Alexander Sholokhov: "Caucasus is one of the main directions of museum cooperation for Russia"

Russia and the South Caucasus countries are closely cooperating in UNESCO, in particular in the International Council of Museums (ICOM). President of Russian ICOM, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Culture Alexander Sholokhov discussed this cooperation in an interview with Vestnik Kavkaza. 

- Does Russian ICOM cooperate with Azerbaijani museums?

- We have great ties with Azerbaijan. In 2015 Azerbaijan hosted one of Russian ICOM's events. Using this experience, we held exhibitions after meetings with Azerbaijani museum workers. They were held with the support of State Central Museum of Contemporary History of Russia. 

- Are there any joint projects with Georgia?

- In 2015 Georgia hosted joint meeting of Russian and Georgian ICOM. This was a very interesting international event, during it we held a meeting of the Literary Museums Committee. Right now several Russian literary museums are discussing joint projects with Georgia. These projects will be dedicated to both our common and specific literary traditions. 

- What about cooperation with Armenian museums? 

- Rostov branch of Sholokhov's State Museum is working with Armenian museums. Rostov has a large Armenian diaspora, and the topic of Armenia is extremely relevant for this museum, which was headed by me until recently. In addition, Rostov is ofter called the gates to the North Caucasus, so all Caucasian republics will be presented in this branch. I would like to add that this year our museum will travel to Chechnya with an exposition, and we expect our colleagues to visit us in the near future, although Chechen museums already held exhibitions there in the past. 

- How important humanitarian cooperation with the Caucasus is for Russia?

- Caucasus is one of the main strategic directions of cooperation for Russia. It can be seen in previous work of Russian museum workers in terms of acquisition of collections and in future plans. 

It should be noted that the International Council of Museums - is one of the councils that make up UNESCO as an organization. ICOM consists of about 35 thousand members from 136 countries of the world. Russian National Committee of ICOM, headed by Alexander Sholokhov, is one of the most important parts of the organization.