“Dialogue with Nature” Photography Exhibition in Ryazan, Russia
Visitor viewing photographs at the “Dialogue with Nature” exhibition
On March 9, 2021, “Dialogue with Nature,” an exhibition of
photographs by Daisaku Ikeda, opened at the Ryazan Regional Universal
Scientific Library named after Maxim Gorky in Ryazan City, Russia. Ryazan,
located southeast of the capital, Moscow, is known as a city of culture, home
to numerous thinkers such as Nobel Laureate Ivan Pavlov, father of Russian
cosmology Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, and poet Sergei Yesenin. The library will
host the exhibition until April 5, 2021.
The opening ceremony took place online and was attended by Vice
Minister of Culture and Tourism of the Ryazan Region Marina Kaurkina,
representatives from the library including Library Director Natalya Grishina
who shared some celebratory remarks, and Soka Gakkai representatives
participating from Tokyo, Japan. In a speech, Vice Minister Kaurkina expressed
her pleasure in hosting the exhibition in Ryazan and conveyed her expectations
for the exhibition to help deepen mutual understanding between Russia and Japan.
A video of visitors viewing the exhibition including Minister of Culture and
Tourism of the Ryazan Region Vitaly Popov was also shown during the ceremony.
Mr. Ikeda sent a message to the opening ceremony, in which he
quoted words by Tsiolkovsky and Yesenin. He expressed his hope that his
photography might help share the timeless, transcendent beauty of nature and
contribute to a more sustainable future. He voiced his wish that the exhibition
would inspire joy in the hearts of the people in Ryazan.
[Adapted from an article in the March 24, 2021, issue of the Seikyo Shimbun, Soka Gakkai, Japan; photos courtesy of Ryazan Regional Universal Scientific Library.]
