Plans Develop for the 2008 World Conference in Russia
Salakaja, Manana
We are grateful to our colleagues who have been sending us positive feedback about our plans for the ACEI World Conference to be held in Moscow in 2008. Debbie Young describes the conference as “a unique global opportunity.” Such statements really support and inspire us. We do hope that the World Conference in Moscow will give us a chance to make our ideas come true, introduce our work in a new perspective, and build bridges between different countries and cultures.
By inviting our colleagues to Moscow, we hope they will take back with them bright impressions of Russia, one of the most beautiful countries in the world, to keep in their trunks of memories.
In addition to the conference workshops and sessions, professional conversations, and warm Moscow nights, you will have the opportunity to enjoy wonderful Moscow sights! You will see the Moscow Kremlin, an outstanding historical and architectural monument that has become a symbol of not only Moscow, but the whole of Russia. You also will have a chance to visit the Assumption Cathedral, where the Grand Princes were given the titles of the tsars, and St. Basil’s Cathedral, erected in 1555-1561. The history of the Kremlin and Red Square is long and captivating; you will remember these sights and their stories for a long time.
Conference attendees will also be able to visit the Novodevichiy Convent, which includes the Cathedral of Our Lady of Smolensk-a beautiful architectural monument dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries. The Novodevichiy Convent is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. By August 2008, the Novodevichiy Convent will have celebrated its 484th anniversary.
Art lovers will be pleased by the amazing collections in Russia. The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts is one of the richest world collections of fine art from ancient to present times. Today, it is the second largest museum of foreign art in Russia, after St. Petersburg’s Hermitage. The National Museum of Russian Fine Art, the State Tretyakov Gallery, is one of the largest museums in the world. Its collections date from the 10th to the 20th century and include all schools of painting-from ancient icons to avant-garde.
We will keep the other wonderful sights of Moscow and St. Petersburg a secret; let it be our surprise and a pleasant discovery for you!
“No matter where I go for the international conferences, I have to cross the world from ‘down-under,’ but it’s worth the effort just to meet, greet, enjoy, and learn from friends and colleagues who share the same passion for early childhood. We are an incredible group of people! I look forward to seeing you and enjoying your company in Moscow in 2008, where we will have fun participating in ‘The Changing of the Guard/ We will make it a ‘World Without Borders/ ” (Gillian Potter, Australia)
Dr. Potter has said it all! see you in Moscow!
-Manana Salakaja
Copyright Association for Childhood Education International Spring 2007
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