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The master class ‘Traditions and Innovations in Preserving Family Values’ was held on December 9, at the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation as part of the International Forum and the XXII Congress of the Peoples of Russia with International Participation “Family - Multigenerational Continuity of Traditional Values”.
Chairman of the Commission of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation on interethnic, interreligious relations and migration, Co-Chairman of the Movement ‘Senezh Forum’, member of the General Council of the Eurasian and African Peoples’ Assembly, member of the Presidium of the Council of the President of the Russian Federation on interethnic relations Vladimir Zorin and photographer, member of the Russian Geographical Society, General Director of the Autonomous Nonprofit Organization ‘International Cultural Dialogue’, author of the project ‘Weddings of the Peoples of the World: Cultural Heritage’ Denis Knyazev shared their personal family stories with the participants of the masterclass.
Vladimir Zorin has three sons and one daughter, seven grandchildren. The Zorin family is a three-generation family. ‘I will have a model family,’ Vladimir Zorin decided in his youth, and he managed to fulfil this dream. ‘I have not found in an example of model family I could be guided by among modern families,’ he admits. The most possible one is the Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky family, but they have never gathered in full, all members of the family. The Zorin family, which grows ‘not only up and down but also horizontally’, manages to meet regularly. For example, every year about 35 people gather to celebrate the New Year. The traditions of the family feast include speeches of the heads of families, reports of their relatives about their achievements for the year... Everyone shares not only joys but also difficulties. To celebrate the New Year, family members prepare brochures, calendars, photo albums and present them to each other. This is how they create real printed chronicles of the family tree.
The Zorin family collects paintings of the Russian provinces of the late XX - early XXI century. At present, family exhibitions have grown into whole projects: family efforts are used to organize exhibitions about three times a year in different cities.
An important attention in the Zorin family is paid to children's holidays: adults and children regularly travel around Russia. Every year on February 23 the male half: grandfathers, fathers and grandchildren go hunting, fishing... Young members of the family show interest in the biographies of famous ancestors, and the elders encourage research activities in this direction.
Denis Knyazev considers his family to be his best ‘project’, and it is to them that he owes his success story.
‘Large families are great, it's mutual support for each other. My project would not have taken place if it were not for my family,’ says Denis Knyazev.
The photographer calls his wife a permanent volunteer of the world-famous project ‘Weddings’. And to become such a project, according to him, helped his son. It was he who, when his father was putting off writing a letter about the project to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, called the Spokesman office of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, and practically organized the fateful meeting.
Of course, the Knyazev family has many family traditions. Most of them are connected with photography: from every trip the Knyazevs bring back a lot of photos, collect albums, and make descriptions of the photos. They turn out real books, which are constantly looked through by the whole family... In the Year of the Family some photos were sent to the contest of the Ministry of Education and became winners. The Knyazev family can now be seen in Russian social advertising.
‘I am proud of the way my children are growing up. I see myself in the way they behave. If you don't pass through yourself, if you don't broadcast it, nothing will work out. You have to be an ideal, a standard for your children,’ says Denis Knyazev.
The time that children can spend on the Internet is limited by parental control, and they are taught to plan. The main New Year tradition is decorating the Christmas tree with glass toys, mostly handmade, each with its own story behind it. The Knyazevs' Christmas tree becomes a separate work of art.
‘Attention to life in society: independence, sociability, creativity, responsibility, respect for the older generation’ - this is what is worth constantly developing in their children, believes Denis Knyazev.