News

On the celebrated today Day of Karelian-Finnish Kalevala epos the Kalevala Mosaic international cultural marathon has begun in Karelia.

As Minister of culture of Karelia Galina Brun told the SPB-TASS correspondent, on February 28, 1835 "texts of more than 12 thousand verses recorded from Karelian runa-singers by Finnish specialist in folklore Elias Lцnnrot in the first half of the 19th century were brought to the printing house for the first publication of Kalevala.

For the first time published in Russian in 1888 in translation of the Russian literature Assosiate Professor of Moscow university Leonid Belsky Kalevala since then has been translated into 150 languages of nations of the world and has sustained hundreds republications. Fairy tale plots and epic heroes of Kalevala repeatedly inspired Russian and foreign composers, artists and producers.

Within the scope of cultural marathon on the National Theatre of Karelia and republican Center of National Cultures invite today to take part in celebratory concerts, exhibitions of designers and artists.

The marathon which will last till March 9, will involve festivals of traditional arts and crafts of Finno-Ugric people and parade of kantele-players, and in the National Theatre of republic there will pass the final stage of beauty contest of girls representing Finno-Ugric peoples of Karelia.

Sergey Kulikayev
http://www.itar-tass.com