On December 1–3 St. Petersburg hosted the V International Cultural Forum. The event was organized by the Government of the Russian Federation, the Government of St. Petersburg with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and brought together politicians, journalists, and art community from 82 countries of the world. Greece became the guest country at 2016 Forum.
On December 1–3 St. Petersburg hosted the V International Cultural Forum. The event was organized by the Government of the Russian Federation, the Government of St. Petersburg with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and brought together politicians, journalists, and art community from 82 countries of the world. Greece became the guest country at 2016 Forum.
One of the key topics of the Forum was the preservation of the world cultural heritage. In particular, at the plenary meeting the Greek Minister of Culture and Sport, Lidia Koniordou underscored the problem of Iraq and Syria cultural values being stolen by the terrorists, who use the black market sales revenue to cover the extremist activity expenses.
Wang Meng, PRC former Minister of Culture, stated that thefts of cultural value items is a pending issue in China as well, and narrated about the problem of preserving national cultures in the globalizing world.
Hannes Hofbauer, an Austrian historian and journalist mentioned that European mass media are shaping a negative image of Russia, though the Russian culture is valued by the Western intellectuals. He also made a presentation of his book «Enemy Image Russia. A History of Demonization».
Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director of the State Hermitage Museum, made a reference to Academy Fellow Dmitry Likhachev who stated that «without memory there can be no conscience». M. Piotrovsky highlighted that it is ideology that has to counter the destruction of cultural heritage.
The issue of artifact protection gained momentum during the second day of the Forum at the «Cultural Heritage in Conflict Areas» plenary meeting. The Minister of Culture of Iraq Javad al-Jazairi said that ISIS has to be countered not only by force, but also in a cultural and ideological way. He also emphasized that the official Baghdad can counter ISIS only in cooperation with the international community.
Mikhail Piotrovsky pointed out that the monuments and other items of cultural value have to be protected through the use of force as well. The Director of the State Hermitage Museum noted the importance of signing a Declaration of Culture Rights akin to the Declaration of Human Rights. He also reminded the participants of the criminal prosecution in terms of Mali monuments being destroyed.
The Deputy Director of the Institute of History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences Natalia Solovieva spoke about the today’s Syrian Palmira 3D landscape and architecture model creation, that suffered in the course of ISIS militant activity.
Nikolay Markotkin, Media and Government Relations Manager, represented RIAC at the Forum.
