"Brazilian people show great interest toward Russian culture, history, literature, dance, painting, music and cinema," the Brazilian minister emphasized. "On the other hand, I know that Brazilian soap operas are extremely popular in Russia." He revealed that recently a Brazilian movie company had started filming a soap opera in Russia. One of the main characters is a Brazilian, whose ancestors were Russian immigrants.
Mr. Amorim also stressed that the world famous Brazilian music has not become popular in Russia yet.
According to the Brazilian minister, in the past, the most important events of the cultural exchange between the two countries were the exhibition 500 Years of the Russian Art in 2001, and the founding of the first library of the Brazilian literature at Moscow Lomonosov State University in 2002.
The minister gave high marks to the work of the Bolshoi Theater ballet school in the town of Joinville (Santa Catarina state). It is the only school that the famous Russian theater established abroad. He also said that this year the Moscow Tchaikovski Conservatory is preparing a presentation of a music school in Fortalese.
In addition, Celso Amorim announced the plans to sign an agreement on the new program of cultural cooperation for 2005-2007 in the framework of Agreements on cooperation in the sphere of education and culture between Brazil and Russia, signed in 1997.
"Aside from the existing projects, the new program includes a wide range of new cultural events in the sphere of music, theater, circus, decorative art, arts-and-crafts and cinema," said the Brazilian Foreign Minister.
