October 12, 2020: an international children's art exhibition opened at Taganrog's Municipal School Number 5. It was organized within the framework of the long-term project "The Heritage of Saints Cyril and Methodius in the modern world". The meaning of "heritage" has not been limited to Orthodox background of Slavic missionaries, and focuses on the Cyrillic alphabet.

This is why the subject scope was very wide, ranging from Christianity to linguistics. The forms of participation were also very different: drawings, photographs, essays, research studies, scenarios of Saints Cyril and Methodius' Day Celebrations, videoconferencing ("video bridge"), and many more. Official languages in 2016 were: Russian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, English and German. The first project was realized in 2009 and became an international event in 2013.


The students of School Number 5 made a valuable contribution. Notably, the younger ones prepared a special project on the book history as a cultural phenomenon. The high school students conducted an online guided tour. In 2020, the students of Luleburgaz Bilsem Gençlik Mh. Gunes School Nr. 17 from the city of Kirklareli, Turkey participated for the first time, showing their great enthusiasm. The Turkish students and their teacher Inci Yilmaz SimSek explained the reasons for their activity during an interview to "Taganrogskaya Pravda" newspaper. Taganrog Foreign Relations Office has played the key role in establishing the international contacts for the project.


Significantly, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ismail Köse (Department of International Relations of Black Sea Tech. University, the city of Trabzon) gave a speech relating to the opening of the exhibition. "Children are our future, and we, Turks and Russians, sharing northern and southern coasts of Black Sea, need to cooperate for peace and prosperity, for our future", Dr. Ismail Köse said.


Therefore, the geographical scope of the project has expanded in recent years. "The Heritage of Saints Cyril and Methodius in the Modern World" has involved participants from Austria, Belarus, Bulgaria, Germany, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, North Macedonia, Serbia, United States of America, Ukraine, and other countries. Such a long list is an evidence of the organizer's right attitude towards participants, giving a warm welcome to everybody interested in Slavic culture, languages and writing.