TOP Russian artists, including leading theatre troupes, should be giving performances in Slovakia next year.
The news emerged during last week's visit to Bratislava by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The development of bilateral cultural relations was on the agenda and talks took place at the ministerial level. Specifically the discussions focussed on an Agreement on Cultural Cooperation between the two countries. According to Nora Slováková, spokesperson for the Slovak Ministry of Culture, the agreement could be signed in the second quarter of 2005.
"Organizations that deal with cultural matters will work out a concrete plan for cooperation," she told The Slovak Spectator.
Mikhail Svidkoy, head of the Russian Federal Agency for Culture and Cinema said that mutual relations between the countries had been dynamic for some time. 2004's Days of Slovak Culture in the Russian Federation was a case in point. To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II, there will be a showing of Russian war movies in Bratislava at the beginning of May.
Svidkoy also said he hoped that young Russian filmmakers would get the chance to show their movies at the International Film Festival in Bratislava in December.
- Zuzana Habšudová
