On the sidelines of the X St. Petersburg International United Cultures Forum, Olga Lyubimova, Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation, held bilateral negotiations with her counterparts from Egypt, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
During her meeting with Egypt’s Minister of Culture, Ahmed Fouad Hanno, Lyubimova expressed confidence that Egypt’s accession to BRICS would provide additional impetus for expanding Russian-Egyptian cultural cooperation. When discussing future collaboration, the Russian Minister of Culture emphasized the importance of the museum sector, the film industry, and creative education.
"Student exchanges, especially among professionals in the museum and library sectors, could be an important step in developing cultural dialogue between our two countries," said Lyubimova. "I would also like to thank the Egyptian side for their annual participation in the Children’s Cultural Forum. We are very happy that creative young people from Egypt are actively engaging in master classes and lectures led by top Russian instructors, and they demonstrate outstanding abilities in the school of performing arts."
Ahmed Fouad Hanno, in turn, noted that Russia and Egypt have a long history of cultural cooperation:
"Our cooperation has deep roots. In some ways, Russian culture and Russian art have laid the foundation for the formation of modern Egyptian art. We pay great attention to the study of Russian literature. This is reflected in our theatrical performances, ballet, and the active exchange between our academies," he said.
Hanno also expressed interest in cooperation in the film and musical arts.
The Russian initiative to establish a Eurasian Academy of Cinematic Arts and the Open Eurasian Film Award received particular attention during the meeting.
During her meeting with Gayton McKenzie, South Africa’s Minister of Sports, Arts, and Culture, Lyubimova stressed that developing Russian-South African cooperation in culture is highly significant, both bilaterally and within the BRICS and G20 frameworks.
"We are pleased that exchanges between our countries in the field of performing arts are growing. Just last week, the Days of Spiritual Culture of Russia were successfully held in Pretoria, Durban, and Johannesburg," said Lyubimova.
She also discussed expanding cooperation in the field of cinema. In April, South Africa presented the feature film Seconds at the BRICS Film Festival in Moscow, and South African actress Florence Masebe was part of the festival jury.
In response, Gayton McKenzie suggested focusing on deepening creative exchanges between the two nations.
During her conversation with Salem Ben Khaled Al-Qasimi, Minister of Culture of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Lyubimova noted that recent years have seen Russian-Emirati cultural cooperation reach a new qualitative level, and the UAE’s entry into BRICS opens even more possibilities.
She mentioned the active exchange in cinema: Emirati filmmakers had participated in the BRICS Film Festival jury.
Lyubimova also expressed hope for expanding cooperation across all aspects of cultural collaboration, encouraging the UAE’s cultural institutions to join the existing BRICS Alliances of Museums, Art Galleries, Libraries, and Children's Theaters.
"We are ready to actively work on a project for a Russian cultural and educational center based at the cultural cluster on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi," said Lyubimova.
She emphasized that the key feature of this project would be a unique exhibition program.