August 20, 1997 - On August 23, 1997 the Chevron office in San Francisco, CA. will host a concert and an exhibition opening in the framework of the project Moscow on the Eve of its Jubilee to the Cities of the World dedicated to the 850th anniversary of Moscow.

The project is supported by the biggest Russian oil company LUKOIL and a major U.S. oil company Chevron which has been operating in Russia since 1991.

It combines two permanent cultural programs for children: the musical New Names and the international contest of children's drawings - Drawing of Greetings. The opening ceremony of the project took place at the Moscow Mayor's Office on December 18, 1996.

Since the beginning of 1997 - the Moscow anniversary year - scores of cities in Russia and other countries have held exhibitions of works by winners of "I am Walking around Moscow" exhibition of children's drawings and concerts of young musicians. In every city exhibitions were supplemented by new works by young artists depicting Moscow and their home towns.

The international contest of children's drawings was started in 1994 by the Russian Izoizdat Publishing House, the Russian Federation Commission for UNESCO Affairs, the Russian Ministry of Education, the Moscow City Education Department, the Union of Russian Women and Pionerskaya Pravda newspaper. Over 10,000 drawings were sent in from 20 countries, 50 of them were chosen for the travelling exhibition.

The international New Names charity program was launched in 1989 at the initiative of the Russian Culture Foundation and the International Association of Peace Foundations. Under a UNESCO decision the program became a participant in the World Decade of Cultural Advancement in 1993. Its purpose is to seek for and support young musical talents, organize their concerts in Russia and abroad, make radio and TV programs and issue CDs.

The project will be crowned by an exhibition of drawings by children from other countries Cities of the World to Jubilee Moscow and a concert.

The project is the first instance of cultural cooperation between two oil companies. LUKOIL and Chevron intend to continue supporting programs for children and young people in Russia.

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