On April 19, 2021, the grand opening of the forum "Russia and Norway – at the crossroads of eras and cultures" took place in Murmansk, the events of which are held in two countries at once (from 18 to 21 April). The project is dedicated to the 200th anniversary of F.M. Dostoevsky, whose work had a huge impact on world culture. The opening took place offline in Murmansk and online in the Norwegian cities of Tromsø and Kirkenes. In addition, the broadcast was organized on the culture.rf portal.
The participants of the forum were greeted by the Deputy Governor of the Murmansk Region Elena Dyagileva. “Despite the fact that the Norwegian participants can only attend online and are hundreds of kilometers apart, we were able to gather at this forum,” said the Deputy Governor. "I would like to wish all forum participants to find new creative ideas and development prospects that we can implement in offline formats when the restrictions are lifted."
Head of the Murmansk city Administration Evgeny Nikora also took part in the opening of the forum. The topic touched upon at the forum is especially relevant for Murmansk, since our cooperation with Norway has lasted for over 40 years, twin cities have been established with the cities of Tromsø and Vadso, and a corresponding protocol of intent has been signed with the commune of Sør-Varanger.
Natalia Vedishcheva, Deputy Chairman of the Murmansk Regional Duma, thanked the organizers of the forum – the Murmansk Arctic State University and the production center "Northern Character" for the great work on the development of cultural cooperation between Russia and Norway. MASU Rector Irina Shadrina wished the participants of the forum creative initiatives. “All the initiatives announced at this forum will be supported by MASU and will form the basis for the development of Russian-Norwegian relations,” said Irina Shadrina.
The opening featured works by the great musicians Edvard Grieg and Pyotr Tchaikovsky performed by soloists of the Murmansk Regional Philharmonic Society Evgeny Popov, Ekaterina Okhraminskaya, Pyotr Makarov. In addition, the audience was shown the animated film The Dream of a Ridiculous Man (directed by A. Petrov, 1992), based on the works of Fyodor Dostoevsky.
The program of the forum "Russia and Norway – at the crossroads of eras and cultures" includes an international scientific and practical conference, open lectures, film screenings, creative meetings, exhibitions and a guided tour. Some events will be streamed to social networks with simultaneous translation into Russian and Norwegian. As a result of the forum, collections of scientific articles and literary works will be published.
The Forum is held by the ANO "Producer Center" Northern Character "jointly with the Murmansk Arctic State University with the support of the Presidential Grants Fund. Organizational support for the project is provided by the Ministry of Culture of the Murmansk Region, the Writers" Union of Russia, the Murmansk State Regional Universal Scientific Library, the Murmansk Regional Museum of Local Lore, ANO Center for Social Projects of the Pechenga District “Second School”, Sør-Varangerbibliotek, Consulate of the Kingdom of Norway in Murmansk of the General Consulate of the Russian Federation in Kirkenes.
