On April 22 through 25, 2010, an extended program was represented in Kharkiv (Ukraine), that made the kharkovites acquainted with the cultural and business life of St.Petersburg.
On April 22 through 25, 2010, an extended program was represented in Kharkiv (Ukraine), that made the kharkovites acquainted with the cultural and business life of St.Petersburg.
Petersburg delegation included the representatives of state executive bodies: the Committee for External Relations, Committee for Science and Higher Education, Committee for Culture, research institutions and universities of the city, enterprises and organizations of St.Petersburg. The delegation was headed by Roman Filimonov, Vice-Governor of St.Petersburg.
St.Petersburg and Kharkiv have been traditional partners for many years. The signing of a cooperation agreement between the cities in 2003 intensified the exchanges of official delegations, business missions, consultations on topical issues of urban development, cultural encounters. A new stage came after signing The Program of Cooperation between the Executive Committee of the Kharkiv City Council and the Government of St.Petersburg in 2007.
Special attention within the confines of the Days of St.Petersburg was paid to the meetings with veterans of the Great Patriotic War – the defenders and residents of sieged Leningrad, living in Kharkiv, and the memory of those slain during the war years.
On behalf of the Government of St.Petersburg, Roman Filimonov handed to the veterans and the blockade residents a commemorative medal “In Honor of 65th Anniversary of the Complete Leningrad Liberation from the Nazi Blockade”.
At the Memorial of Glory of Kharkiv, the Petersburg delegation laid a wreath to the monument to Motherland. Also, a solemn requiem service was rendered to memorize the heroes fallen in WW II.
The opening of the Alley in Memory of Those Killed in the Great Patriotic War was timed to the days of St.Petersburg. In March this year, 15 lime-trees were planted along the Alley; capsules with the soil, brought from the hero-cities and places of the goriest battles of the Great Patriotic War, were laid to their roots.
The concert “Blue Kerchief” was organized for the war veterans: St.Petersburg artists and creative teams of Ukraine performed the songs of the wartime years.
As a business part of the Days of St.Petersburg in Kharkiv, Kharkiv Chamber of Commerce and Industry hosted a round table “Prospects of Development of Trade and Economic Relations between St.Petersburg and Kharkiv”, and the opening of the Information and Business Center of St.Petersburg (IBC). New IBC in Kharkiv is intended primarily to promote the active trade between the cities.
Summing up the business program, Roman Filimonov, Vice-Governor, said: “Our cities have good prospects for cooperation and sharing experience in various areas of life: economics, education, and culture. We are pleased that the arrangements reflected in the Agreements and Program of Cooperation between our cities have not remained on paper, nor are a framework, but are confirmed by a very exacting and pragmatic approach to their implementation, yet not devoid of friendship and understanding”.
The cultural program was launched by a festival of Russian language “St.Petersburg and the Russian Say”, was held in Kharkiv University of Humanities “Ukrainian Folk Academy” for two days. The first day of the festival was organized in form of interactive multimedia game-quiz on Russian language and literature. Participants were involved in a game show, during which they were offered a number of case assignments in Russian language and knowledge of Russian classical literature. Each task was a mini-presentation created using the video materials, graphics, animation, and sound. On the second day of the festival, the teachers and lovers of Russian literature participated in master classes “Modern Russian Language: Losses and Gainings” and “Russian Language in Post-Soviet Era”, and heard the lectures “Stories of Belkin: the History of Meaning and Meaning of the History” and “I’d Like to Be But a Freelance Artist (The Author and the Protagonist in the Stories by A. Chekhov)”.
Pupils and students of Kharkiv had the opportunity to get acquainted with the universities of St.Petersburg. At the Kharkiv National University named after V N Karazin, the presentation were held by St.Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance, Polytechnic University, and St.Petersburg State University. At the meeting, the system of higher and secondary vocational education in St.Petersburg was explained in detail, as well as the order of application to universities, educational programs, schools and the supportive measures that the city provided to the students.
An important part of the cultural program of the Days was a concert program. Kharkiv inhabitants could see the variety of musical styles existing in St.Petersburg by visiting the original jazz performance “1900”, “A Night of Russian Romance Song” and the gala concert “From St.Petersburg with Love” (People's Artists of Russia: V. Gerello, L. Senchina, I. Kornelyuk, and S. Novozhilov, honored artists of Russia T. Bulanova, S. Rogozhin), which became a formal opening of the Days of St.Petersburg in Kharkiv.
Theatre Festival “Baltic House” presented a play “Reloaded” participated by National Artist of Russia Yu. Stoyanov and R. Gromadskiy, while an original St.Petersburg theater of manual plastics Hand Made - a plastic performance “Time for Fun”.
News source: Committee for External Relations of St.Petersburg