Exhibition Invited to St. Petersburg, Russia

This fall a consortium of seven cultural and educational leaders from St. Petersburg, Russia invited us to bring our Down By the River: Anacostia, A Place of Spirit exhibition to their city for its 300th anniversary celebrations in May 2003.

We believe the emphasis of the exhibition upon the universal dignity of man and the importance of many perspectives within democracy is a timely one for Russia. Our partners in Anacostia wish to help participating Anacostia youth realize the international importance of their neighborhood by involving them in this effort to offer a gift from their community to the Russian people.

The roots of this extraordinary opportunity go back to a preview we held of the exhibition in November 2000 at The Hague, Netherlands in cooperation with the Dutch-Russian International Center. Many of the invited guests in the international audience were from Eastern Europe, among them Boris Stolyarov, Chief of The Russian Center of Museum Pedagogy, The State Russian Museum (St. Petersburg, Russia). In May 2001, we displayed a small collection of artwork by children from Anacostia at major cultural and educational centers in St. Petersburg, such as the State Russian Museum and the St. Petersburg City Youth Creativity Palace.

Our invitation came in response to the previews, which seemed to strike a strong cord in the hearts of the Russian people. In addition to the artwork, we will bring twelve Anacostia children artists and performers with us to the May 2003 celebrations as part of an official delegation from the city of Washington, D.C. to St. Petersburg.

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