Khakassia cultural forum opens today

A three-day event exploring the cultural heritage of the Republic of Khakassia and how can be used to promote socio-economic development in the republic kicked off today. The International Forum in Khakassia will host a series of talks and panel discussions on various topics including the region’s minorities, youth tourism and literature. The southern Siberian authomous republic, located 2,500 miles east of Moscow, is a vast territory of sparsely-populated grasslands, scattered with historic standing stones, many of which are thousands of years old.

Now in its third year, the forum will host experts from a variety of countries including Germany, Finland, France and the UK. Speaking to The Calvert Journal, Svetlana Saprygina from the Khakassian Ministry of Culture said: “Our first priority is to preserve our cultural heritage and spread information about it. Khakassia is a remote region and some people used to confuse us with, for instance, Abkhazia. But now, after two very successful forums, we feel that we have established ourselves as experts in cultural preservation and participants of the forum can learn from our experience in building local cultural centres.”