Minister of Culture of Georgia to speak at the Bolshoi Theater
On April 15-16 at the Bolshoi Theatre the 10th Conference of Culture Ministers of the Council of Europe will be held. The conference will be attended by more than 230 delegates. Of the 50 member countries of the Council of Europe 22 will be represented at the level of ministers or secretaries of state.
According to Vadim Duda, director of the Department for the Information Policy and International Relations of the Ministry of Culture of Russia, three main topics will be addressed at the conference: «The first topic is about what governments can do, what their role is, what they can do to strengthen culture as a common ground for developing a common national identity.
The second topic is very familiar to us, to our ministry – it is innovative technologies, about what impact new technologies and multimedia have on the access to culture. I realize that maybe this sounds a bit strange, but the Ministry of Culture is not exactly lagging behind in terms of the use of information technology. I think that in the past year we have very much advanced in this respect.
The third topic is dedicated to the role of the Council of Europe, because an actual dialogue between cultures clearly will be effective only when it is not confined to one country, only when it is international. It is very important that the European Council recognizes the very important role of Russia in this process.»
The conference will be opened by the Russian Minister of Culture, Vladimir Medinskiy, with his report «Intercultural dialogue in Russia: a unique experience and perspective on the transition to the information society.»
«There is in fact a very interesting list of panellists, some of them, I think, would raise a lot of questions. For example, we all know about difficulties in relations with Georgia, but the conference will be attended by the Minister of Culture of Georgia, and this is a very good sign. Despite any political controversies, culture can be a kind of a common platform for dialogue. This is a very important and good sign», Duda says.
Adapted from Vestnik Kavkaza