BRICS was created as an economic group focused on issues of security and development. However, today, for effective interaction, member states have to rethink and build a new system of socio-humanitarian coordinates.

BRICS cooperation in culture

The first thing researchers point to when examining BRICS intercultural cooperation is the divergence of interests and values. This is not about the current shared goals of the Global South countries, but about the historically formed cultural and civilisational foundations. However, this is more of an advantage than a drawback. The greater the cultural differences among the members of the group, the higher their mutual interest. What scholars describe as “symbols of sympathetic complementarity” emerges. This leads to the creation of extensive cultural programmes, exchanges of visits by cultural and artistic figures, folklore groups, writers, students and lecturers. Thus, art and education build bridges between civilisations. As early as 2015, the governments of the BRICS countries set the task of shaping a cultural dimension for BRICS, organising meetings of ministers of culture and developing tourism. Since then, the geography of the group has expanded significantly, as have the scale and depth of BRICS intercultural dialogue.

Meanwhile, experts describe the very fact that a developed intercultural and civilisational dialogue exists within an originally economic group as a unique and even exemplary phenomenon.

“Cultural dialogue is what distinguishes BRICS from all other groupings – the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation), ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), the G20. Culture is what unites people for centuries. Not only people, but countries and even continents. I would take responsibility for stating that the cultural dialogue in the form in which it is conducted within BRICS is an exemplary model of such dialogue at the level of international communication in general,” said Nikolay Parkhitko, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor at the Department of Theory and History of Journalism at RUDN University, in an exclusive interview with TV BRICS.

Intercultural dialogue as the foundation of a multipolar world

It is no coincidence that specialists describe the strategy of developing people-to-people diplomacy as one of the most successful today. For example, in an exclusive interview with TV BRICS, Ruslan Grebnev, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Global Processes at Lomonosov Moscow State University’s Department, emphasises that culture, education and diplomacy serve as key elements in forming a shared value and normative space within BRICS, compensating for its initial heterogeneity. Moreover, humanitarian cooperation creates sustainable social ties, mutual trust and shared meanings, which in fact enhance the legitimacy of decisions taken by the interstate group.

“Such cooperation contributes to consolidating the group as an actor of a polycentric world order. Thus, culture, education and diplomacy move interaction among our countries from the level of interests to the level of BRICS identity, ensuring the long-term sustainability of the group,” Ruslan Grebnev said.

Historical context and interesting facts

Political scientists point to an interesting fact: BRICS humanitarian cooperation is developing against a rather curious historical backdrop. For the most part, all member countries, with the exception of local and episodic incidents, have not had significant contradictions throughout their history.

“One can look at the interaction of our cultures. Today, strategic relations between Russia and China have reached a level never seen before. The same can be said about Russia and Iran, Russia and Egypt, Ethiopia or Indonesia,” said Nikolay Parkhitko in an exclusive interview with TV BRICS.

In effect, BRICS today has a unique historical opportunity to build relations that offer every chance for the development of trust-based interaction, including through institutions of soft power and people-to-people diplomacy.

Institutions of soft power

BRICS is built on the principles of multipolarity, respect for state sovereignty and national interests, consensus and the absence of any form of discrimination. Essentially, all of these are features of soft power, which manifests itself not only in individual BRICS events, but also in entire institutions. These include the International Cultural Forum “BRICS about the Future”, which brings together ministries of culture from the group. The mission of the forum is to create a cultural environment based on universal human values. Another example is the International BRICS Municipal Forum – a major annual event addressing issues of tourism development, architectural solutions and the creation of “welcoming” territories. In September 2025, Brazil hosted the II BRICS Forum “Traditional Values“, bringing together parliamentarians, business representatives, cultural figures and public organisations from all member countries. The list can be extended with the BRICS Youth Summit – a series of events for young leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs from BRICS countries.

Such formats, experts believe, form the basis of deep integration, reduce the risks of conflict and strengthen the collective subjectivity of BRICS.

The language of culture

At the same time, to strengthen ties within the group, the only language in the world that, by general recognition, does not require translation is often used – the language of art. In September 2025, Moscow hosted the 8th International Festival of Theatre Schools of the BRICS Countries. It became known as the first innovative platform for intercultural exchange among theatre universities from different countries in the field of dramatic art and public diplomacy.

Since 2016, the BRICS Film Festival has also existed as a platform for promoting cultural exchanges. Each year, the festival is hosted by the country holding the BRICS chairmanship. The programme features films from member states.

In addition, exhibitions connected in one way or another with BRICS are held around the world. In 2024, Russian museums organised a joint exhibition about China, presenting Chinese collections from museums of the Russian Federation. Two years ago, the Russian House in Italy hosted the art exhibition “Russia and BRICS in the Cultural Dimension: New Art of the New World”. Diplomatic missions of BRICS states took part in preparing the programme.

Ongoing cross-cultural exchange also takes place through sporting competitions. Thus, the flagship sports project of the group – the BRICS Games – has included national and traditional sports in different years, such as Brazilian capoeira, the ancient Indian team game kabaddi, and Chinese wushu.

Education and science

International cooperation in science is linked to such aspects as the popularisation of science, raising public scientific literacy and engaging young talented people in scientific activity. All this resulted in the BRICS Science Popularisers Forum, designed for the exchange of experience. In India and China, for example, popularisation is supported by the state. In Russia, there is a diversity of formats: scientific lectures, festivals and expeditions. Thus, experts say that despite certain difficulties, scientific and technological cooperation as an element of humanitarian diplomacy has great potential. The main areas of interaction include monitoring and prevention of natural disasters, the state of water resources, new and renewable energy, the development of geomatics (geospatial technologies) and astronomy.

As education is one of the most promising areas for expanding interaction among BRICS countries, in 2013 the Russian delegation proposed the creation of the BRICS Network University, which operates as a network of higher education institutions from member states. On this basis, educational and research programmes are organised, academic mobility is developed, and, of course, continuous cultural exchange takes place.

“As for joint projects in education, the task of the BRICS Network University is also to get to know each other better. So that South Africa knows about Brazil, Brazil knows about China, China knows about Russia, Russia knows about India, and so on. It is rather an implementation tool that allows us to bring our positions closer together, understand one another and develop,” Nikolay Parkhitko explained.

At the same time, beyond cultural integration, the mission of the BRICS Network University is to form a new generation of highly qualified and motivated professionals with critical thinking skills, capable of implementing innovations and combining traditional knowledge with science and modern technologies. Ruslan Grebnev, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Global Processes at Lomonosov Moscow State University’s Department of International Cooperation believes that this is about building BRICS social capital. “This capital lies in transnational networks of future elites, professionals and public figures who, in the long term, should become ‘ambassadors’ of BRICS, carriers of the group’s policies and values,” he noted.

Culture and tourism

BRICS countries are developing cultural cooperation between cities. The idea of creating a network of municipalities that would become centres of tourism, gastronomy and creativity emerged back in 2018. However, the partnership of BRICS cities of culture went beyond this initiative, becoming an group of cities that promotes the exchange of experience in municipal governance with a focus on strengthening ties between cities and regions of BRICS member and partner countries.

Thus, in 2025, the International Municipal Forum of the BRICS countries in St. Petersburg brought together more than 5,000 participants from around a hundred countries to discuss the concept of the future. The focus was primarily on creating a comfortable and environmentally friendly environment and developing smart cities. Project developers were inspired, among other things, by the experience of Chinese colleagues and the idea of the 15-minute city, where everything is close at hand. However, dialogues within such forums and initiatives usually go far beyond urban studies. Deepening ties also takes place in the fields of automotive manufacturing, investment, healthcare, education, and, of course, tourism and culture.

Intercultural relations: challenges and prospects

The main challenge in developing BRICS intercultural dialogue, experts believe, is cultural diversity. Despite mutual interest, this factor, along with language barriers, often prevents representatives of member countries from fully understanding each other. The fact is that BRICS countries are vast, distinctive civilisations with different values, histories and worldviews. Therefore, finding common ground and unifying approaches to dialogue requires considerable effort, especially given that discussions often involve all ten parties at once. Linguistic differences demand subtle and accurate translation. The possibility of distorted meanings and misunderstandings can never be fully ruled out.

“The main challenge of dialogue in the context of historical and political tensions lies in the need to overcome two barriers simultaneously: deeply rooted images of the past and current geopolitical competition. This requires the parties to maintain a delicate balance between principled positions and a pragmatic search for consensus. The success of dialogue depends not so much on formal procedures as on the ability of the actors to engage in objective self-assessment and to create new frameworks for interaction,” Ruslan Grebnev believes.

Ultimately, how successfully BRICS member states cope with this task will determine the future of the very idea of creating a sustainable system of international relations based not on force, but on mutual respect and understanding. Experts agree that the BRICS platform itself, with its approaches, is essentially a laboratory in which the first principles of coexistence of worlds within a single global system are being formed right now.

Article prepared by Svetlana Khristoforova. African Times published this article in partnership with International Media Network TV BRICS