It is thanks to translation, which is a challenging yet indispensable task, that Russian literature has come to be well known among the peoples of Latin America and has had a positive influence on their culture and spiritual development. Readers have been able to enjoy and appreciate many prose works by great Russian writers in Spanish. On the contrary, Russian poetry, which has also appealed to the Latin American audience, has not become as popular as the prose. Readers have had access to works by few Russian poets, with some of these poems translated from French or English. It is only recently that more poems have been translated directly from Russian into Spanish, which has attracted the interest of the public and has helped to promote classic works by distinguished Russian authors, such as A. Pushkin, M. Lermontov, S. Esenin, A. Blok, A. Akhmatova and M. Tsvetaeva. These recent advances in poetry translation raise certain issues, for instance, the technical difficulties of translating poetry in general and poems in Russian in particular, as well as the knowledge and skills it takes a translator to tackle poetry. In addition, a growing interest in Russian poetry translation begs the question of whether quality translation of poetry, especially that by eminent authors, is possible at all. Translation of poetry from Russian into Spanish allows readers to get to know the Russian world, understand its culture, humanistic and spiritual values, and, therefore, serves as a tool of intercultural communication and helps to strengthen cultural ties between Russia and Latin America.

Many research papers examine the artistic heritage of the Russian painter Natalia Goncharova, yet relatively few analyze the Spanish themes in her work that she first explored in her sketches for ballets inspired by Spain and then in a series of paintings known as «The Spaniards» («Las españolas»). Nonetheless, in 1939, in the artist’s lifetime, an exhibition «Natalia Goncharova: Spaniards and magnolias» was held at the French gallery «Le Cadran». Marina Tsvetayeva, Russian poet and prose writer, described «The Spaniards» in her essay «Natalia Goncharova: Life and Work», highlighting the distinctive features of this series of paintings. These include the musical rhythm of contours and colour combinations, ethnographic elements, repetitive motifs, at the same time the variety of their interpretation, since the painter’s style evolved from decorative cubism to Art Deco and neoclassicism. Works with Spanish themes play an important role in Natalia Goncharova’s art because the images she created from 1916 to the early 1940s, during her Parisian period, reminded her of the homeland she had left. Thus, the study of the evolution of style, technique and function of Spanish themes helps to not only evaluate the influence of the theatre and flamenco on this series of works, but also to identify its two key components, namely the folkloric and the aristocratic. Combining the Western form of Spanish images with their Eastern spirit, Natalia Goncharova underlined the similarities between Russian and Spanish culture.

The music theater of the Spanish composer Manuel de Falla, in particular, his most significant and representative work El Retablo de maese Pedro (Master Peter’s Puppet Show), is examined through the lens of the trends in theater relevant in early 20^th century. Those include the diminishing role of the psychological theater and the developing conventional imagery of the representation theatre. Thus, Manuel de Falla’s Music Theater has clear parallels with the theater of the Russian avant-garde and with the work of artists such as Vsevolod Meyerhold and Igor Stravinsky. These similarities stem from the influence of various forms of ancient popular theater, fair and puppet shows, street «balagan» culture (balagans are temporary buildings where shows were set), which became subject of intense artistic reflection. Meyerhold pioneered the discovery of this new system of images as he presented his stage version of Aleksandr Blok’s «Balaganchik», revived the characters of the Italian comedy of masks on stage, as well as the openly playful nature of the action, and destroyed the invisible «fourth» wall separating the audience from the actors. Stravinsky’s ballet «Petrushka» is another example of how ballet embraces «balagan» culture. In this case, Stravinsky’s musical and theatrical aesthetic and style had a direct impact on the work of the Spanish composer. However, this influence manifests itself on a deeply individual level. On balance, the work of Manuel de Falla is explored as part of the most modern trends of his time.

The paths of Russia and Spain crossed several times in the 20^th century. The Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939 has always been and remains a topic that attracts the attention of experts and influences the development of a multifaceted cultural dialogue between the two countries. The events of those years contributed greatly to shaping the image of Spain in the Soviet Union. In recent decades, a number of works have been published, exploring not only the image of Spain in the USSR in the 1930s, but also the image of the enemy, which emerged as the first direct military confrontation with fascist regimes took place. An important topic analyzed in these works is the tools of visual securitization, which involves the formation of the enemy image by visual means. This paper is based on the materials included in the photo album ¡No pasaran! They will not pass! published by the Central Committee of the Komsomol in 1937. This source traditionally falls into the category of photo journalism. It is a type of source that is not examined much in literature, yet it is interesting as it combines visual images and verbal characteristics that reinforce stereotypical perceptions and key mythologems relevant to that period. The material illustrates how the image of Spain took shape in the USSR during the Civil War and how the image of the enemy emerged before World War II. The album was published as part of a pro-Spain campaign in the Soviet Union, when the Republican faction was still believed to win soon. The verbal content of the album is stronger than the images in terms of impact, although it is usually the visual content that is more impactful. Unlike poster art with its potential for visual securitization, a photo album, which combines extensive textual material with low-quality images, reinforces stereotypical ideas by combining these two sources of information, with the obvious dominance of the former.

An artistic image is the basis of any art form. For instance, it can act as a structural unit of a figurative system in children’s drawings of war. In this case, artistic images of wartime childhood in drawings made by children during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) and the Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union (1941–1945) are examined in the historical context of war. The artistic images of drawings by Spanish and Soviet children have a number of similarities in terms of genre, subject and composition; hence, they can be divided into certain typological groups, such as image-event, image-personality, image-copy, and image-idea. Children’s works of the time often depict different events in history, as well as their life in dire circumstances. The drawings of war by Spanish and Soviet children show a similar gamut of wartime childhood images, such as surviving an air raid, paying close attention to one’s surroundings, venerating the country’s leaders, experiencing the consequences of war, glorifying the heroic past and contemplating the cultural heritage. These images are in line with the values of that time and correlate to the ideological and sociocultural processes of different periods. The artistic conceptualization of reality manifests itself in unique genres and thematic compositions. Children’s works are incredibly profound, clear and compelling, while their authors sometimes invent their own drawing techniques. Children tell their personal stories in portraits and drawings on various subjects where fairy-tale images collide with the reality of war, thus creating features of a new genre.

A number of publications by Russian researchers cover the long and eventful history of cultural contacts between Russia and Latin American states. The topic was particularly important in the Soviet period, since at the time foreign cultural policy was one of the mechanisms for maintaining security and the balance of power in a bipolar world. Nowadays the increasing relevance of the issue can be attributed, among other things, to the development of digital technology and the information explosion, whose impact on the cultural ties between Russia and Latin America is to be assessed. In this context, the emphasis is placed on the definition of culture, its essence as a dialogue, as well as the conditions necessary to foster intercultural dialogue, based on UN documents on cultural diversity amid globalization. This paper does not seek to compile all the specific materials on Russia’s cultural ties with Mexico, Brazil and Argentina, three largest countries in the region. However, analyzing not only the concepts behind cultural policies but also how they are implemented is instrumental in exploring the role of culture as the main tool of «soft power». In addition, it is helpful in examining the correlation between tradition and new forms of cultural interaction, which have emerged in response to today’s challenges. The cultural ties between Russia on the one hand and Brazil, Mexico and Argentina on the other are quite representative, hence they can be extrapolated to other countries of Latin America.

In the 1950s and 1960s, over 300 families of Russian Old Believers left their country’s Far East region to move first to China and later to Latin America, fleeing mainly to Brazil and Argentina to escape persecution once the collectivization began in the Soviet Union. Subsequently, some of the families settled in Bolivia, Chile and Uruguay. There is also evidence that Russian Old Believers live in Paraguay. They have preserved their language, cultural identity and religion (Russian Old Believers in Latin America are «Bespopovtsy», meaning they reject priests), which resulted from keeping their communities closed, with their members banned from marrying those of a different faith. Russian Old Believers are engaged in agriculture: they lease fields to grow and sell cereals and legumes typical for the countries where they live, in addition to raising livestock, fishing and hunting. Moreover, Russian Old Believers preserve traditional crafts, such as embroidery, weaving, making lace, coining crucifixes and icons, and their craftsmanship is highly acclaimed. Apparently, Russian Old Believers migrated to Latin America even before mid-20^th century, yet the cases were singular, which seemed to have accelerated their assimilation. Some 15 years ago, when «The State Program for Assisting Voluntary Resettlement of Compatriots Living Abroad to the Russian Federation» was launched, several Old Believers returned to their historical homeland. Nonetheless, for a number of reasons, they do not move from Latin America to Russia on a massive scale.

2024 marks the 200^th anniversary of the death of Agustín de Betancourt (1758–1824), a distinguished Spanish and Russian engineer and scientist. His contribution to the development of engineering in both Spain and Russia is well-known; however, his role as a link between the two countries’ cultures is of particular interest. The research on the «Russian» period of Betancourt’s life began in the 1960s, yet recent discoveries by Russian scholars have revealed new aspects of his legacy in Russia. Although Betancourt’s life and work were closely tied to Saint Petersburg, his engineering projects can also be found in other Russian cities, such as Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod. Betancourt’s great legacy includes the fountain «Girl with a Jug» in Catherine Park in Tsarskoye Selo, the wooden Kamennoostrovsky Bridge, Saint Isaac’s Pontoon Bridge and Saint George’s Church. In addition, Betancourt’s engineering solutions were used in the construction of Saint Isaac’s Cathedral. Agustín de Betancourt’s legacy has to do not only with his material work, but also with his relationships with people who greatly influenced his life and work in Russia, above all with Emperor Alexander I. The memoirs of his contemporaries, such as Ivan Resimont and Filipp Vigel, shed light on Agustín de Betancourt’s career in Saint Petersburg, his personality and his unique role in the history of scientific and cultural relations between Spain and Russia in the early 19^th century.

The legal traditions of the Spanish Empire, which had certain particularities but were always in line with the imperial Catholic culture, played a major role in the development and expansion of the Hispanic world in the Ancien Régime. The converging interests and goals of the Crown, the Church and various groups of individuals were ment to ensure the institutional stability of an immense geoeconomic and cultural space, in which public policies and their implementation were based on the principle of the common good. Throughout the 18^th century, beyond the conflicting corporate interests and the great challenges of the time, tradition and reformism influenced one another shaping a political and socioeconomic space, which contributed to strengthening the power and increasing the administrative efficiency of the Hispanic Monarchy. Meanwhile, the two tendencies’ mutual influence boosted the economy in terms of production, finance, trade, and welfare. At the local level, the Hispano-Indian cities and communities had their own administrative and economic resources, and contributed greatly to meeting the financial needs of the Crown, which was often based on negotiation. The Spanish Empire’s fiscal policy and public expenditure, in turn, sought to meet not only defence needs but also those of the government, in addition to promoting Christian education. On balance, the state, the Church and the civil society contributed to the maintenance and development of the Viceroyalty of New Spain.

The first inhabitants of America must have come from Siberia, from the extreme north of Asia, and entered the American continent during the last glaciation, which began 110,000 years ago and ended around 10,000 BP. They had a magical worldview, felt closely connected to nature, and expressed their way of thinking through various rituals, ceremonies, offerings, songs, melodies and dances, while the new environment prompted them to create traditions, cults, and myths about their origin. At the same time, the indigenous people of America introduced a pantheon of deities for each event, for each fact of their existence, hence demonstrating that although humans are different because they are mortals, they speak the same language as their deities and ask them for sustenance and protection. In Mesoamerica and the Andean region, there are groups that still perform ceremonies and rituals to honor different deities. The indigenous world of America has been sustained in a parallel dimension where magical traditions and rituals help people to adapt and survive in the modern world. However, the religious interference of the Catholic Church during the Spanish colonial period affected indigenous groups, even the most radical ones, and led to a syncretism based on a new understanding of traditions. Nowadays, people perform rituals in the same snow-capped mountains where their ancestors worshipped deities and communicated with them. Images of Christian saints and the liturgy conducted in temples built by the Catholic Church were combined with the magical ideas of the indigenous population about common origin and the world. Thus, Christian doctrine transformed by incorporating traditional beliefs and ceremonies of the indigenous peoples, as it is these rituals that help them live harmoniously.