StemCell Therapy

In the middle of all the shops, eateries and art galleries on South Main in Memphis, you'll see a red, blue and white flag. That would be the Russian flag, and inside 509 S. Main you can get a taste of the world's largest country -- the Russian Federation.

The Russian Cultural Center opened early this year with the mission of telling Memphis and the Mid-South about a country of almost 150 million that few Americans know much about.

Photo by Dale Anderson // Buy this photo

Beck Niyazov, a native of the former Soviet Union, and Anna Terry are members of New World Connection, the organization that founded the Russian Cultural Center in Memphis. They see the center ultimately as a means to develop business opportunities between Russia and the United States.

"There's so much misinformation about Russia," said Anna Terry, president of New World Connection, the group that created the center. "Americans really don't know much about Russia. They think of the Soviet Union and the Cold War. That was two decades ago. It's all very different now."

The old Soviet Union, that longtime adversary of the U.S., was dissolved in May 1991, and during the past 20 years, a new modern country has emerged, one that Memphians need to get to know better, Terry said.

It was "film night" at the center, and a classic Russian movie was being screened for an audience of about 25.

"People the world over love Memphis' food, culture and music," she said. "So we want to bring some of Russia's food, music and culture to Memphis."

Film night was just one of several events hosted by and planned for the center. Since it opened, there have been history lectures, art showings and musical performances.

Last month, Dr. Valery Kukekov, a stem cell research scientist at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, was the guest lecturer, presenting an exhibit of his artwork as part of the center's program, "Great Russian Memphians."

See original here:
Russian cultural center seeks to show Memphis new face of old adversary

This entry was posted on June 10, 2012 at 7:13 am and is filed under Stem Cell Russia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |