The international festival “Ossetia - Russia: common cultural heritage” started in Tskhinval on Monday with the opening of the exhibition dedicated to the celebration of the 120th anniversary of the outstanding writer Gaito Gazdanov.
The event took place at the South Ossetian State University under the title “Gaito Gazdanov. Homecoming. 120 years."
The opening was attended by the faculty of the South Ossetian State University headed by rector Vadim Tedeev, Russian Ambassador to South Ossetia Marat Kulakhmetov, representatives of the Russian House in Tskhinval, Russian writer Yuri Nechiporenko, representatives of the A. Solzhenitsyn and the Heritage Foundation of Russian Abroad - Svetlana Romanova and Konstantin Pogorelsky.
Opening the event, President of the Association of Teachers of Russian Language and Literature of South Ossetia, Zalina Tedeeva, noted the importance of the festival, having emphasized that the today's events are aimed at an in-depth study of the creativity of Gaito Gazdanov.
Rector of the South Ossetian State University Vadim Tedeev has expressed gratitude to the leadership of the House of Russian Abroad, who handed over books to the South Ossetian State University several times.
“South Ossetian State University has been doing a lot to popularize the Russian language, literature and history. Thanks to the great work of representatives of our university, the whole world knows that South Ossetia is a part of the Russian world,” Tedeev has emphasized.
There is no future without history
During his speech, Marat Kulakhmetov has noted that the work of Gaito Gazdanov is a huge heritage that must be preserved.
“I am happy that we are holding such an event today, our history is our future. It is very good that the works of Gaito Gazdanov will be included in the study program of the South Ossetian State University students. In the 30s of the last century, his works and creativity were valued in the same way as Nabokov’s. This is a very serious assessment. Gaito was never rich, and when a person is not rich, it is a completely different view of life,” the Ambassador has emphasized.
One of the organizers of the event, Svetlana Romanova, has emphasized that this festival is one of the educational projects of the Heritage Foundation of Russian Abroad, which is aimed at preserving and popularizing cultural and historical heritage.
“It’s very nice to be in hospitable South Ossetia again. I was here a year ago and it’s an incredible feeling when you see familiar faces and realize that they recognize you too... When you read the works of Gaito Gazdanov, written in Russian, you realize that he is Ossetian to the core. He personifies the dialogue of cultures that we are talking about,” she said.
Romanova shared that as part of the festival on Tuesday, books will be handed over to the Dzau boarding school.
The exhibition is a kind of travel diary based on the author’s texts, documents, photographic materials, visual and material sources (books, newspapers, magazines, etc.), audio and video materials from the museum’s archives and private collections.
Those present were also able to receive booklets with QR codes for audio books.
A round table “Gaito Gazdanov. At the crossroads of traditions”, dedicated to the writer’s anniversary, has also taken place.
Russian writer Yuri Nechiporenko held a presentation where he told in detail about Gazdanov’s creativity.
The festival tells about the outstanding compatriots who found themselves far from their homeland at the beginning of the 20th century, but who became ambassadors of Russian culture throughout the world.
The writer Gaito Gazdanov, whose 120th birthday is celebrated this year, will become the central figure of the festival in South Ossetia - an exhibition, performance, and round table will be dedicated to him.
The partners of the festival are the House of Russian Abroad, the Russian House in Tskhinval, South Ossetian State University, VEB RF and the South Ossetian Theater.
