BelSU Exhibition Unfolds 14,000 Years of Saharan History

The exhibition, Treasures of the Sahara, brought together a striking collection of images by scientist, historian, and filmmaker Nikolai Sologubovsky. Displayed at the Mahmoud Darwish Centre for Arabic Language and Culture at Belgorod State National Research University (BelSU), the photographs capture ancient rock art and petroglyphs that chart thousands of years of human and environmental history across the world's largest desert.

In May, the exhibition was visited by a distinguished delegation attending the My Belgorod Event Marathon, organised by the Association of Foreign Graduates and Students of Universities of the Belgorod Region. Among the honoured guests were Mr. Walid Hamid Shiltag, Ambassador of the League of Arab States to the Russian Federation; Mr. Ali Gutali, former Ambassador of Tunisia to Russia; Mr. Khoury Mudallal Mtanyus, head of the RUSSAR Foundation; and Svetlana Kuznetsova, Chair of the We Are Russians All-Russian public movement and a specialist in cross-cultural communications. Representatives of the Belgorod regional government, international public organisations, and students and graduates from several Belgorod universities also attended.

A centrepiece of the exhibition programme was the screening of Sologubovsky's documentary film Louvre in the Open Air, which guided viewers through the history of a once-thriving Saharan ecosystem. The artworks featured in the exhibition span an astonishing timeline – from 12,000 BC to 100 AD – and many were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1985. Students from the BelSU Institute of Intercultural Communication and International Relations, the BelSU Pedagogical Institute, Shukhov Belgorod State Technological University, and local schools all had the chance to explore these ancient masterpieces.

“The photo exhibition provides an opportunity to reflect on past millennia and to feel the movement of time, which is powerless against the eternal – art created by human hands," Sologubovsky said.

Elena Nazarenko, an employee at the Mahmoud Darwish Centre, part of the BelSU International Information Centre, stressed the wider value of such projects.

“Co-exploring language and culture not only deepens intercultural communication but also stimulates research interest, creating conditions for professional self-realisation," she said. "The interpenetration of traditions is a source of new ideas that enriches both the individual and society as a whole."

Centre staff complemented the visual experience by adding Arabic commentary to the exhibition materials, reinforcing the linguistic dimension of the cultural dialogue.