A DAY of Russian culture and art has been hosted in Teignmouth. Academics, musicians, dancers and members of the Russian community attended the first Russian Round Table event in the south west. Mayor Cllr Geoff Bladon welcomed them to the event held at Bitton House on Saturday. Guests spoke about the importance of the Russian language, teaching its history in schools and promoting links with the UK as part of the 2007 Year of Russian Language. Delegates travelled from all over the south west, with representatives from the compatriot community in London and the south east and messages of support were received from the large compatriot community in Scotland. Round Table delegates agreed to further links between Russian and the UK. It plans to call upon the governments of the Russian Federation and the United Kingdom to remove or reduce the complexity and cost of obtaining visas for twinning visits, cultural and academic exchanges and to set up an ongoing support and funding mechanism to develop and expand the teaching of Russian language, history and culture in the UK. Organiser, Russian-born Teignmouth woman Liubov Jeffs, said that the event went very well. 'It really was excellent and that is thanks to the friendly hospitality of Teignmouth and all those who found time to attend'. The event was supported by the Embassy of the Russian Federation in the United Kingdom, Russian Hour TV and Pike Ward Ltd.
