ID :
97871
Sun, 01/03/2010 - 07:53
Auther :

Russia, France open new page in bilateral dialogue.


By Itar-Tass writer Dmitry Gorokhov

PARIS, January 2 (Itar-Tass) -- Moscow and Paris will open a new page
in bilateral relations in 2010. The countries are completing the last
preparations for an opening ceremony in the French capital of the
simultaneous Year of Russia in France and the Year of France in Russia in
2010.

The unprecedented large-scale project embraces the whole scope of
partnership from cultural ties to space exploration projects.
The countries are planning to hold at least 400 various cultural
events not only on the national level, but also a great number of regional
initiatives, general commissaire of the French organizing committee
Nicolas Chibaeff told Itar-Tass. The events pursue three important goals:
to learn more about each other, encourage the mutual interest in the
development of exchanges and to broaden the scope of cooperation involving
the new generations of French and Russian citizens. The leaders of the
countries, Dmitry Medvedev and Nicolas Sarkozy, proceeded from these
goals, when they decided to hold the simultaneous Year of Russia in France
and the Year of France in Russia in 2010.
The official opening ceremony is to be held in Paris on January 25. A
bilateral student forum will meet in the French capital for the first time
on January 25, the St. Tatiana's Day, which is a holiday of Russian
students. The January concerts at the Paris Pleyel Concert Hall will
present a musical overture of the Year of the countries. The Orchestra of
the St. Petersburg Mariinsky Theatre conducted by Valery Gergiev will
perform all Tchaikovsky's symphonies for French citizens.
The unique exposition "Holy Rus" due to open at the Louvre Museum on
March 2 will be a remarkable event. The collections from the museums of
the Kremlin, Vladimir, Suzdal and Veliky Novgorod will create a panorama
of the first centuries of Russian history up to the Peter the Great times.
According to the experts, the insurance cost of the relics is one billion
euros. The exhibition on the history of the Russian Imperial Guard will
open at the Paris Military Museum (Musee de l'Armee).
Modern Russia will be broadly presented in an exhibition at the Paris
Grand Palais. The exhibition will open at this Paris exhibition hall on
Russia Day celebrated on June 12.
France will familiarize the Russians with the masterpieces of the
country's architecture, plastic art, fashion, design and music. The Paris
painting school exhibition will be held at the Pushkin Fine Arts Museum,
the exhibition "Napoleon and the Arts" will open at the State Historical
Museum in Moscow, and the collections of the famous porcelain Manufacture
de Sevres at the Hermitage State Museum. Some 250 masterpieces from the
Paris Picasso Museum will be exhibited in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The
Moscow Manezh Exhibition Hall will hold the exhibition "The Art to Live in
the French Style". The day of French wine will be also held in the Russian
capital.
Renowned choreographer Angelin Preljocaj intends to bring together
Russian and French ballet stars in a world premiere of modern ballet - at
first in Russia and then in France. The Paris National Opera and the
Moscow Bolshoi Theatre will offer a joint performance for Chekhov's
anniversary festival. Philippe Fenelon will stage an opera based on
Chekhov's play The Cherry Orchard.
The oldest French theatre Comedie Francaise will give guest
performances all over Russia. The theatre will stage guest performances
not only in Moscow and St. Petersburg, but also in Kaliningrad,
Novosibirsk, Omsk and Yekaterinburg. The festival of French street
theatres will be held in the Volga River cities.
The business community supports the dialogue between the countries.
For instance, Gazprom and Gaz de France are among the business partners in
the project on the millennium retrospective of Russian history at the
Louvre Museum. Several well-known businessmen decided to unite in the
special committee of sponsors to support the unique program of cultural
exchanges between the countries.
Among other plans within the framework of the Year of the countries is
the participation of French servicemen in the Parade on the occasion of
the 65th anniversary of the Great Victory in the Second World War on the
Red Square on May 9, 2010. Alongside, Russian servicemen can participate
in the festivities on the Champs Elysees Avenue on Bastille Day, the
French Independence Day celebrated on July 14.
The news agencies France Presse, ITAR-TASS and other leading mass
media are playing an important role in bilateral communications projects.
The scientific community will mark the year 2010 with the launches of
boosters Soyuz from the spaceport Kourou in French Guiana. The bilateral
exchanges are also planned in education and sports.
"Surprise me!" the organizer of the Russian Ballet Seasons in Paris
Sergei Diaghilev formulated the mission of creative work in the dialogue
with French poet Jean Cocteau in the previous century. A forthcoming
Russian-French rendezvous will allow the two countries to surprise each
other many times.
-0-baz


X