Culture and Art of Russia

We judge the culture of any people by its peaks, not by its lowest or even average manifestations. Russian culture is represented by Pushkin, Lermontov, Dostoevsky, Leo Tolstoy, Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky, Savrasov, Surikov, Repin, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Malevich, Bunin, and many other equally significant names. It is the highest order of culture that primarily characterizes a country and its people. This is well understood by tourists who explore museums, theatrical life, architectural masterpieces, and the history of cities during their visits.

Culture is not a means to achieve certain material comforts. Culture is the goal of humanity's development.

Yet, the opposite is often assumed. Technical progress was seen as the aim. If we achieve universal satiety and extremely fast means of transportation, why develop technology further? It is a subsidiary tool for the development of culture. Technocratic thinking has no future. But most importantly, it is dangerous because, in essence, it lacks a moral foundation.

The higher the level of civilization and technology, the greater the importance of humanitarian culture and art. We live for Leonardo da Vinci, without forgetting the inventor of the brake, Westinghouse.

Only culture creates identity. The identity of an individual, as well as the identity of a village, a city, a country, or a people.

Culture develops intuition, which is as essential in the exact sciences as it is in art. We live in a world where culture is what makes one people distinct from another, defining its unique face. And we want this uniqueness to be preserved and continued.

Based on materials and articles by Academician Dmitry Sergeyevich Likhachev (1906–1999), an outstanding Russian scholar, Doctor of Philology, culturologist, and art historian.