Ildar Samerkhanov: "In Canada, you can meet people from almost all areas of Bashkiria"

UFA, 4 February 2020. /Bashinform News Agency, Gulchachak Khannanova/ translated by Tatiana Aksyutina/.

Ildar Samerkhanov has been living in Canada since 2003. He settled in Toronto, tried various careers, but in the end, he became known not so much for his professional achievements, but for his activities in promoting Bashkiria and Russia.

Thus, becoming one of the activists of the local Tatar-Bashkir communities and the chairman of the "Kurultay Canada" public organization created in 2019, Ildar helps to hold Sabantuy and other national holidays. He travels a lot over Bashkiria, promotes tourism in the republic beyond its borders. At the initiative of his sister, Farida Samerkhanova, also a member of the Kurultay Canada, an unusual event was carried out last year in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Bashkortostan: Niagara Falls was lighted up in the colors of the Bashkir flag.

Recently, in his own house, our fellow countryman opened the "Made in the USSR" Museum, which is beginning to be popular not only among emigrants from the former Soviet Union but also among native Canadians. Its separate exposition is dedicated to Bashkiria, where one can see kurai, kubyz, national shoes and clothes, samovars, Bashkir honey, and much more. Part of the exposition is artistic - it presents the work of artists from Bashkiria. The museum accepts any exhibits from the homeland as a gift, so those who wish to donate something to the museum can contact its creator on social media.

"In Canada, our countrymen live everywhere. You can meet people from almost any region of Bashkiria from Vancouver, the Pacific coast to the Atlantic", says Ildar Samerkhanov. "The word "emigration" in our age of flights and the Internet is a purely physical movement. I have just expanded the boundaries of my life", says our fellow countryman.