An Angolan Cultural Centre has opened in Moscow

An Angolan Cultural Centre has opened in the Russian capital.

During the opening ceremony the Angolan ambassador in Moscow, Roberto Leal Ramos Monteiro, declared that "the opening of an Angolan Cultural Centre in Moscow is the best possible present for the 80th birthday of Agostinho Neto, a famous Angolan poet and the first president of our country, which will be celebrated by Angolans on September 17th." The cultural elite of Angola turned out in force for the opening. Guests included the well-known writer and winner of the Camoens prize Arthur Pestana (who writes under the pen-name Pepetella), prosaic Roderic Neone, representing the Angolan Writers' Union, the leader of the publishing house "Sa de Cashinde" Jacques Arlindo dos Santos, Arlindo Isabel, head of the publisher NZILA, and Gabriel Caboso, chair of the Angolan Association of Publishers and Writers.

The Angolan cultural centre consists of several rooms. It contains a library, reading room, computer room with Internet connection, and a hall intended for traditional dances.

Visitors to the Cultural Centre's library will be able to find editions of modern Angolan literature, colourful albums containing photographs of the country's nature, economic handbooks, children's books, and textbooks of the Portuguese language.