International events: Exhibition dedicated to Peter I launches the Year of Russian Culture in the Netherlands

The Cultural Exchange Year for the Netherlands and Russia is opening in February 2013 with a large exhibition dedicated to Peter I, the Hermitage Amsterdam on Amstel – which is the branch of the State Hermitage in Amsterdam, informed Mikhail Shvydkoy, Special Presidential Representative for the International Cultural Cooperation.

Russian language will become a central “character” of the Cultural Exchange Year. The year 2013 will see a centenary since the first Russian Language Department was opened in Leiden University. Russia, in its turn, has been learning Dutch since the time of Peter I.

– The year of 2013 – is the year of 400th anniversary of the House of Romanov, while dynastic relations between the Romanovs and the Dutch monarchy were rather close. That is why we hope that the Netherlands will stage an exhibition unveiling the history of the Dutch monarchy, while Russia will too introduce the history of the Romanovs dynasty and its dynastic relations, said Mikhail Shvydkoy.

The Russian public is much expecting to see the masterpieces of the Dutch art. Russia and the Netherlands intend to turn the spotlight on youth contacts, as today relations of young architects, filmmakers, writers, artists need certain support on the part of the state.

The end of the Cultural Exchange Year for Russia and the Netherlands will see performances of the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Moscow and St. Petersburg.