First Danish Cultural Institute in Russia opens in St. Petersburg

A branch of the Danish Cultural Institute opened in St. Petersburg on June 26. Institute director Rike Helms told Rosbalt at a press conference that 'the institute is the only one of its kind in Russia, and in the world there are only nine.' Helms said that 'Denmark is a small country and the Baltic region is more important to it than some other regions.'

She said that the primary goal of the Danish Cultural Institute was the strengthening of mutual understanding between people through organizing cultural exchanges and distributing information about Denmark. The institute has more than ten areas of activity including professional-acquaintance trips, professional exchanges through the job-swap program, conducting conferences and seminars, reading lectures and reports, organizing concerts and festivals, meetings with writers and publishers of literature and organizing courses for study of language in Denmark and abroad. Soon the government will open an exhibition devoted to Danish writer Karen Bliksen in the Vyborg central library, and begin a children's project entitled Anima for the production of cartoons.

The branch will be open for visitors beginning July 1. Currently the branch of the institute is hosting an exhibition entitled Queen and Democracy, which belongs to the Danish queen.

The Danish Cultural Institute is an independent organization which opened in 1940 under the aegis of the Danish Ministry of Culture. The organization has its own office in Copenhagen and branches in Great Britain, Hungary, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Estonia.