Ruscenter in Budapest

The official home of Russian Culture in Hungary, rhe Russian Cultural Center of Budapest offers a wide range of programs in the field of arts, education and science. The Director of the Center Valery Platonov described the institution for the readers of Diplomacy & Trade.

In these days, when the field of humanities and arts is in the spotlight, it is especially important for Russia to provide a true picture of herself, her people and her contributions to civilization. Russia has a rich history, unique traditions and cultural heritage, a lot to discover, if not by traveling to Russia, by visiting the number of programs organized by the Russian Cultural Center in Budapest.

This center is a branch office of the Rossotrudnichestvo Federal Agency that has over 70 representative offices worldwide. These offices act as the main pillars of Russia’s cultural diplomacy. The Budapest office works in close cooperation with state offices, non-governmental and non-profit organizations and a number of cultural institutions, Hungarian and Russian alike.

Our significant responsibility is to familiarize Hungarian citizens with the rich Russian cultural heritage through exhibitions, concerts, shows, film screenings and direct meetings with Russian artists, – which, at the same time, are also meant to entertain the Russian community in Budapest.

Our goal is also to promote the Russian language by offering language courses and conferences, seminars for Russian-language teachers; as well as supplying information of trainings and scholarships (including the State Scholarship) in Russia. Russian literature, history, art and language publications are available at our library, which will be, by the end of this year, complemented with no less than additional 80.000 volumes - the digital collection of the Yeltsin Presidential Library.

Visitors to our center can already take a virtual tour through the Russian Museum of St. Petersburg, home to the largest collection of Russian fine art. Technology and science is represented at our center on a wide scale, with conferences, business meetings and round-table discussions held on high tech achievements and innovations.

This is not where our diverse services end: our aim is to offer something attractive and up-to-date to all age and interest groups. An ambitious goal – although, regarding the positive attitude of our Hungarian partners, in addition to the potential Russia has, we feel optimistic.

The architectural and artistic value of our building itself is worth admiration: a masterpiece of Hungarian and foreign artists and architects, the building is the perfect setting for cross-cultural programs. “The knowledge of past times and of places on the earth is both an ornament and nourishment to the human mind,” Leonardo da Vinci said. Let us nourish each other’s mind, and together we’ll never run out of constructive thoughts!

The Russian Cultural Center is located at Andrássy Avenue 120 in Budapest's 6th Dsitrict and can be contacted at +36-1/332-2154 or [email protected]. For more information, please, go to www.ruscenter.hu