which differs from the blue-white motifs we are used to. Separately, it is worth mentioning a peculiar collection of samovars.

This is not just an antique imitation, some of them are original products, in which tea is prepared “the old fashioned way” — with the help of a firebox with cones or wooden chocks. Nadezhda Chaika urged the children to always remember the need to comply with cultural norms both in behavior and in speech. Speaking about speech etiquette, she cited the words of Dmitry Likhachev, a scientist and defender of Russian culture, as an example: speech should be long and attentive, because our speech is the most important part not only of our behavior, but also of our personality, our soul, mind, our ability not to succumb to the influences of the environment. Of particular note is the interest in the center of the Russian language among foreign students of the preparatory department of the Higher School of International Education. Here, for the first time, they got acquainted with samples of the folk arts and crafts of Russia and were able to get in touch with the cultural heritage of our Motherland. Also, students and schoolchildren got acquainted with the announcement of the center’s events aimed at popularizing the Russian language, Russian culture and Russian history, and expressed a desire to take part in them. For reference: World Day of Culture is celebrated annually on April 15 in a number of countries around the world. It was established in 1998 in honor of the adoption on April 15, 1935 of the international treaty «On the Protection of Artistic and Scientific Institutions and Historical Monuments», which became known in international legal practice as the Roerich Pact.

The International Day of Culture owes its appearance to Nicholas Roerich — an artist, philosopher, writer, humanist. Culture, in his opinion, is the main engine of the progress of society, something that unites people regardless of nationality, age and religion. During his lifetime, Nicholas Roerich did not have time to achieve the official establishment of the Day of Culture, but the artist’s idea of ​​​​an international holiday was still destined to come true, even more than half a century after his death.