Sep 4: Union Minister of State (I//C) for Culture and Tourism Shri Prahlad Singh Patel virtually attended the 5th BRICS Culture Ministers’ Meeting on September 3, 2020. The 5th BRICS Culture Ministers’ Meeting was held through video conference under the Chairpersonship of the Russian Federation. The delegates from Culture Ministries of the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Russian Federation, the Republic of India, the People’s Republic of China, and the Republic of South Africa participated in the meeting.
During the meeting, the discussion was held on the impact of the epidemiological situation on the cultural sphere in the BRICS countries and review of the possible implementation of joint cultural online-projects within BRICS. The Minister of State for Culture addressed participants of the meeting and presented India’s perspective to strengthen the cultural cooperation within BRICS through alternative mechanisms of sharing and organizing cultural events in online format given the prevailing pandemic situation.
The Minister stated “Covid-19 has been a sad experience for us. But it has again shown us that nature does not discriminate among countries. It does not differentiate between people on the basis of caste and creed. Humans have divided the countries and defined borders by putting fences. But culture is the bonding force above all manmade demarcations and connects people through love and harmony. Therefore when we meet through such programs, we come back more enriched than before.”
Some suggestions/events proposed by the Indian side in the Culture Minister’s address are as below:
- To explore possibilities of hosting a Digital Online Exhibition on a Shared theme towards the end of 2021 under the auspices of BRICS Alliance of Museums. And to extend full cooperation and content sharing for website envisaged under the BRICS Alliance.
- Opening the BRICS Corner under the auspices of BRICS Alliance of Libraries proposed to be inaugurated during the India’s BRICS Presidency in 2021. The Corner will disseminate information related to the history and culture of BRICS countries. The corner will display the books, periodicals and other e-resources gifted by the BRICS countries, viz, Brazil, Russia, China, and South Africa.
- The National Gallery of Modern Arts, New Delhi will host the BRICS Joint Exhibition titled ‘Bonding Regions & Imagining Cultural Synergies’ under the auspices of the BRICS Alliance of Art Museums and Galleries. The exhibition is proposed to be organized in 2021 coinciding with the BRICS event that India would be hosting in 2021. The exhibition aims to present around 100 works of art from the five prestigious institutions under the BRICS Alliance.
- At the end of the meeting Declaration of the V Meeting of the BRICS Ministers of Culture was agreed upon and signed by all the representatives of BRICS Nations.
