Daria Surovtseva is the talented Russian artist and sculptor, who currently works in France but despite this, she strongly believes in a great future for Russian art. Her works are included in the permanent collections of public art institutions, as well as in many private collections in Austria, Belgium, France, Northern Korean and USA. She creates figurative art but her strong and complicated intellectual works makes it very conceptual. In an interview with RussianMind Daria told us what she believes is the difference between the art-market in Russia and Europe:

Historically, the Republic of Slovenia and the Russian Federation has always had conflict-free and friendly relations. Having a similar mentality, the two countries have established not only diplomatic friendship at government level, but have also developed bi-lateral international tourism and every year Slovenia welcomes more and more Russian tourists. That’s what the Ambassador of Slovenia in the UK Mr. Iztok Jarc told RussianMind in his first exclusive interview to the Russian press:

Being a Friend of Russia is not the same as being a Friend of the Russian government believe Conservative Friends of Russia (CFoR), a group for those with an interest in Russian politics, history, business and culture. The organisation was launched two years ago by the UK Conservative Party, aiming to improve relations between the two countries, provide a forum for open debate and help to inform decision making in business and politics. It has since grown to gain significant popularity and involvement with a wide range of people from differing backgrounds.

In an interview with RussianMind Richard Royal, the Chairman of CFoR told us why it is important to strengthen Russia-UK relations:

Sergei Makovetsky is the Russian actor, who is loved in Russia for his theatre and cinema characters. This year he comes to perform on London’s West End stage as the Vakhtangov Theatre, where Sergei has been playing for over 30 years, brings its ground-breaking interpretation of Chekhov's “Uncle Vanya” to the UK. Before the magnificent performance started, RussianMind asked Sergei about his expectations from a Russo-British audience as well as about his understanding of the Russian soul:

2-11 November 2012

London, Edinburgh, Cambridge

Opening Gala Night

Friday 2 November 2012, 7pm

Apollo Cinema, Piccadilly

The 6th London Russian Film Festival opens on 2 November with a Gala Screening of Boris Khlebnikov’s film TILL NIGHT DO US PART! The event will be attended by the special guests and the Russian Ambassador, Mr Alexander Yakovenko. The screening will be followed by a Q&A session and an exclusive after-party.