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Protestors in Rome demonstrate against ‘cancelling’ Russian culture

During the rally, fragments of works by Russian composers were performed in the center of the Italian capital

ROME, May 12. /TASS/. About three dozen people took part in a demonstration against the current crusade to cancel Russian culture in Piazza dei Santi Apostoli in the center of Rome on Thursday.

"We noticed that culture is being discriminated against, and in this historical period, [it is] particularly Russian culture [that is being discriminated against], in an extremely ideological way, without respecting our history and traditions, or the intercultural exchanges that have existed with Russia for 60 years," lawyer Leo Maria Galati, who spearheaded the event, told TASS in reply to a corresponding question. "Today, we decided <...> to go out on the square so that people will understand the importance of culture, especially at such a historic moment. Culture must be an element of unity, not division," she said.

Yulia Bazarova, a public figure and founder of the Amici della Grande Russia (Friends of Great Russia) association that organized the demonstration, recalled the cancellation of a course on Fyodor Dostoyevsky at a university in Milan and of plays to the music of Pyotr Tchaikovsky in several Italian theaters. "Culture has no borders, no skin color, and no languages. Culture belongs to all peoples," she stressed.

"Italian artists have been inspired by Russia for centuries and vice versa. Every day I find a new example of beautiful Russian-Italian interaction in art. We cannot deny this shared history," Daria Pushkova, director of the Russian House in Rome, pointed out. "To cancel Russian culture means to cancel European culture. We can't do this simply because then there will be no beauty that will save us all," she argued.

During the rally, fragments of works by Russian composers were performed in the center of the Italian capital.

Since 2014, the cultural association Amici della Grande Russia (Friends of Great Russia) has been organizing events aimed at developing and strengthening cultural ties between Italy and Russia. According to Bazarova, a couple of events this year have already had to be postponed.

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