The memorable gift was delivered to the Embassy of China during the final of the "Soutache China" competition

On March 13, 2020, a ceremony of delivering a memorable gift to the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Russian Federation took place at the World Calligraphy Museum.

Lyubov Dukhanina, Deputy of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and Deputy Chairman of the Committee of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly for Education and Science, delivered a painting "Hang on, China! Hang on, Wuhan!", created at the initiative of Alexei Shaburov, the Director of the World Calligraphy Museum by Russian graphic artist Yuri Koverdyayev in collaboration with Mr. Kong Lingmin, a Chinese calligrapher and a descendant of Confucius in the 76th generation to the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Russian Federation as a sign of solidarity with the Chinese people in the fight against the coronavirus epidemic.

The ceremony was held during the finals of the "Soutache China" auteur jewelry contest, organized by a theatre designer, author of "Folk Carnival" project Irina Goncharova and a designer, soutache jewelry master, regular participant of Russian and international exhibitions Inna Venikova.

The final competition features 12 jewelry projects created by Russian, Kazakhstan and France masters; each of them is a representation of the Chinese culture from the point of view of authentic Russian craftsmen. The winner is the piece of jewelry “Protecting dragon”, made by the master from Kazan, Ilzira Zarifullina. You can look at all the works of finalists at the World Calligraphy Museum before March 24.

“The idea to tell about China through jewelry came to me after visiting the World Calligraphy Museum. The floridness of the hieroglyphs reminded me of a complex ligature of southeast embroidery. I shared this idea with Inna Venikova, and together we decided to organize a soutache jewelry competition on a Chinese theme. In addition, as a costume designer, I got excited about creating a dresses collection in Chinese style for decoration. Come to life this idea, I asked my friends, professional masters of costume, whether they were ready to help me and then attracted the age models of our “Fifty Plus Agency” to the fashion show of dresses and jewelry. The idea of the competition and the defile “Soutache China” was strongly supported by Alexey Shaburov, he suggested using the World Calligraphy Museum as a stage for the final of the competition”, - said Irina Goncharova.

According to Alexei Shaburov, the fashion show either presented the beauty of models over fifty years old, or brought attention to the unique art pieces, made by craftsmen. The event continued a series of memorable culture events bringing Chinese and Russian people closer together.

Addressing the participants of the competition, guests coming to the event and personally to Shaburov Alexey, Mr. Zhang Hanhui, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the People's Republic of China in Russian Federation in his letter wrote: “The Head of the World Calligraphy Museum has been maintaining close relationship and fruitfully cooperating with Chinese colleagues. Also he makes a great contribution to promoting cultural exchanges and the expansion of friendly relations between our nations. At the beginning of this year, when China faced a difficult period caused by outbreak of the COVID-19 virus, museum staff immediately suggested support for friendly nation. “Friend is known in trouble”. Signs of friendly relations expressed by Russian friends touched us to the core; this way you confirmed that Chinese and Russian are closely related as brothers, who struggle to overcome difficulties and hardships together. These events showed that the development of China-Russia relations, comprehensive strategic interaction and partnership, entering a new era, meets the aspirations of the peoples of the two countries”.

Mr. Zhang Hanhui also thanked Alexei Shaburov and all the team of the World Calligraphy Museum. He concluded by saying: “There is no winter that does not pass, and there is no spring that does not come. Let’s act together and wait for the beautiful springtime”.

The Ambassador's words were supported by Lyubov Dukhanina. She thanked Alexey Shaburov, congratulating him "on another masterpiece": "Your ability to see talent in others is a rare quality. Today we see works that are the result of very painstaking work, but they show an incredible harmony of form and color. And this, of course, is impressive. It is impressive because people show how deeply they can get into the cultural code of people of other nationalities living far enough away from them. They were able to see a different harmony of forms, and the harmony of forms is still different in each country. They managed to understand the design and color palette of the Chinese costume in a short time. This causes only delight. China is a great country. I thank Sokolniki Park: you give everyone who lives and visits Moscow an opportunity to get acquainted with its huge culture, and you are always able to see really talented creativity in private and public initiatives. Thank you very much."

Lyubov Dukhanina also expressed solidarity with China and all countries that are currently fighting the coronavirus, highlighting the merit of the Chinese government in that, despite the situation, the strategic lines of interaction between our countries are not interrupted.

In turn, Ivan Borisovich Arkhipov, President of the Foundation. I. V. Arkhipova, a member of the Central Board of the Society for Russian-Chinese friendship, noted that holding the event in the days when China is fighting a new challenge finds support both in the hearts of the peoples of Russia and China, and in the governments of the two countries. This is confirmed by the attention to the event from the Chinese Embassy and the State Duma of the Russian Federation. "It is good that there are such unexpected formats offered by Sokolniki Park and Alexey Shaburov. They are very touching, because they serve as a demonstration of the rapprochement of the cultures of the peoples of our two countries and create the right platform for joint movement forward," he said.

Friendly and warm relationship between Russia and China were highlighted by the music video for the song “Threads of fate”, which was created and recorded by the Saint Petersburg radio station “Metro”. The clip was created to support of the residents of Wuhan, to let them know that there are always people who are ready to lend a helping hand in a difficult situation and jointly overcome temporary difficulties.

The video series is based on stories from the news releases of the TV channel "Greater Asia".

After the event at the Museum of Russian gusli and Chinese guqin was held the opening ceremony of the Cabinet of Calligrapher named after Mr. Li Hui.

The Cabinet was created as a mark of respect and recognition of merits of Mr. Li Hui, the former Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the People's Republic of China in Russian Federation (from 2009 year to 2019 year). This person made a valuable contribution to support cultural and educational projects and to development of friendly relations between 2 nations: Russian and Chinese.

The final of the "Soutache China" competition. Fashion-show

Lyubov Dukhanina, Deputy of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and Deputy Chairman of the Committee of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly for Education and Science, delivered a painting "Hang on, China! Hang on, Wuhan!" to the Embassy of People’s republic of China as a sign of solidarity with the Chinese people in the fight against the coronavirus epidemic.

The letter of Mr. Zhang Hanhui, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the People's Republic of China in Russian Federation to Shaburov A., the Director of the World Calligraphy Museum

An opening ceremony of Cabinet named after Mr. Li Hui, former Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the People's Republic of China in Russian Federation (from 2009 year to 2019 year)