ROME, October 2. /TASS/. The results of the second International Youth Scientific and Educational Contest ‘Italy. Russian Roads’ were announced in the Russian House in Rome. This project, supported by the Russian Embassy, Honorary Consulates in Naples and Udine, and the Coordinating Council of Russian Compatriots Living Abroad, aims to develop international cooperation and familiarize young people with the history and culture of Russia and Italy, the Russian House explained.
"‘Italy. Russian Roads’ is one of my favorite youth projects held at our site for several years. It clearly demonstrates the centuries-old cultural ties between our countries and allows everyone to learn a lot of new things not only the project participants, but everyone who wants to learn," Daria Pushkova, the director of the Russian House, told TASS on Saturday.
She admitted that she has always discovered details she didn't know. "My favorite quote this year is the dialogue between Andrey Tarkovsky and Federico Fellini that the young researchers told us about. ‘You see, I don't know what will happen tomorrow,’ Tarkovsky says to Fellini. And the latter replies: ‘Andrey, take it easy, no one knows what tomorrow will bring’. So, we all do not know what will happen tomorrow, but today we embodied a project that allows us to keep a connection between our peoples and countries, knowing our shared history," Pushkova said.
Learning about Russian artists
The project was attended by 45 young people from Russia and Italy aged 18 to 36 years. They are students of Russian colleges of different fields, compatriots living in Italy and Russian speaking Italians interested in Russian culture. In total 15 teams were formed, which, from October 2021 to August 2022 studied the "trace" of a particular historical figure from Russia in Italy. This year the contest geography covered Rome, Naples, Sorrento, Bari, San Remo, Venice, Turin, Florence and Messina on the island of Sicily.
As a result, research on the lives of Sergey Diaghilev in Venice, Alexander Botkin in San Remo, Andrey Tarkovsky in Florence were praised in the ‘Scientific Research Article’ and ‘Popular Science Video’ categories. Video stories about Boris Zaitsev in Rome and Alexey Tolstoy in Sorrento won the third place, essays about Pyotr Konchalovsky in Siena and Maya Plisetskaya in Rome, as well as a video ‘Yesenin in Rome’ came second. First place in both nominations went to ‘Ivan Tsvetaev in Bologna’ - a project about the father of the poetess Marina Tsvetaeva, a historian, archaeologist, philosopher and art historian, who was an honorary member of the University of Bologna.
According to Pushkova, the Russian House is actively working. "Enrollment for Russian language courses has been made, and we have 200 applications, which is almost twice as many as usual. On October 4 there will be an online conference on the 65th anniversary of the first satellite. On October 10, we will celebrate the 130th anniversary of Tsvetaeva," the director said.