International holidays - International Day of Culture (World Day of Culture)

The main difference between modern people and their ancestors is their higher degree of development But it is a mistake to believe that a person who lived long before we were born had completely wild ideas about certain things For example, in Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece the development of culture was already observed And currently, much effort is being made to preserve traditions and values ​​that are significant to the world community One of the clearest examples of this is the regular celebration of International Culture Day on April 15 The date was established in 1998 on the initiative of members of the World League for Cultural Preservation, founded in 1996 For the first time, the idea of ​​establishing this holiday was proposed by Nicholas Roerich This event took place in 1931 in Belgium at a congress dedicated to the promotion of an interethnic pact for the protection of culture At the conference, the key goal of the solemn date was announced - propaganda calling for the knowledge of all that is beautiful In the spring of four years later, at the Roosevelt residence, the international agreement “Roerich Pact” on the protection of cultural property was adopted Nicholas Roerich himself always called culture the only effective tool for the improvement of humanity, seeing in it the basis for the unification of all people, regardless of religion and affiliation with any one or nation The decision to establish official protection of culture came to him in the first half of the last century, during the study of ancient Russian monuments The Russian-Japanese military conflict, which occurred in 1904, forced the painter to seriously worry about the safety of cultural property In 1914, he approached Russian officials and the governments of the remaining warring states with the idea of ​​​​ensuring the protection of ancient monuments through the conclusion of an appropriate treaty However, the call was ignored After 15 years, the artist drew up and published a draft agreement, supplementing it with a message to the residents of all countries This document caused a wide resonance and found a response among the world community Committees have been formed in individual states that strongly support the project As a result, the Pact was approved Every year on April 15, many countries around the world celebrate this holiday The list of events organized on this day all over the world, in particular in Russia, officially recognized as one of the most cultural states on Earth, is as diverse as the concept of culture itself The program includes: - exhibitions dedicated to the culture of various nationalities; - scientific congresses dedicated to this topic; - educational lectures on the culture of different nations; - festive concerts; - evenings of poetry and classical music; - performances and stage performances An obligatory attribute of the event is the ceremonial raising of the Banner created by Roerich - a white canvas depicting three circles (symbols of the past, present and future)