VDNH gets ready to celebrate the National Day of Reading

7 october 2021

9 October is National Day of Reading in Russia. The event will be celebrated at VDNH with free guided tours and lectures. The Slovo Centre for Slavic Writing will have a presentation about ancient Russian ABC books and grammar guides, legends surrounding the origins of Cyrillic writing, and the challenges that a Mediaeval person faced when getting an education. Special guided tours will shed light on what people in old Russia liked to read. The Cosmonautics and Aviation Centre will showcase books about space. Participation in all activities is free by prior registration.

The main events in honour of the National Day of Reading will be hosted by the Slovo Centre for Slavic Writing: VDNH’s museum and education project that explores the past, present and future of the Cyrillic writing system.

At 3 and 6 p.m. on 9 October, the Centre will launch free thematic guided tours: Books in Old Rus’. What Did Our Ancestors Read? The attendees will find out which genres the first ancient Russian literature belonged to, as well as who wrote that literature. The guides will introduce their guests to old chronicles and share where they were first written. In addition, they will talk about the continuity of writing hagiographies (the life stories of saints) in Christian culture, about the origins of book printing and periodicals in Russia, and about which books gained the greatest popularity and demand during the reign of Peter the Great. Attendance is free by registration in advance.

At 3 p.m., the lectorium of the Slovo Centre will welcome visitors to attend a lecture by Nikolai Butskikh, founder of the Zelo Research Centre of Ancient Rus’ Culture, ancient Russian manuscript custodian at the Russian National Library, and professor of Church Slavonic. The audience will find out how people learned to read in Ancient Rus’ and will even get to recite authentic mnemonic poems from a 17th century illustrated ABC book. Admission is free of charge, but prior registration is required.

The Cosmonautics and Aviation Centre will hold a thematic lecture of its own: Books About Space. It will take place on 9 October at 6 p.m. The lecture will cover the works of science fiction writers, including the fiction written by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, founder of cosmonautics, Jules Verne’s From the Earth to the Moon, and many more. Admission is free, by prior registration.

9 October is National Day of Reading. The event’s mission is to revive Russia’s status as the most well-read country, raise awareness of reading as a pastime, and encourage people to love books. On this day, it is common to organise excursions to libraries, exhibitions of children’s books, reading lessons, quizzes, thematic games and contests, and various promos.

On top of that, VDNH is making its first-ever contribution to the World Dyslexia Awareness Week. Dyslexic people have a selective impairment of reading and writing skills, while maintaining an overall ability to learn. A special lecture on the subject, along with educational games for children, will take place at the Slovo Centre on 10 October. Attendance is free, but registration is mandatory for all event participants.

All events on VDNH grounds follow the applicable anti-coronavirus restrictions. Visitors to museums and exhibition venues at VDNH are expected to wear face masks and observe social distancing. More details about the virus prevention measures at VDNH can be found here.

В подборке