The Russian Embassy, together with the Russian Association for International Cooperation (RAIC), recently inaugurated a Sri Lankan chapter of the Russian Geographical Society (RGS) at the Russian House in Colombo.

The event, held on Tuesday (19), was attended by Russian Ambassador Levan Dzhagaryan and RAIC Secretary-General Vladimir Polozkov.

The RGS was founded in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1845 by Tsar Nicholas I. RAIC Deputy Secretary General Stupanksaya Elizaveta told The Daily Morning Brunch at the launch that the society works with scientists all around the world. “They try to find something about nature and how to save it. It’s also working with a lot of scientists from all over the world learning history, archaeology, and geography,” she said.

Stupanksaya said that the RGS will host an photography exhibition in Sri Lanka as it’s very first project. She said the aim of the exhibition will be to show all the different regions of Russia and its history. Afterwards they will host an exhibition featuring pictures of Sri Lanka in Russia, she said.

Stupanksaya also said that the society will translate the journals of Tsar Nicholas II, which he kept during a visit to Sri Lanka in 1881. The original documents are in Moscow, and they will be translated to Sinhala for the first time. It has been reported that the Tsar spent 12 days in the island during a tour around Asia, where he planted a tree at the Royal Botanical Gardens near Kandy.

Highlighted during the event was the work the Russian House had conducted with children. The Russian House recently opened a newly renovated art studio, and held an art exhibition promoting friendship between Russia and Sri Lanka, titled ‘Unity. United by Art’.

According to Stupanskaya, they will also be conducting a programme where they teach kids in Russia about Sri Lanka. “When we ask children of about five or six what they know about Sri Lanka, they can only tell that elephants live here,” she said. However, after they are taught about the traditions, history, local dances, and the people of Sri Lanka for a month, these children will be able to talk more about Sri Lanka, she pointed out.

The Daily Morning Brunch also spoke to Shanaka Kulathunga, an artist who had taken part in one of the Russian House’s cultural exchange programmes. “A few Russian artists and myself went to a forest monastery in Teldeniya, which is close to Kandy. There were about five Russian monks and two Sri Lankan monks living there.”

Shanaka said it was inspiring to see the way they had adapted to Sri Lankan life, going on ‘pindapatha’ (alms rounds), and he took them as subjects for his paintings. Shanaka said it was interesting to see the way the Russian artists interpreted what they were seeing in Sri Lanka, and that he was able to see new ideas and techniques in their artwork.

PHOTOS Ishan Sanjeewa