Great, Mighty, Digital: an interactive zone dedicated to the Russian language opened at the National Centre RUSSIA
Exploring the uniqueness of the Russian language and showcasing its richness and diversity through modern technologies. On 12 December, the interactive zone "The Great and Mighty Russian Language" was officially opened at the National Centre RUSSIA. The exposition is designed to engage guests in an exciting interactive experience through which visitors will be able to view familiar words in a new light and discover forgotten or unexpected linguistic phenomena. With its variety of game mechanics and wealth of fascinating facts, the exposition will impress children and offer pleasant emotions to all adults.
The Russian language is a major priority for the state and for young people, uniting the country from Vladivostok to Kaliningrad. Pursuant to instructions from the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, dated 10 July 2025, No. Pr-1583, paragraph 3, cultural and educational interactive spaces dedicated to its promotion are being created on the premises of the National Centre RUSSIA (including its branches in individual constituent entities of the Russian Federation).
During the official opening of "The Great and Mighty Russian Language" zone, the Aide to the President of the Russian Federation, Yelena Yampolskaya, delivered an address. She recalled that the idea of creating such a space was first voiced at a meeting of the council under the President of the Russian Federation on the implementation of state policy for supporting the Russian language and the languages of the peoples of Russia. This idea was put forward, supported by the President and assigned for further development. According to Yelena Yampolskaya, when the National Centre RUSSIA is given an instruction to work something through, it simply takes it on and delivers it.
"People must understand: the Russian language is both a most fascinating companion and a mentor, as well as a loyal friend who accompanies you throughout your life. It has its own secrets, its own mysteries, its own astonishing stories. It is filled with our native meanings and our native values. And very little in the world can be more interesting to a Russian person than the Russian language. That is why I am truly glad that today we have finally decided to open this space ceremonially. I very much hope that later, here in Moscow, when the new National Centre is built, we will be able to dedicate even more space to the Russian language. I hope that it will evolve, that new tasks and new opportunities will appear. This is important, because a language lives and changes. And a space dedicated to it must also live – and, of course, change. <...> The National Centre – when it is given an instruction to work something through – simply takes it on and delivers it. This is an astonishing story. Frankly speaking, there are very few examples like this, but this is exactly how the National Centre RUSSIA works," said Yelena Yampolskaya.
The opening ceremony also featured the participation of the Deputy Head of the Presidential Directorate for Social Projects of the Russian Federation, Alexei Zharich.
"The Russian language is the foundation of our identity and an unquestionable value. For centuries, the Russian language has linked generations, and if we want millions of our descendants in the 22nd century to speak Russian, we must know it, cherish it and pass this love on to our children and grandchildren. This is precisely why the National Centre RUSSIA and its branches across the country devote such attention to the promotion of the Russian language," noted Alexei Zharich.
The presentation of the exposition "The Great and Mighty Russian Language" was conducted for guests by the Director General of the National Centre RUSSIA, Natalia Virtuozova, as well as participants of the Young Tour Guides School of the National Centre RUSSIA, Arina Kaplina and Lev Tishchenko. They explained that the wall-mounted exposition consists of ten interactive cubes, each dedicated to a separate topic related to the Russian language: obsolete words – archaisms; slang and synonymous words from neutral speech; speech etiquette and stylistic layers of the language; stress patterns in Russian; the pronunciation of words containing the letter "Yo" and the history of its emergence; the defective paradigm of the verb "to win"; phraseological units; the paradox of the physical state of a plate in the Russian language; unique cases and phenomena in Russian that are difficult to explain to foreigners; and records of the Russian language (interesting facts).
The space "The Great and Mighty Russian Language" also features the exposition "Living Alphabet" – a joint project of the National Centre RUSSIA and the Sovremennik Theatre, created as part of the programme "Russian Language". The project is based on the "Living Alphabet" of 1914, published by the St Petersburg Shipovnik publishing house. It was created by the poet Sasha Chyorny and the artist Vadim Falileyev.
The aim of the project is to bring the alphabet to life as it was originally conceived by its authors. In the new format, the letters acquire voice and movement: the poems are performed by actors of the Sovremennik Theatre, while the illustrations are transformed into animation using computer graphics. As a result, the alphabet regains its vivid, figurative nature – the letters become characters connected with nature and the world of childhood imagination, and learning turns into an engaging, emotional experience filled with discovery.
The first exposition dedicated to the development and preservation of the Russian language was presented to the President of the Russian Federation on 4 September 2025 as part of the opening of the branch of the National Centre RUSSIA in the Primorye region.
