OREANDA-NEWS. February 16, 2011. Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi participated in an opening ceremony for the Year of Russian Culture and Language in Italy and Year of Italian Culture and Language in Russia.

The cultural project will include exhibitions, theatre festivals, concerts, and meetings with writers and linguists.

The first Year of Russia in Italy event was the opening of a major exhibition of works by artist Alexander Deineka (1899-1969) from the State Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow) and the Russian Museum (St Petersburg). When visiting the exhibition, Dmitry and Svetlana Medvedev were accompanied by Silvio Berlusconi.