A special Session was held on 22 November 2019 on the topic "Art education in the context of cross-cultural communication» within the framework of the VII International Conference "Protecting languages. Preserving cultures" organized by the Institute of Philology and Intercultural Communication of Kazan Federal University.

The keynote speakers were Dr. Balwant Singh, the Director of Partap College of Education (India) and Dr.Manpreet Kaur, the Principal of Partap College of Education (India).

University professors and MA students of Kazan Federal University (Russia) and Partap College of Education (India) took part in this session.

The program of the session included the following reports:

- Developing Professional Teacher: Role of Intercultural Experience (Manpreet Kaur, Partap College of Education, India).

- Promoting International cultural integration through Art, Education and Languages (Balwant Singh, Partap College of Education, India).

- Mainstream researches in Math education in the multilingual education system (Leila Salekhova, Kazan Federal University, Russia).

- Signature pedagogy in Art education by means of MOOC (Svetlana Karkina, Kazan Federal University, Russia; Juanjo Mena, University of Salamanca, Spain).

- Linguo-culture self-education of University students (Diana Vakhitiva, Kazan Federal University, Russia).

- Core of Multicultural Education (Jyoti Bhatia, Partap College of Education, India).

- Styles of Indian art form: Music and Dance (Aditi Singla, Partap College of Education, India).

- Music education in UK: History and modernity (Aizilya Sabirsyanova, Kazan Federal University, Russia).

- Teaching foreign languages and cultures through idioms: Hidden pitfalls (Kseniya Maslenkova, Kazan Federal University, Russia).

The speakers presented some positive experience of preservation of languages and cultures in their countries and discussed perspectives and concerns in this field. They shared numerous examples of good practices to keep languages alive, highlighting the crucial function of intergenerational transmission and the importance of mother tongue education.

Each presenter pointed out the idea that it is crucial to ensure the protection of the cultural identity and dignity of all nations in the world and safeguard their traditional heritage.

The speakers outlined the fact that with cross-cultural contacts constantly growing, the modern world is becoming more and more multicultural. Thanks to this process we can enjoy foreign goods, food, music, learn racial, cultural and ethnic diversity, and share our ideas, experiences, technologies and practices.

The performance of an Indian guest Aditi Singla who sang several folk songs and was given a standing ovation, elaborated the work of the session "Art education in the context of cross-cultural communication».

All the speakers and participants of the event agreed on the point that art is a powerful means to preserve native languages and cultures and promote international cultural integration, among others.