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MOSCOW. August 16 this year at the International Multimedia Press Center "Russia Today" the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly and the House of Africa presented the International Festival "Cultures of African Peoples in Russia - AFROFEST". The festival will be held throughout the day on August 26 at the site of the Kuzminki park in Moscow.
A variety of event formats and a rich program will allow you to get acquainted with almost all aspects of modern and traditional African culture: music, dance, fine arts, cinema, fashion.
The festival was supported by the embassies of African countries, the Department of Foreign Economic and International Relations of the City of Moscow, the Union of African Diasporas in Russia.
The press conference was opened by the Secretary General of the International Union of Non-Governmental Organizations "Eurasian Peoples' Assembly" Andrey Belyaninov. He noted that Africa is as large a continent as Eurasia. but in the process of cooperation and interaction, there is less and less clear division.
“In my opinion, this happened more even at the initiative of the people of Africa themselves, and we are happy to accept these innovations in the areas of physical and political geography, but, above all, in the popular and humanitarian spheres. <…> Not everyone knows the culture of African countries well. Each country is distinctive and carries a unique genetic set”.
The Secretary General of the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly also spoke about the opening of representative offices of the Assembly in the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Kingdom of Jordan. The representations work in various directions to bring together peoples living on different continents. The Secretary General noted that the AFROFEST festival perfectly demonstrates the desire of peoples to get to know each other better and creates opportunities for this.
“We will open our representative offices in other countries as well, so that we can get to know each other better in humanitarian terms. And we supported AFROFEST, which was conceived by our colleagues present here today, with pleasure, we take part in it with pleasure. And I am sure that it will be successful,” Andrey Belyaninov said.
Elmira Shcherbakova, Deputy Head of the General Secretariat of the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly, spoke about the interpenetration of cultures, the passion of artists and poets for Africa and her impressions of Kenya and Gabon.
“Africa, with all its mystery, which impresses Russian artists, poets and just Russian people, is open. The series of paintings by artists Serebryakova, Petrov-Vodkin and many others dedicated to the African continent, show that we are passionate about Africa, it fascinates us and we express this with beautiful artistic meanings. This festival is necessary for everyone to discover their own Africa. Let Muscovites become a little bit African on this day, for a few hours", - said Elmira Shcherbakova.
The Head of the Department of African Countries of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly, President of the House of Africa Serge Phocas Odunlami admitted that Russia has become a great Motherland for him. He also said that the idea of the festival came to him in his student years. It was then that he felt that there was little familiarity with the culture of the African continent among students from other countries.
“Russia has become a great Motherland for me. But during my studies, I felt that students at the university were not familiar with our culture. Only after 2-3 years we became closer. When my son was born, I realized that my mission is to participate in the development of relations between Russia, other countries with African countries. Stereotypes that hinder the establishment of business and friendly relations must be destroyed,”- said Serge.
Groups from Africa - artists, dancers, musicians - are invited to the festival. According to the organizers, everyone will be surprised by an African orchestra and a fashion show.
“There will be designers, stylists, artists who will come from Africa, a fashion show is planned. On the day of the event we will have nine venues. Guests of the festival will be able to take part in music and dance master classes. Africa is already there,” - says the president of Africa House.
President of the "Union of African Diasporas in Russia", President of the "Association of the Ethiopian Community of Russia" Mr. Zenebe Tafesse Kinfu noted that the International Festival "AFROFEST" can be considered as a logical continuation of the interaction after the Russia-Africa Summit, which was accompanied by an exceptionally benevolent atmosphere; the talks and meetings of the Russian and African participants were constructive. As a result, a significant impetus was given to the further development of multilateral Russian-African cooperation.
“Today, there are 16,000 specialists in Moscow alone who are engaged in the promotion of African culture. Many give classes for free. We already have an African orchestra in Moscow, which will be presented at the festival. They performed in St. Petersburg at the Russia-Africa Summit. Today we have more than 240 musical professional groups. With the support of the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly, we will definitely succeed,” - the President of the Union of African Diasporas in Russia shared.
In continuation, the Secretary General of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly Andrey Belyaninov noted that the issues of humanitarian and cultural cooperation deserve special serious attention on the agenda.
“I believe that as for cultural and humanitarian cooperation, it deserves separate mentions on the agenda. It is impossible to live only by politics, because people want live human communication. And you know, I would say that without culture politics itself doesn't work anymore. I don't know to what extent Russia is going to be involved in Africa now, but it seems to me that Africa is simply drawing Russia into itself. Africa is calling everyone. We have many peoples, countries that would also like to participate in festivals. Every nation, every country has something to say to the world,” - Andrey Belyaninov concluded.
Recall, "AFROFEST" will take place on August 26 this year from 12:00 to 22:00. The festival site is the Kuzminki-Lublino State Historical, Architectural and Natural Landscape Museum-Reserve (Kuzminki Park, Moscow, Kuzminsky Park Street, 1, building 2).
The organizers of the festival are the International Union of Non-Governmental Organizations "The Eurasian Peoples' Assembly" and the Autonomous Non-Profit Organization for the Development of Cultural, Educational, Business and Public Relations "House of Africa" with the support of the Department for Foreign Economic and International Relations of the City of Moscow.
For information cooperation:
media@eurasia-assembly.org, tel.: +7 (985) 711-30-41
