"The Caucasus with roots is entrenched in Russia and Russian culture"

The second Primordial Russia festival will be held in the Central House of Artists in Moscow until February 22.

 

Wild animals, gray-capped mountains, wild rivers, ancient forests and even a Chelyabinsk meteorite - these are all just small parts of a vast country. The festival is of huge scope. Visitors will find numerous masterclasses, documentaries, presentations of books. And for the youngest ones a special informative and entertainment program was prepared.

 

"This exhibition motivates love of nature, protecting the environment, attracting like-minded people, so as to be a big number, with dignity, in the Russian style to treat our beautiful nature," said the deputy chairwoman of the Federation Council Galina Karelova.

 

"When we talk about the greatness of our country, we are talking about historical greatness. But we have an amazing geography, wonderful nature, amazing beauty. Such an amazing collection of unseen landscapes, pictures and images, as in our country cannot be seen anywhere else in the world", considers culture Minister Vladimir Medinskiy.

The centerpiece of the exhibition is the project 'The Ridge: the Caucasus from Sea to Sea'. The work of photographer Anton Lange on it has become a year-long adventure.
"We all are very lucky that we have such a great mountainous country, with such a level of purity, real nature, people, ethnography, history, languages, food, cuisine. In this sense, the modern Caucasus is little different from the Caucasus that Lermontov or Tolstoy described. This is exactly that Caucasus, with roots entrenched in Russia and Russian culture," said Lange.

 

The exhibition features about 40 works of the photographer. Most of them are about the nature of the Caucasus, but there is also medieval architecture, which the author considers to be inseparable from the landscape. According to the Minister for the North Caucasus, Lev Kuznetsov, through this exhibition visitors can see the true face of the region: "The Caucasus is a part of Russia, it is very rich in every sense of the word. And it is important for all of us to feel that stability, the development of Russia will be determined with our inner attitude and feelings. We are different, but we are a part of our big, great Russia."

 

Senator from Ingushetia Ahmet Palankoev said that he was touched by the events at the festival: "When you see how admiringly about our beauty, monuments and history speak people who have seen the whole world, it's a pleasure. It seems it is impossible to surprise them, but they admire the Caucasus."

 

The event was organized by the Federation Council and the Russian Geographical Society with support from the Moscow government.