AVI 2001 in St. Petersburg

Auroville and Russia, the spiritual connection

Sunday June 17 until Saturday June 23, 2001

This year's annual Auroville International meeting will take place in St. Petersburg in June and, as it is the very first time that an AVI meeting is held in Russia, it promises to be very an interesting one. The gathering doesn't only gear up to be a meeting of the various Centres and Liaisons of the Auroville International Association, but also aims at creating a more substantial connection between Auroville and the countries of the former USSR, - a living link to possibly stimulate exchanges which may assist Auroville's spiritual growth and vice versa. Therefore, members of innumerable 'Aurobindian' centres active in this area of eastern Europe have been invited to participate.

Auroville in Russia

The Mother once said, that the Russians are as spiritual as the Indians and that Auroville could have been founded in Russia as well. At the time of her statement, Russia was still part of the Soviet Union. Sri Aurobindo and the Mother are well known in the now independent countries of the former Soviet Union, whereas not much is known about Auroville.

Intense exchange

The AVI liaison in St. Petersburg therefore intends to invite as many Sri Aurobindo groups as possible to stimulate an intense exchange of information and contact. The invitees will be arriving from all over the former USSR, some come from as far away as Vladivostok, Irkutsk, Kiev in the Ukraine, Odessa, Belorussia - some even travel 10 days by train to reach the meeting.

Wide aim

The aim of this year's AVI meeting is therefore wider than usual. While sufficient time and space will be given for the AVI Association to meet by itself according to its own needs, also time is set aside for joint sessions where both Auroville & AVI and the various Russian and other 'Aurobindian' groups can present themselves and get to know each other.
Moreover, it is expected that the various Russian groups will use this opportunity to get together amongst themselves in order to discuss particular problems and possibilities for future collaboration with each other.

Some twenty Aurovilians will travel to St. Petersburg and give presentations or participate in the discussions.

Bi-lingual

The mixed AV/AVI/Russian sessions will be conducted bilingually. Translators will be provided. Some special guests such as the Indian consul in St. Petersburg and the Ambassador of India in Moscow will be invited for one or more of the joint sessions.

Location

The setting of the meeting place seems ideal, in the beautiful Peterhof Hotel near the seashore, located in a very pleasant area entirely surrounded by parks. The proposed programme, which you find below, also anticipates sightseeing and a cultural day in St. Petersburg, a June 21st 'white night' celebration, a last evening banquet, cultural programmes in the evening and so on.

Rough outlines of the programme

Sunday 17: arrival of participants, evening plenary introductory session
Monday 18: cultural day in St. Petersburg with sightseeing
Tuesday 19: joint session with all participants - presentations by Auroville and AVI Centres
Wednesday 20: joint session with all participants - presentations by Russian and other Aurobindian Centres
Thursday 21 morning: meeting (English language medium) of AVI Centres & Liaisons amongst each other
Thursday 21 morning: meeting of Russian and other groups (Russian language medium) amongst each other
Thursday 21, afternoon: continuation of separate meetings, or further joint session
Thursday 21, evening: celebration of the 'whitest night' which may last into the early hours of Friday 22nd
Friday 22: continuation of joint sessions, evening buffet
Saturday 23: morning joint closing session