The Day of Slavic Writing and Culture is celebrated on May 24. This holiday is inextricably linked with the names of two Christian saints – Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius. It is unknown what the Slavic world would be like today if it were not for these brothers: the brilliantly educated Cyril, who speaks six languages, and Methodius, who continued his brother's work after his death. It is to these greatest enlighteners that we owe the appearance in 863 of the Slavic alphabet, for which they adapted the Greek, adding 14 more to the 24 characters. In honor of one of the brothers, the alphabet was named «Cyrillic». Having undergone significant changes in the time of Peter I, and having undergone a number of transformations in the XX century, it has reached our days. But the merit of the brothers is not only that they invented the alphabet and translated the Gospel into Slavic for the first time: they did the main thing – they united the Slavs «by letter and word.» It was from the moment of the creation of the alphabet that the Slavs began to perceive themselves as a single people with their own writing and language, which became the basis for the development of statehood and civilization. The memory of Cyril and Methodius is honored by all Slavic peoples. The church holiday in their honor originated in Bulgaria in the X-XI centuries, and only in the XIX century began to be celebrated as the Day of Slavic Writing and Culture. In Russia, the church holiday was established in 1863 – in the year of the 1000th anniversary of the creation of the Slavic alphabet, and by decree of the Holy Synod it was scheduled for May 24, and after a little over 100 years, in 1985, it was declared a «Holiday of Slavic Writing and Culture.» The holiday is the only one in Russia that has the status of a church-state holiday. A wide variety of secular and ecclesiastical events are timed to coincide with it, which are not limited to May 24: concerts and festivals, conferences and symposiums, exhibitions and book fairs, liturgies and processions are held throughout the country. It is symbolic that the exhibition «To the Origins» takes place on these days. The works of the artist Olga Nart Dikaya are dedicated to Slavic traditions and Russian history. We remind you that the exhibition will last until May 28

Date: May 2018.

Venue: Moscow, Romanov lane 4, IZO ART GALLERY Business center «Romanov Dvor»