Director of the Pushkin State Museum told the guests of the RUSSIA EXPO about the history of the World’s Fair

On June 9, a lecture "World's Fair (EXPO)" was held at the RUSSIA EXPO. During the event, Director of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts Elizaveta Likhacheva spoke about the history of the international exhibition, noted the role of Russia in its creation and development. The event was held in Pavilion No. 75.

 In particular, speaking about the reasons for the Soviet Union's success in international expositions, the speaker noted that our country has always had much to show and much to be proud of.

"Contrary to the myth of Russia's backwardness, this backwardness in terms of industrial production growth was quickly overcome. If you look carefully at the history of our country, you will notice that there is a leapfrog growth of industrial production by the end of the XIX century. In the 1930s of the XX century, there was Stalin's industrialization. We always had something to show. We participated in exhibitions because we always had something to be proud of,” said Elizaveta Likhacheva.

Photo: Sergey Baranov/ Press Office of the RUSSIA EXPO

Speaking about the possibilities of further cultural work after the RUSSIA EXPO, the Director of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts emphasized that it is necessary for the younger generation to have an opportunity to see Russia.

 "This is the value of the RUSSIA EXPO. Sometimes people don't even know where to go because they know nothing about the regions they could theoretically visit. You can't look for something you know nothing about. Everybody knows that you can go to Crimea. Or, for example, if you want to go skiing - you can go to Krasnaya Polyana. Apart from Krasnaya Polyana, there is Sheregesh, Manzherok, the Far East, Kamchatka. There are ski resorts everywhere. No one knows anything about them, except for a rather narrow layer of people who live nearby. The fact that people get to know their country, to see what Russia is really like, is extremely important. Russia is not political power, Russia is not regions, Russia is not only history, Russia is people who live in it now. And the shaping of the country is happening now. And the RUSSIA EXPO is one of the instruments of its shaping. It is very important," said Elizaveta Likhacheva.

On June 4, Natalia Virtuozova, Director General of the RUSSIA EXPO, presented the concept of the National Centre of the same name. Its creation in Moscow with branches in the regions was one of the instructions of President Vladimir Putin. According to the document, the centre will appear “in order to preserve the legacy of the International RUSSIA EXPO and to demonstrate the achievements of the Russian Federation in various sectors of the economy”.