Wednesday, July 6 2005 17:58 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Moscow: Over 50 paintings by talented women artists from India, based on the themes of renowned painter Amrita Shergil, are on display at an exhibition, which opened at the Russian parliament in Moscow today (July 6, 2005).

The exhibition 'Amrita Shergil - Revisited' was inaugurated at the lower house of Russian parliament, State Duma, at a ceremony attended by Duma deputies and Indian Ambassador to Russia Kanwal Sibal.

"We have many fine galleries in Moscow, where these paintings could have been displayed, but it is a matter of special importance that it has been opened in the parliament building," Chairman of Duma Committee on Culture, famous Russian singer Iosif Kobzon, said at the inaugural ceremony.

Kobzon and other speakers at the ceremony underscored that India is Russia's "true and trusted friend" and such exhibitions further promote bilateral cultural ties.

Sibal noted that Shergil, who died in 1942 at the age of 29, is a source of inspiration to the new generations of talented Indian women painters.

Sibal welcomed President Vladimir Putin's suggestion to hold yearlong cultural festivals of Russia in India in 2008 and India fest in Russia in 2009, which would further boost cultural and people-to-people contacts between the two strategic partners.

The Indian paintings are displayed in a long corridor linking Duma's Assembly Hall and the offices of the deputies with hundreds of visitors and members of Russian parliament just stopping by them and having a look at the colours, uniqueness of the style and expression of young Indian women painters, who have chosen Shergil's immortal 'Three Sisters' as their model.