Dialogue of cultures: Russia's valuable experience
Karina Ivashko / "Voice of Russia"
“A state can live in peace only when it supports a dialogue of cultures”. This is the opinion of the participants in the 6th International Media Forum The dialogue of Cultures taking place in St. Petersburg between the 21st ad 23rd of November.
The participants are mainly young journalists who represent the post-Soviet space and Europe, but there are also journalists from Brazil, China and the US. For many of them Russia has become the main subject in their professional activities, so they have the right to be called contributors to the dialogue of cultures. One of them is cheerful Gezilda Martins Lima from Brazil who has been covering events in Russia for 11 years as a correspondent of the Globo News TV channel. This is what she said in her interview for The Voice of Russia:
“For the time I’ve been living here, my opinion of Russia has completely changed for the better,” Gezilda says. "In the past Brazilians thought that Russia was a difficult, closed country but now they look upon it as a good place for travelling and getting education. When I came here I had the same stereotypes, I thought that Russians were sullen and unsociable. However, even at the beginning, when I did not speak a word of Russian, people were eager to help me.”
Another participant in the St. Petersburg forum, German journalist Ulrich Heiden said in his interview for The Voice of Russia:
“It is amazing to attend a forum named A Dialogue of Cultures at a time when international conflicts break out in this or that part of the world on a regular basis. I know how difficult it is to accept a different culture, - Ulrich continues. – It is something new to us because Turks have lived in our country only for 40-50 years. On the contrary, you have a vast experience in Russia with Tatars and other people of different religions having lived side by side with Russians for several hundred years. Your experience is very valuable. In my opinion, a state can sleep peacefully only when it can provide a dialogue between cultures.”
After many years of working in Russia, the German journalist said, he even began thinking on the scale of the Russian cultural space:
“I feel like a go-between for Russia and Germany. I enjoy explaining many things about your country, for example, that people of over 50 nationalities live in the Caucasus. For the Germans this is mind-boggling. This is why I don’t want to leave, I’m interested in seeing Russia’s development.”
These were some opinions which foreign participants in the 6th International Media Forum The Dialogue of Cultures shared with The Voice of Russia.
