2007 was “Russian Language Year” (official website http://www.russian2007.ru). To celebrate this and publicise the benefits of learning Russian the SRF organised a poster competition, asking competitors to design a poster telling the world why they think people should learn Russian.The deadline was 14 July 2007 and over 100 entries were received from all over the UK - Outer Hebrides to Inner London, Birmingham to Beckenham. Categories were as follows:
• contestants up to age 11
• contestants aged 12-18
• everyone else (ages 19-99+)

Judges:
Svetlana Adjoubei: Director, Academia Rossica
Prof. Christina Lodder: Professor of Art History, University of St Andrews
Meg Luckins: founder and former chair of the Scotland-Russia Forum; Hon. Consul for Kyrgyzstan; former teacher of Russian
Dr Lara Ryazanova-Clarke: Head of Russian, University of Edinburgh
Dr Natalia Tronenko: Russian lecturer; member of the Russian Language Committee of the Assn. for Language Learning

Winners were announced on 5 September 2007 by a representative of the Russian Consulate General in Scotland at our first exhibition: Morningside Library, Edinburgh.
All winners have received a certificate and prize. Designers of 37 other posters chosen for exhibition also received certificates. All prizewinners are listed in the exhibition guide.

The SRF and the judges would like to congratulate all entrants for the enthusiasm, thoughtfulness and imagination shown in their posters. Reasons for learning Russian were as varied as the style of posters - including culture, politics, the "cool" Russian language, Cheburashka and many others.
Some of the posters (we'd have loved to have been able to show them all!) will be on display at exhibitions all over the UK and we hope our competitors' enthusiasm will inspire others to take up learning Russian.

A selection of posters was exhibited in a variety of venues throughout the UK.
Please contact us with suggestions for more venues. All publicity very welcome too!

Russian Centre for International Scientific & Cultural Cooperation www.rusintercenter.ru
The Embassy of the Russian Federation
The Consulate-General of the Russian Federation in Scotland
BRS www.britishrussian.org.uk
Cambridge Russian Speaking Society www.camruss.com
The GB-Russia Society www.gbrussia.org
Pushkin House www.pushkinhouse.org.uk
SCILT – Scottish Centre for Language Teaching and Research www.scilt.stir.ac.uk
SCRSS - Society for Co-Operation in Russian and Soviet Studies www.scrss.org.uk

Angel Books: Angel Books is a unique imprint devoted entirely to translations. 3 Kelross Road, London N5 2QS
esterum: Russian books worldwide www.esterum.com
Go Russia: A great choice of cultural and active tours to Russia. Groups and tailor-made. www.justgorussia.co.uk
Grant and Cutler: The UK’s largest foreign language bookseller www.grantandcutler.com
The Hermitage Rooms at Somerset House: Rotating exhibitions of treasures from the State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg www.hermitagerooms.org.uk
Ruslan Ltd: Quality materials for learning and teaching Russian www.ruslan.co.uk
Russian Cultural Centre / Café Cossachok: We believe you can fly www.cossachok.com
Russian Fairytale Ltd: Exceptional gifts and souvenirs www.russianfairytale.com
Russian Life. The world’s biggest country … in a magazine www.russianlife.net
The Russian Shop: Russian crafts and souvenirs. 18 St. Mary’s St, Edinburgh, EH1 1SU
SALT: Scottish Association for Language Teaching www.saltlangs.org.uk
Thornton’s Bookshop: Oxford’s oldest bookshop www.thorntonsbooks.co.uk