The author analyses the philosophic and anthropological notions embodied in the works of the great Spanish artist Diego Velázquez. In the author’s opinion, not only written texts have an underlying philosophy of their own, but creations of visual arts just as well. They, therefore, can be a subject to philosophical analysis. It certainly does not mean that they may be literally translated into a verbal text, but that they have a meaning and a message of their own, closely linked in their own way to their historical background, the spirit of the epoch in which they were created. That is what makes them topical for modern thinkers and explorers of visual arts. The author pays special attention to such subjects, constantly present in Velazquez’s works, as «The Mirror» theme, the correlation between the rational and the emotional side of human nature and, consequently, the essence of certain «anthropological constants» and, finally, the problem of human being as bearer of moral values.

Latin American art is extremely controversial and hard to analyze. To every thesis put forward by the researcher, an antithesis immediately arises. Formation and evolution of the colonial artistic style in Latin America from the XVI^th through the XVIII^th century is always a challenge and, at the same time, an incentive for scholarly research, since it is a synthesis of styles borrowed from European art, first and foremost from Spain and Portugal, in the period lasting from the Middle Ages to Modern Times. The colonial powers served as a go-between in the process of adaptation, rooting and further development in Latin America of such regional styles as Mudéjar, Plateresque, Isabelino, Manueline, Churrigueresco, which left a profound imprint on the artistic culture of the New Continent. These artistic styles, embodied in architecture, decorative and monumental-decorative art of the colonies, underwent transformations as the cultural patterns of indigenous peoples started to resurge.

Latin American Baroque was developed in the colonial Peru, by the so-called Andean school. The rich decoration of churches, the gilded ornaments, the carnival of images of all sorts testify to the fact that the indigenous artists had a view of their own of the cultural codes of the European world. By the end of the colonial period, when national identity was already solidly established in Latin America, local elements began to influence the borrowed European styles to an even greater extent, imbuing them with their own special pictorial vision, coining new and unique genres of their own. Those architectural and decorative configurations, modified in accordance with local traditions, with their original worldview and perception of beauty, paved the way to original Latin American artistic patterns that enabled them to transgress the boundaries, from the realm of artistic dialects to that of independent national styles.

The article examines the symbolism of vegetal forms used in Catalan modernism at the turn of the 20th century. Catalan modernism was one of the artistic movements that widely used nature as a source of inspiration. Vegetal elements of decoration were not just aesthetic ornaments, they were filled with historical and cultural symbolism acquiring ideological value. Guided by the national ideals that were formed during the 19th century in the wake of the Renaixença, the artists of Catalan modernism created a symbolic universe. Vegetal ornamentation synthesised and visually conveyed the diversity of ideas of Catalanism, i.e., nationalism, tradition, heroic past and religious sentiment. It resulted in an iconographic program adapted to the distinctive features of Catalan society and, in particular, to the ideological background with which conservative Catalanists identified themselves.

The article is devoted to one of the brightest phenomena of Brazilian culture – theater, which, for a number of objective reasons, is much less known abroad than its other areas. The genesis and main stages of the evolution of the dramaturgy and theatrical art of Brazil over the course of five centuries of its existence are briefly considered. The extremely important role of the Week of Modern Art, held in Sao Paulo in 1922, which marked the birth of Brazilian modernism, which radically influenced the entire subsequent cultural process, is emphasized. Particular attention is paid to the formation and development of the democratic tradition that has dominated the Brazilian theater since its inception to this day. The phenomenon of the «new theater» in various forms of its manifestation is considered. The theatrical theory and practice of one of the charismatic figures of the Brazilian culture of the 20th century, Augusto Boal, is analyzed. Attention is focused on the names of the country’s most famous playwrights, and as an example, some of the most striking theatrical productions that are firmly included in the «golden fund» of national culture are analyzed.

This article examines some of the distinctive features of the style of Alfonso Cuarón, one of the most prominent filmmakers of our time. A comparison of different periods of his work allows us to draw a conclusion about the diversity of artistic forms of his cinematography, which he himself calls «eclecticism». At the same time, the cultural analysis of the Mexican director’s filmography proves that his creative concept has always been related to the most essential aspects of life, imbued with existential philosophy motives, whereas his ingenious techniques only serve as a tool for their profound comprehension. The inexhaustible arsenal of professional methods and techniques, Cuarón’s commitment to experiment, as well as his insatiable creative passion combined with the author’s constant attention to the most crucial aspects of reality generate an incredible variety of cinema forms, creating a unique artistic structure, which is the author’s style of Alfonso Cuarón’s cinematography.

The political line established by the VII Congress of the Communist International had a profound impact on the bilateral relations between the Spanish Republic and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics during the Spanish Civil War. In this case, the monographic example of the International Brigades is eloquent, being a sign of the transformation of the defensive logic of the VII Congress of the Communist International into an offensive logic. The context of the start of the Spanish Civil War meant a change of scenery for the logic of the VII Congress of the Communist International, whose most emblematic response from a symbolic point of view was the creation and management of the International Brigades. The directive authorities of the Communist International, as well as the Spanish republican authorities, had to face a complex network of balances to maintain bilateral relations between the Spanish Republic and the USSR so that the presence of the International Brigades was not perceived as an element of interference of the USSR in the political and military evolution of the Spanish Republic.

The article defines the preconditions and main directions of cooperation between the USSR and Nicaragua in the conditions of the Sandinista revolution in 1979–1990. The topic of the article is relevant for studies of Soviet foreign policy in Latin America in economic, military, ideological and socio-cultural aspects, and it also allows to identify the prerequisites for the return to cooperation between the Russian Federation and Nicaragua in the post-Soviet period of history. The article applies the paradigm of neorealism in international studies, which makes it possible to determine the resources of influence, interests and institutional framework of the USSR’s foreign policy towards Nicaragua, to compare the declared and real tasks of foreign policy. Comparative-historical and structural-functional methods are used.

The course of the Soviet foreign policy towards revolutionary Nicaragua had both geopolitical and ideological motivations. Nicaragua was a promising springboard for the establishment of revolutionary regimes in other countries of Central America. The country also occupied a key position for the construction of an inter-oceanic canal, an alternative to the Panama Canal. In Soviet literature of the 1980s the Sandinista revolution was seen as national-liberation, anti-imperialist, but not socialist. Soviet experts positively assessed the strategic alliance of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) with the supporters of the revolution among the believers. Sandinism was regarded as an effective, albeit controversial, revolutionary ideology. The periodization of the Soviet foreign policy towards Nicaragua during 1979–1990 is substantiated: the establishment of cooperation relations (1979–1981), the highest point in cooperation (1982–1987), the curtailment of cooperation as the national reconciliation policy (1987–early 1990) was unfolding. The main factor in the dynamics of bilateral relations were the strategic interests of the USSR in Central America, which changed dramatically under the influence of perestroika. The defeat of the FSLN in the 1990 elections was largely the result of the Soviet foreign policy deideologization and the collapse of socialism in the Eastern European countries.

Russia holds the first largest collection of canvas by great Spanish masters outside of Spain, including paintings by El Greco, Murillo, Ribera, Zurbaran, Goya, and others. In November 2023 the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts presents an exhibition of Spanish paintings from its own collections, as well as the works of art from the Hermitage and regional museums. In this interview, Svetlana Zagorskaya, curator of Spanish painting at the Pushkin Museum, talks about the collections of Spanish painting in Russia, the history of their acquisition and meticulous work of attributing paintings. Particular attention is paid to Svetlana Zagorskaya’s discoveries of the authorship of the canvas by Jusepe de Ribera «Saint James the Greater» and the painting by Bartolomeo Murillo «Saint Catherine of Alexandria», which open the exposition of old masters in the main building of the Museum. The purpose of the upcoming exhibition, apart from being educational, is to show the cultural attraction of Spain and Russia, two countries at the extreme ends of Europe. Since the end of the 19th century many Russian artists visited Spain and looked for new motives for inspiration, at the same time Russian collectors bought a lot of works by Spanish artists. Thus, an invisible but strong cultural bridge was being built between the two countries, and it still exists in our time.

The outstanding contemporary artist Fernando Botero Angulo (b. 1932) is one of the leading artists of the postmodern era, thanks to the paraphrasing and irony of his works. He is also known as a graphic artist and a sculptor. Botero’s graphic and pictorial works are kept in many museums around the world, including the Russian ones — the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg and the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow; his sculptures adorn the cities of Europe, America, Asia. This article focuses on the artist’s painting: it gives an idea of him as a master who reflected universality and at the same time national identity of his country through landscape, still life, bullfighting, dancing. Several parts of the article are devoted to: «Biography and “circular form”», «Secular and religious images», «Landscape, interior, still life», «Bullfighting, music, dancing». A significant place is given to the «circular form», since it made the artist a unique creator, who used it in many great works of art, and then created images recognizable by everyone who has ever seen Botero’s paintings. There are various genres of the master’s works, in which he acts not only as a creator of a unique form, but also as a brilliant colorist. Botero managed to raise Latin America to a high pedestal; starting from the pan-European tradition, he showed the universal through his native Colombia.

Spain was a prominent destination on tours of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. Numerous visits to this country, spanning the period from the mid-1910s to the mid-1920s, enriched Diaghilev's artistic horizons with new themes and images that resulted in the ballets: «Las Meninas», «The three-cornered hat», «Cuadro Flamenco». The history of the creation and staging of each ballet possesses its own characteristics; in each case, a unique artistic world is conceived, expressed in a modern language, and distinguished by its many facets and complex symbolism. In order to implement his new ideas, Diaghilev appealed to the leading artists of his time, namely Pablo Picasso, Josep Maria Sert, Leonid Myasin, Manuel de Falla, thanks to whose participation a holistic concept of each work arose, based on the unity of musical, plastic, and decorative ideas. The «Spanish» ballets were created during the transition period from naturalistic theatre, dominated by a coherent plot logic and a psychological representation of the characters, to conventional theatrical methods. The character and role of the artistic image change, acquiring widespread symbolic features. Stylization and conventionality become the main techniques when it comes to erecting a new theatrical model. A new image of the Spanish world is formed, breaking ties with the heritage of the romantic era and resorting to cultural archetypes. The ideas of Diaghilev's ballet fit organically into the mainstream of modernist experiments.

Book Review: Ibero-America:  The role of culture in the formation and evolution of national identity. / Konstantinova, Natalia S. (Ed.) Ibero-America: The role of culture in the formation and evolution of national identity. – Moscow: ILA RAS, 2022 (in Russian). – 244 p.

Book Review: Spain and Russia Facing the Challenges of Time. O. Volosyuk (ed.), — Moscow:  Mezhdunarodnye otnoshenia, 2022. — 648 p.

Three «Iberoamerican» anniversaries were celebrated at MGIMO in April, 2023: 30 years since the establishment of the Iberoamerican Centre and the Spanish Theatre of students, and 10 years since the academic journal «Iberoamerican Papers» was founded. MGIMO University has a famous scientific school of Iberoamerican academic studies, carried out in different areas. Great importance is given to intercultural communication and to the study of the history, languages and cultures of the Iberoamerican world, which obtains a special dimension in the current conditions.

More than 300 scholars and experts from the Spanish-speaking world took part in the IX International Congress of the Spanish Language held in Cádiz from 27 to 30 March 2023. Special attention was paid to the indigenous languages of Latin America and the Caribbean. The participants emphasized the importance of preserving the languages and traditions of indigenous nations of the region, which contributes to the preservation of cultural heritage and strengthens the relationship between Spain and Latin America. During the Congress, the emergence of such phenomena as Spanglish and Portuñol and linguistic perspectives in the era of artificial intelligence and social media were discussed. The scholars emphasized an indisputable role of the Spanish language in uniting cultures and peoples on both sides of the Atlantic.