News

News

Sholokhov-Centre was World Cup Fans’ Attraction Site

The cultural and educational program “Cossack Village” in Sholokhov-Centre of the Museum-Reserve of M.A.Sholokhov has been over. It was prepared specially for the residents and guests of Rostov-on-Don to be held during the Football World Cup from June 13 to July 4, 2018.

During the preparations for the Football World Cup-2018, Sholokhov-Centre of the Museum-Reserve of M.A.Sholokhov was chosen one of the eight official areas to perform a cultural program of the Rostov Region. The Museum actively started the great work and won the fans’ hearts and popularity of tourists in the unusual activity with the visitors. The Museum workers were assisted by 27 volunteers, Rostov university students.

The cultural and educational program “Cossack Village” was aimed at attracting attention to the work of the great Russian writer M.A.Sholokhov, to a deeper study in his literary heritage and spreading culture and traditions of the Upper Don Cossacks.

In Rostov there were five World Cup matches held: four group matches and one 1/8 final game. On those days the “Rostov-Arena” was visited by 214 thousand people from 103 countries, the fans’ festival in the Theatre Square was visited by nearly 440 thousand viewers. Many of them attended the Museum-Reserve of M.A.Sholokhov.

The information materials for the visitors were prepared in Russian and in English, the excursions were made in these two languages, and the foreign guests were greeted in German and Spanish. The foreigners, in their turn, repeated with pleasure in Russian: “Спасибо, Россия!” (Thank You, Russia).

Within the World Cup cultural program the Sholokhov-Centre received delegations headed by the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia in the RF Tonchi Stanichich; by the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Republic of Iceland in the RF Berglind Asgeirsdottir; the general director of CanalOnce (Mexico National TV and Radio), the vice-president of the Mexico Olympic Committee Jimen Saldan.

The cultural educational program “Cossack Village” was joined by more than 14000 people; 1500 of them visited the exhibition “The Don.Sholokhov.Russia” mostly via the Fan’s ID.

A real festival of friendship was the evening of the 1st of July, when the Russian team won the victory over Spain, and over 1500 fans gathered in Sholokhov-Centre, where “Pravoslavny Don”, one of the best Russian Cossack ensembles performed. The fans from different countries chanted “Rossiya”(Russia) and danced Cossack folk dances.

The cultural educational program “Cossack Village” included a number of exhibitions, museum classes and workshops. The feature of the program was the unique exhibition project “The Don.Sholokhov.Russia” showing a collection of mementoes, the most part of which left the Estate of M.A.Sholokhov in Stanitsa Vyoshenskaya for the first time. As well, the wide public was shown the manuscript originals of the novel “And Quiet Flows the Don” – five pages of the author’s text written by Mikhail Sholokhov himself during 1926–1928 presented by the Institute of the World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

In the Art Gallery, the exhibition “Pierce the Enemy not with the Spear, but with the Kind Russian Language” showed the visitors 40 best works by the contestants of the children’s drawing illustrating their understanding the meaning of Russian proverbs and sayings. The contest was joined by over 700 children of the Rostov Region.

The exhibition “History of the Upper Don Photography Early in the XX Century” attracted foreign and Russian visitors not only with interesting historical pictures, but also with the opportunity of taking part in the reconstruction of the work of the old photo studio, where anyone could be photographed wearing a Cossack costume and receive a ready photograph in vignette.

Interesting for the foreigners was another dive into the history – the work of the improvised post-office, where everyone could write and send a postcard from the Football World Cup-2018 to any place in the world. The tourists from different countries wrote their greetings on the specially made postcards using preferably not a ball-pen, but an old metal pen, which they dipped into an inkpot, then stuck stamps on them and put their messages into the postbox. The postcards were sent to different parts of Russia, to Croatia, China, the USA, Uruguay, Mexico, Iceland and Scotland.

The museum workers and volunteers dressed in Cossack costumes received guests in the hospitable “Cossack Village”. The Don Cossack songs were heard and workshops of the Don arts and crafts worked. The guests from different countries with enthusiasm made ropes on the prosak, ground grain with a hand mill, made clay pots on the pottery wheel and made a wattle fence. Adults and

children made fabric dolls, birds, painted wooden figures, made searing works, decorated bookmarks and calendars with dried flowers.

The guests were invited to culinary workshops to taste the Don cuisine and take part in preparing traditional Cossack dishes. They carefully rolled the dough, cut it in narrow strips for noodles, made dumplings and patties.

The fans were brightly impressed by the “Cossack Dance Party” and concerts of the famous folklore groups “Legenda”, “Volnitsa”, “Ataman”, “Pravoslavny Don”. The viewers were delighted with the video broadcast of the events which took place on the territory of “Cossack Village” shown in dark time on a large screen.

Souvenirs were in great demand: the guests were attracted by Cossack sabres, whips, papakhas (Cossack hats), souvenir dolls-Cossacks, plates and mugs themed Sholokhov and fragrant Don herbs. Matryoshkas were traditionally popular among the foreign fans, Russian visitors bought catalogues and guidebooks about the Museum, books by M.A.Sholokhov and films after the works of the writer.

The work of the “Cossack Village” in Sholokhov-Centre, which during the World Cup Games became a place of attraction for the Russian and foreign guests, was actively covered by the mass media, and the reviews and photos were posted on social networks. We thank all for that special atmosphere that reigned in the Museum on those days and look forward to new meetings.