This year on January 31, Nadia Rusheva would have turned 60.

The vivid, active, promising life ended when the girl was only 17. She was born in 1952 in an artistic family. Her father Nikolai Konstantinovich Rushev (1918-1975) was a theatre artist. Her mother, Natalia Azhikmaa-Rusheva(born 1926) is one of the first Tuvan ballerinas. The family lived in Ulan-Bator at the time, as instructors on art duty. They gave the girl a Mongolian name - Naidan - which means "Eternally living" in translation. It turned out to be a prophetic name. in our days, Nadia Rusheva's art is known to practically any cultured person, in Russia and abroad.

Taking a pencil in her hand, the girl rapidly and accurately produced a drawing on paper. There was an impression that invisible lines were already present, and the child was only following them. And the young artist never used an eraser. She produced one illustration once and forever. Each of these creations was a unique picture which showed a fairy-tale hero with astonishing precision.

In her early years, Nadia Rusheva loved the story "The Little Prince" by Antoine Saint-Exupery , French writer and pilot. She made about thirty drawings based on the story. One of the girl's favorite writers was A. S. Pushkin. As her mother remembers, one day, listening to the story "Tale about Tsar Saltan", Nadia right away produced about forty drawings.

Many of Nadia Rusheva's drawings were devoted to the poet A. S. Pushkin himself. She drew him, his wife, their children. There are drawings showing the last hours of the poet's life. All these illustrations characterize the era of the first half of 19^th century with astonishing accuracy.  One gets the impression that the young artist was a personal participant in those remote events. While she lived in Leningrad,  her personal exhibition called "Pushkiniana" was shown.

In 1966, the Rushev family received an apartment in a new district of Moscow, where Nadia attended school No.470. Today this school bears the name Nadia Rusheva Educational Center No.1466. There is a school Nadia Rusheva Memorial Museum. The school always observes memorial dates of the artistic Rushev family, and there are anniversary evenings - jubilea, memorial days, and drawing contests.

This year, the Educational Center traditionally holds an evening dedicated to Nadia Rusheva's birthday with the participation of the Plenipotentiary representative office of Republic Tyva in Moscow, and Tuvan Compatriot association.

Not so long ago, on 20 November 2011 - there was 85^th birthday of Natalia Doidalovna Azhikmaa, so the evening's program will also include the theme of Nadia's mother's Jubileum.

There will be the 5^th open memorial contest of children's drawings "Nadezhda yest" on the them "Our Pushkin". The participants will be from Grades 1-11, also from other schools in the vicinity.

This year, students from Moscow Tuvan Compatriot association will be among the entrants. The contest will take place on 21 January at  Nadia Rusheva Educational Center No.1466.

The contest is subdivided into four age categories.

For those who come for the first time, an organized excursion of the Nadia Rusheva Memorial Museum will be held.

Applications may be sent to jurchit@rusheva.com until 20 January 2012. Individual and collective applications are accepted.

The names of the winners will be announced during the Jubileum evening on 4 February. The prizes will consist of certificates and souvenir prizes, and the best works will be published on www.rusheva.com web site.

The contest:

Participants bring their work materials: paper (strictly A3 format!), paints, gouache, flow master, water paints, ink, oil paint, etc.

The participants will be seated in different rooms, where they will paint and draw. After they are finished, they submit their work to the organizers.

All the pictures will be exhibited on the first floor of the school.

Members of the jury will evaluate the works and decide the winners.

In this way, the works of the contest participants will also become an exhibition fort eh Jubileum celebrations.

The formal Jubileum celebration evening dedicated to Nadia Rusheva's 60^th  birthday will take place on 4 February.

The program of the evening will consist of formal celebratory part with showing of a documentary film about Nadia, and relatives and friends will talk about Nadia. The winners of the drawing contest will be honored. The concert program will include performance of a show about Nadia, abiturients of Richter Music school will perform music pieces. They will play Nadia's favorite classical melodies. As always, Tuvan performers will participate in the concert. This time, Tuvan youth Moscow vocal-dance group "Heart of Asia" will perform dances and songs.

Fans of the art of Nadia Rusheva and young talents! We invite you to participate on 21 January in the contest of drawings, and to come on 4 February to the Jubileum evening.

Telephone info:

Sashnikova Roza Irgitovna: + 7(962) 979-16-99

Usenko Natalia Vladimirovna: + 7(962) 781-72-02