Belarus (magazine #08 2020) by BELARUS Magazine

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No. 8 (1043), 2020 Беларусь. Belarus

belarus Politics. Economy. Culture

ISSN 2415-394X

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Newspaper from Belarus

Голас Радзімы edition of the “Голас Радзімы” is available at www.zviazda.by

The newspaper for fellow countrymen: well-known and well-read 1

ГАЗЕТА З БЕЛАРУСІ

ГОЛАС РАДЗІМЫ

Голасрадзімы пятніца, 14 жніўня, 2020

ВЫДАЕЦЦА З КРАСАВІКА 1955 ГОДА ●

● № 15 (3627) ●

● ПЯТНІЦА, 14 ЖНІЎНЯ, 2020

ВЫДАННЕ “ГОЛАС РАДЗІМЫ” ЧЫТАЙЦЕ Ў ІНТЭРНЭЦЕ НА ПАРТАЛЕ ZVIAZDA.BY

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А з пе авац я лы льна здаб тым ус Пр пам тал ” ўм віру інтэ віру ах “ арпа араю а ь!” Пр рака ладч дзіц ў В расп насц эчы ерк аліс а во ўна нні ў ка да рыс іны фа ўсе пра стор і к ств к п кі ст вык камі сці м п леж устр ў абм кран ў п х, ты ажа ля ка вуц ць ін што чулі пра з ім таў, дна льні ь й льні ся го ічны Неза ай с ава і. За віла ната Ге ур нк па пра на, шкі ьных цца яліс ы. А ава прац х ва халі стал цы вялік апан ацы пра тэр адчы ў он е а ла а р ук ых у ін кл су су Пэў тро уал агаю ецы ам пазн і су ўны а. і п з’ н н ы д а ль с т в гр ь ц п ы ы м с ра ра ас кт дач ст які ы П энка ываммы а д но сцаў і в укац п хоц вір З , м у ва а ме ікаў ад р аш акт тэ кі ь на ны”. х ІТ ыя тры вядо эстр я за з фэй п Бе і: к а ь іс юц вуці чаны русн філь ай с і д дана цца ла Лу ным цё с танн У д таўн насц ру Н нас аж ы па свед тыві йкія авеч ых скла ага іч іц В г сі п в в ў ўД да ан не чал альн ьш ькі зм раз зныя ння бкаў ра аў п е о о чы авіць оўні збур бол бац га р упл зар чы ўп ст ўзр ра чэ і нас ст сту ажу ілс о на йкаў, яш чыл е р ў. К фэ й — ж ву ка э і ід у ц “Н

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contents

Беларусь. Belarus Social and political magazine № 8 (1043), August, 2020

In the rhythm of the harvest

Published since 1930 Founders: Zviazda Publishing House editorialand-publishing establishment Editor-in-Chief: Viktor Kharkov Executive Secretary: Valentina Zhdanovich Editorial office address: 220013 Minsk, Belarus, 10a Bogdan Khmelnitsky Street Tel.: +375 (17) 287-19-19, +375 (17) 292-66-92 Тel./fax: +375 (17) 287-15-26.

4 Photo facts of busy season

Very big family

Belta

this work. Project Manager — Director of the United Institute of Informatics Problems of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus Alexander Tuzikov, reveals some details

The dearest wish of one of the best mechanizers of Molodechno District is for his grandchildren to live in peaceful, calm Belarus, not knowing hunger and devastation

Moving along the path of environmental friendliness

The ends justify the search The question of how to treat patients with coronavirus is still open. Not wonder, the minds of many researchers around the world are put to the search of a targeted anticoronavirus agent. Our scientists are also contributing to

Discussions on local topics The Polesye State University hosted youth online dialogues of the UN campaign 75

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Subscription index — 74977 Registration Certificate No. 8 issued on 16.07.2018, by the Information Ministry of the Republic of Belarus Design and Layout by Tatiana Storozhenko Liubov Malysheva Proof-reader Alisa Gungor Беларусь. Belarus is published in Belarusian, English and Chinese. The magazine is distributed to 50 countries worldwide. Final responsibility for factual accuracy and interpretation lies with publication authors. Should any article of Беларусь. Belarus be used, reference to the magazine is obligatory. The editorial office does not bear responsibility for contents of advertisements.

Built huts, made a garden and raised five children Larion Soroka — a participant of two wars, a noble woodworker and a carpenter from the village of Skakunovshchina, which is in Beshenkovichi District of Vitebsk Region, made a good mark on the world. The example of his life inspires his son: a businessman, a member of the Union of Writers of Belarus. Father, having left this world, remains a patron of Valery. According to him, he comes to help in difficult moments even from the other world

Signed for printing on 20.08.2020 Offset printing. Coated paper. Format 60х84 1⁄8. Conventional printed sheets 6,51 Accounting published sheets 0,00 Total circulation — 1622

copies (788 — in English)

A city which is comfortable in every sense

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www.zviazda.by E-mail: belarus.mag@mail.ru

Order Republican unitary enterprise "BudMedyyaPrayekt" Licence No. 02330/71 on 23.01.2014 220123 Minsk, Belarus, 13/61 V. Khoruzhey Street

On the front page of the cover picture by BelTA

беларусь. belarus 2020

Anna Zankovich

Bright diversity of heritage

For everyone who loves theatre A new study guide on “The History of the Theatre of Belarus 20-21st centuries” by Richard Smolsky, published quite recently, is a wonderful opportunity to get acquainted with this history in a summary form

Small motherland Alexey Dudarev's comedy in two acts. To be continued

To the fairy tale — on foot or by bike

52 Eduard Astafyev: “The main thing in creativity is responsibility to yourself”

Viniamin Mikheyev

A picture to remember

Ecological recreation is becoming an alternative to a foreign tour

беларусь. belarus 2020

If you want to be healthy Kremlin diet, separate nutrition, interval fasting, physiotherapy, yoga, fitness… So many ways to stay healthy, it’s easy to get confused. It would be good to turn a blind eye to it and live “somehow”, but the coronavirus is not dozing off: it is looking for a new victim with low immunity. And we do not want to get sick, and there are so many things to do…

Larisa Cherkashina, literary critic and historian of literature, is a leading Russian Pushkin scholar. She was born in Belarus, in Grodno Region. She often comes to different places of this Belarusian region full of blue rivers and lakes. She knows very well not only Grodno, but also Vitsebsk and Polotsk. Larisa Andreyevna follows the life of Belarus with interest. Our conversation with the Russian writer is about this, about different Belarusian addresses

Pushkin scholar Cherkashina comes from Volkovysk

Alisa Gungor

more in the issue 1

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Photo facts of busy season

Photos by belta

беларусь. belarus 2020

Have earned for a wedding!

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We will start immediately with the numbers. They reflect the real picture of the harvest, which at the time when the magazine was being made up was in full swing. All in the country as of August 17, more than 86% of areas were harvested and more than 7 million tons of grain were harvested. By the end of the harvest, we expect 9.5 million tons of grain. By the way, the weather is favorable for the agrarians this year. There are rains, but fortunately they are not long. But for those who are on the combine harvester, are not pleased with bad weather. That’s why they use as much of every day as possible. And this year’s wheat is very good: the ears are full of grain. As for the Belarusian media during this period, we note that they show increased interest in how the harvesting campaign is going. The pages of the central newspapers and related sites are full of photos of advanced farm machinery operators, elderly and young. There are also girls among them. Family crews, fathers with sons and daughters, brothers with sisters, husbands with wives also work on the harvesters. Young people are also actively manifesting themselves. There are about 750 of youth crews! We offer the readers of our magazine a mosaic of news and facts from different regions of the country, where the “Harvest –2020”, which, according to one of the harvesters, is the crown of agricultural work.

Elena Maksimik helps to harvest in Berestovitsky District

беларусь. belarus 2020

The family crew from Berestovitsa District, Grodno Region, where a student daughter works together with her father, harvest‑ ed over 1 thousand tons of grain. Today, the advanced harvesters were honored right in the field. Congratulations were received by an experienced combine harvester Alexander Maksimik, and his assistant, his 20‑year-old daughter Elena. In their category — and the family works on the combine “Polesye GS10” — they are one of the leaders in the area. For the mechanic, this is the 20th harvest‑ ing, and for his daughter — the first one. Now she’s on vacation, finished her third year of the Philology Department at Yanka Ku‑ pala State University in Grodno. — Since childhood I used to run to my father in the field to see him working. And this year I decided to work with him. Of course, at first it was hard, then I took on a rhythm, — says the girl. There are a lot of duties, she emphasizes: to help hang or remove the harvester, wash, blow, serve the combine, lubricate if necessary. Sometimes we had to use a sickle to help remove the laid ears. The girl admits that she got very tired. But the understand‑ ing came that bread is never easy. We worked for just over two weeks with almost no weekends. There were only free days when the weather was bad. — But I certainly don’t regret working like that. If everything works out, next year I will definitely work as an assistant to my father, — smiles the girl. The money earned, she plans to spend on the wedding. The celebration is scheduled for September. The assistant’s contribution to the final result is also appreci‑ ated by her father: — It’s always easier to work with a family member. We are quick to understand each other. And the daughter herself is ac‑ tive, hard-working, so there were no questions. The harvest was good, and we sometimes harvested 100 tons or more a day. That’s why the mood is great, — says the combine harvester. By the way, he will soon drive a tractor, will do plowing and prepare the basis for next year’s harvest.

Belta

In the rhythm of the harvest

Harvesting mosaic Agronemansky OJSC is a large farm in Stolbtsy District with 6 thousand hectares of arable land, it employs about 230 people. This year, more than 40% of the area of grain has been harvested.

The leaders in the field were honored by representatives of the in‑ dustry trade union. As a reward, they received merit certificates and a monetary award. Harvest has already reached the equator in Grodno Region. There are more and more farmers who have achieved sig‑ nificant results in their work. For example, more than 90 crews have passed one-thousand grain yield, among the drivers involved in the delivery of grain, there are more than 100 thousand people. There are both youth and family crews among the top workers.

Angelina+Evgeny In Mogilev Region, 13 women work as combine assistants — to‑ gether with their fathers, brothers and husbands. In Shklovshchyna there are three of them — more than in other districts. These crews receive special treatment and honor. For example, in Khotimsk District Larisa Andreychenkova and her husband have been har‑ vesting for 9 seasons. And Natalya Lakovich in Slavgorod District joined her father in the field for the first time. Each of them is proud of her new occupation. And the crews work with their beautiful assistants together with a huge army of Belarusian grain farmers. Many acquaintances do not believe that Angelina Andreykovets has been working as a combine operator’s assistant for the second season. This year, the girl graduated from the Philology Department at Gomel State University and will be teaching school children the Belarusian language in a month. Meanwhile, together with her friend Evgeny Shevchik, she is harvesting grain in Shklov Govyady Agro OJSC — holding managing company. The young couple are glad that a year ago they decided to work together on the field. Although the girl had to overcome her inner fear — both in front of a powerful, at first glance, formidable machine, and sometimes biased attitude to the situation when a woman takes up a traditionally male business. — I will not complain about the fact that the work of a com‑ bine operator’s assistant is difficult, — Angelina admits. — I work with joy and pleasure. Zhenya takes care of me, helps me. Little by little, he teaches me. Of course, I can’t sit at the wheel of the combine harvester yet, though I have tractor driving license, I re‑ ceived it at school. It is my duty to clean the equipment after taking to the field, to make sure that there are no stones or other obstacles on the way, to see that the grain is harvested without loss. At seven o’clock in the morning, they, together with a team of fellow harvesters, are already in the machine yard. By 9 a. m. on a fine day, the combine harvester is ready for work. Only the rains interrupt the harvest, so sometimes you have to wait at the edge of the field until the spikes dry up. But the cabin of the com‑ bine harvester is cozy, cool, air conditioned. There is water in the

Combiner-veteran

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In Stolbtsy District the combine harvester Gennady Zvirko is honored, who has participates in harvesting 55 times. He’s 73 years old. He devoted his whole life to agriculture. He works at Agronemansky OJSC: during the harvest time as a combine harvester, at the rest of the time as the foreman of the production site. So he works in agriculture all year round. He used to work on a variety of harvesters and always showed high results. According to Gennady Zvirko, there are no special secrets in the work of a combine harvester. The main thing is to work smoothly and thoroughly to harvest grain in time and not to leave a spikelet. He has received many awards. These are the medal “For Val‑ orous Labour” (1970), and Certificate of Honor of the Supreme Soviet of the BSSR (1974), and the Order of the Red Banner of Labour (1975). In 2015 he was awarded the Order of Honour. But Gennady Zvirko wants to move beyond. “If I am healthy, I will be working”, — he says cheerfully. And he does not get tired of working, willingly passing on his experience to young people. “For us, such people are an example of love for land, for our work, for honest work. He charges us with his energy, satisfaction from the work done”, — said Denis Zakhar‑ chuk, Director of Agronemansky OJSC. Minister of Agriculture and Food Ivan Krupko presented Gen‑ nady Zvirko with a badge of honor of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food “For Merits in Agriculture”. “Thank you for setting an ex‑ ample for our youth. To work for so many years, harvesting grain, you must really love this land, love your country,” — he said. Gennady Zvirko was also awarded by the Belarusian Trade Union of Agricultural Workers, Stolbtsy District Executive Com‑ mittee, Agronemansky OJSC.

The 55th harvest of the Honored Combiner Gennady Zvirko

Angelina Andreykovets and Yevgeny Shevchik are working together беларусь. belarus 2020

Harvesting mosaic fridge, which is delivered to the field together with dinner. There is a spacious field of grain around. They work with comfort. Evgeny Shevchik, a young mechanic, who came to the farm three years ago from Brest Region, was entrusted with a new com‑ bine harvester. Now he is sincerely pleased that he chose Angelina as his assistant: — The combine harvester works perfectly. My cabin is clean and orderly, I always have a snack, which Angelina cooks, because on fine days we are in the field till dark — so I don’t feel hungry. Of course, lunches and water are delivered to us. Such joint work brings us together, brings us closer. My assistant is hardworking, responsible, and beautiful.

Vasiliy Malevich from Vertelishki

The Drozdys have always been in the lead Brothers Andrey and Sergey Drozdy from Kirovsk District, Mogilev Region — represent the famous in Kirovsk District dynas‑ ty, they are working together with at Rassvet named after K. P. Or‑ lovsky OJSV. They are successors of the agricultural dynasty: their twin fathers Nikolay and Anatoly are still working at the OJSC. Be‑ fore their father, Andrey and Sergey’s grandfather, used to work there as well. The Drozdys have always been in the lead. Nikolay, for example, has repeatedly won the national threshing yield com‑ petition. — When we were small we were dying to be taken to their work, — Sergey recalls. — If the father or uncle took us to the combine harvester, it was delight! When we grew up, the inter‑ est in agriculture became more meaningful. We asked a lot of questions, paid attention to where, what and how things were done. Now we follow the example of our relatives and we have never regretted it. — Without too much modesty, I will say that my brother and I are handymen, and a good condition of the combine harvester allows us to be in the lead, — Andrey smiles. — Sergey is a spe‑ cialist in the repair of equipment, in his hands the work is going fine, but I am not lagging behind either. I’ve got some experience. This is not the first harvesting season for me: I managed to work in Rassvet before being drafted in the army, and when I returned after the service this year, I got a job here again. Working shoulder to shoulder with a loved one is much easier, the Drozdys admit: — We are brothers not only in blood, but also in spirit. We don’t share responsibilities with each other, but we share the bur‑ den equally. We solve problems quickly, we can rely on each other. Such mutual help, support and full understanding allow us to achieve excellent results. The brothers are the best not only in the

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Vasily Malevich, one of the best combine harvesters in Pro‑ gress-Vertelishki APC, Grodno District, is doing his 37th harvest‑ ing. This week he turned 64. As usual, on his birthday, he was in the field operating his favorite combine harvester. And he has been working at the combine harvester since 1983. Malevich jokes that half of his colleagues were not yet born when he started to work on the field as a mechanic. However, the joke is not far from the truth: when Vasily began working, there were combines with an open cabin and a light tarpaulin canopy. In the season 2020, having harvested one thousand tons of grain, Ma‑ levich does not slow down — he has already threshed 1650 tons. Laconic Vasily Vasilyevich says a few words about his work with unabashed love: — I grew up in a village, since childhood I needed no toys — just let me run my hands over agricultural equipment and sit in the cabin. In the end, I have achieved what I aspired to. I have been working on a collective farm since I was 16. The years passed by quickly, now I am probably the oldest mechanic on our farm. I once told the managers: I will work in the field as long as I can be useful. Of course, work is work. And what does he think of having the same surname as the world famous author of “Black square? Is he familiar with his work? — Kazimierz Malewicz? Yes, a little familiar with his work. He’s an original artist. And I know the painting “Black Square”. Although I have my own squares here! Today, for example, I am working on a

spring rapeseed field — 100 hectares, enough space to gather speed. By the way, I usually work till 22:00, and then I hurry home. In sum‑ mer, my grandchildren come to Vertelishki from the city. They won’t go to bed until they talk to their beloved grandfather. And I, no mat‑ ter how tired I am, always watch the weather forecast for tomorrow: is it going to rain? It can disorder our harvesting plans…

Vasily Malevich is the best of the best

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Brothers-machine operators Andrey and Sergey Drozdy are representatives of the dynasty

Harvesting mosaic home farm, but also in the district. This year the output yield in Mogilev Region is very good. For comparison: if last summer the average yield was 25.9 centners per hectare, this season it is 33.1.

This year’s yield is very good, but the rain makes the family nervous. That’s why they try not to waste a single minute. How‑ ever, Andrey is lagging behind a little: the combine harvester broke down a couple of times. But it can’t be helped — it is iron. But Ma‑ rina is not only the prettiest grain producer on the farm, but also has a scientific degree, speaks English, German and Polish. She’s an English teacher at a Chausa school, has already worked three out of five years of her placement after graduation.

The calling to be a grain producer is in the genes 26‑year-old Marina Kuleshova, English language teacher and Master of Philological Sciences, has been working the fourth sea‑ son as a combine operator’s assistant to her father at Mirny Agro OJSC in Chausy District. The romantic appeal of a grain producer beckons her and her brother from town to the field every summer. They get up at 6 am. The family crew of the Kuleshovs — father Svyatoslav, daughter Marina and her elder brother Andrey — have breakfast and rush to the machine yard: as soon as dew disappears, they get down to work on the field. Yesterday the weather was per‑ fect — they returned home at 11 pm. — As soon as I got my driver’s license four years ago, I got a job as a combine operator’s assistant on our farm Mirny Agro. My brother and I have been helping my father since childhood. At first, when we were small, we asked to just sit in the cabin, then the dad started to let me give him tools and lubricate spare parts. Now I can clean the har‑ vester by myself, twist the nut, turn the pipe to make the grain pour out, and if necessary, drive the combine. I am thinking of getting a license to drive a tractor — then I can become a combine harvester. — Of course, I am not a match for my father and brother — they have a whole collection of awards. My father was once given a car at the regional Dazhynki, last year Andrey won the district competition among youth crews. The Kuleshovs have a calling to be a grain producer is in the genes. Svyatoslav Vasilyevich’s father used to be his assistant — he worked on the farm as a driver. From year to year his wife asks him to take her as an assistant, but there is a problem: she does not have a driver’s license. — This is my 28th harvesting, — Svyatoslav Kuleshov agreed to talk during lunch in the field: every minute can’t be wasted. — My daughter is a great help. She as a woman takes care: gives a mug of cold kvass on the move, doesn’t forget to take “packed lunch”, keeps the cabin neat and clean. And it is easier when there are four hands: she helps me with the documents, and can fix the equipment.

It’s hot in Belarusian Switzerland! It is indeed very beautiful here. It is not for nothing that they say that Novogrudok District is Switzerland in miniature. Its land‑ scape resembles that of Negnevichi, where Ivan Zharko, one of the leaders of the harvest in the district, works. — Harvesting, — he said, stopping his combine harvester at the border, — is the crowning glory of farming, the result of the hard and painstaking work of hundreds, thousands of people. Those who ploughed, seeded and cultivated the fields. And the harvest is rich. I look around — my heart fills with joy! There will be good bread! Forming up a line, other combine harvesters are crawling up the hill. It’s unbelievable, how they manage to harvest more than 50 centners per hectare with such a difficult terrain! Behind the combine harvesters there is stubble field and no poured out grain is visible. On his combine harvester Ivan Zharko has been working for the ninth season and knows every cog in the machine. He’s already threshed 1,390 tons. — We, — he says, — are at the harvest equator. Once I har‑ vested two and a half thousand. Judging by the rate of harvest, today I will surpass this result. There will be money to buy presents for my grandson and a granddaughter. And for my wife and me there will be enough… By the way, my wife is laughing: Vanya, you’re supposed to lose weight during harvesting, but you’ve put on weight. But how can you lose weight?! Such rich borshch with sour cream, delicious cutlets and sausages are delivered to the field for lunch — you’ll lick your fingers!

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By Mikhalina Cherkashina. Using “BelTA” materials, “SB. Belarus segodnya”.

Marina Kuleshova, Master of Philological Sciences, is on friendly terms

Combine operator Ivan Zharko thinks figuratively

with the combine harvester беларусь. belarus 2020

Territory of the soul

Bread is like breathing Essay

’ve been thinking long and hard about the significance of bread. Back in kindergarten, where my father, a musician, worked as a facilities manager on a part-time basis. Once, heading to his “of‑ fice without windows”, that’s what he jokingly called a food storage warehouse, through the kitchen, where there was a table with a desk lamp, and a chair, as well as large boxes, I noticed something interesting. Cook Fyodorovna, sitting on a chair, was pecking something from her palm. A snow-white robe made her look like a big white bird. And also black shiny bead-like eyes… On seeing me, Fyodorovna smiled: “Do you want a meet roll, I’ve just rolled them?” I shook my head and stared at her hands. Fyodor‑ ovna laughed and opened her boat-like palm. I came up and saw bread crumbs. And I felt my little palm turn into a boat and reach for Feodorovna itself. She poured some crumbs to me, stood up and carried on cutting bread bricks on a large wooden board. Having prepared the next portion, she put the rectangular pieces on a wooden tray with edges, and gently piled up the crumbs “Come up, — she said, — smell it. It’s still warm…” Slightly

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sour aroma of bread mixed with the smell of brownish, stewing in a large pan, pan‑ cakes, pea soup, and berry starch drink By the way, it was made from the berries growing in the kindergarten’s farmstead, where there were both cherries and ap‑ ples. We, kids, helped Fyodorovna’s assis‑ tants to gather gooseberries, raspberries, and black and red currant. And even pick cherries. I will not forget the way we were taught to distinguish types of berries by their taste. I’m sure we were four or five years old then. Classes were held right in the yard, in the pavilion, an hour before lunch. July was hot then. But summer dry heat was easy for us to bear. I remember, it was my turn to prove myself. They blindfolded me, led me to the teacher and told me to open my mouth. I felt a big spoonful of berries in my mouth. The fragrant mix had to be chewed, swal‑ lowed, and then, still blindfolded, I was supposed to describe what it consisted of. I don’t remember any of the children not being able to do that delicious task. Everyone was having fun, especially when the sour taste of red currant revealed it‑ self. The one who was chewing the ber‑ ries, looked mind-numbing, especially

when crinkled. After all, most of us had a sweet tooth in those tender childhood years. Those for whom it was too sour, were given a piece of bread. And I p ecked those cr umbs of bread imitating homely Fyodorovna. That’s when the bread country began to open up for me. I saw how delicately our cook treated bread. Not a single crumb fell to the floor. And not a word about saving it. It was one of my best lessons to respect bread. In those distant days of the Soviet Union, the range of bread in the Ukrain‑ ian province was not rich: black rye and gray in the form of bricks, and white was in short supply. It was necessary to get to the bread shop in time for delivery. But in our childhood we did not go into these sub‑ tleties. We did not think about a lack of goods, or that the bread-making plant in our town of Volchansk worked smoothly, but for some reason there was no white bread. We were told: go to buy bread. And we, five-year-olds and six-year-olds, went joyfully, bought a loaf, and it was fun. I can’t help but smile, remembering the bit‑ ten-round loafs we came home with. How tasty and smelly that bread heel was! As a child, I felt that bread smelled

Territory of the soul differently in different seasons. In sum‑ mer it smelled of sweets, honey and herbs, especially if I was lucky to buy a warm one. And in winter it smelled of cold, as if its aroma closed in the frost. And in winter I didn’t want to bite it, let alone pinch it off — the lips and fingers were freezing. And when in March the sun began to warm up, the bread in our hands on the way home began to breathe. Its slightly warm breath promised us: very soon we will go together to Chalk Mountain for snowdrops, and then for willow branches, which grew behind the airfield on the mountain. And when it gets very warm, the flights of cadets will begin. And we will watch them get into a spin and make a vertical loop… That was what we were talking about once with my girlfriend Allochka. We were standing on the bridge, under which cheerful spring water was running. How s h e d ro pp e d h e r l o a f of bread into it, I can’t figure it out! I remem‑ ber that wet bread got stuck in the bushes, and we tried to get it out. The bread got swollen. It’s all right, I said I’d leave it here, to feed the birds. And we would buy an‑ other loaf. Fortunately, the shop, which the locals called “Belgorodskaya”, was a five- minute walk from us… Bread is a miracle! It served as a deli‑ cacy for us, too. Especially tasty bread was not at home with soup, but outside. One day my neighbor Valerka went outside with a slice of bread, on which there was, as it seemed to me, snow. And it was melting in front of our eyes. I ran home to get a piece of bread like that, too. My grandmother, laughing, cut off a slice, dipped it into water and sifted a lot of sugar on to it. She gave it to me and said strange words, which I heard more than once while I was living in Ukraine: we, Himo, people… It means that we are not worse than others. With a superior air I went out and, sit‑ ting with Valerka on the bench, repeated my grandmother’s words: and we, Himo, people… Sugar crunched in our teeth, and we had fun. Outside we also ate bread with jam, butter and salt. And even with lard.

That’s what they call melted pork fat in Ukraine. And I also liked rye dried crusts, which my grandmother made on the stove and in the oven. Their aroma spread all over our small house, in which there was only a kitchen and a room. I used to take dried crusts from the pantry where they were stored in a large cloth bag. When a student I came to visit my parents on va‑ cation, that bag was still hanging in the pantry. I once told my parents that it was time to get rid of it: there was plenty of bread. That’s what my mother said: “I wish we could have had this sack in the days of forced famine or occupation…” We gave dried crusts to the neigh‑ bor, aunt Marfa soaked them and fed her chickens. It’s true, as they say, we all come from childhood. Our habits, characters, pref‑ erences — they all are from there. I still like a heel of fresh bread as well as its aroma. Whenever we go to the village of Yatskovschina, which is in Brest Region, we pass through Kletsk. There we stop at the market and buy brick- bread. It’s hard to buy it in Minsk. It is of excellent qual‑ ity: it is dancing in the hand! That’s what I say, when a piece, after been squeezed, immediately returns to its original form. This bread is baked at the Kletsk breadmaking plant. I cut it into pieces, butter it, sprinkle it with salt, and we drink tea af‑ ter our journey. It has already become a tradition to set the table under the cher‑ ries in the old apple orchard planted by my husband’s parents — Ivan Iosifovich and Elena Grigoryevna. So the other day at the weekend they were remembered to the rumble of harvesters which were working from morning till late at night. Harvesting is going on in Belarus. And the weather is favorable. My husband told me that when a schoolboy he helped his father on the combine harvester on those hot days during harvesting. We also went to the village and watched the combine harvesters moving smoothly across the field. In the morning, the first “niva” arrived at the field. The combine harvester made two lanes and took its stint. And then four more com‑

bine harvesters arrived. And the combine operators, all together started working on their plots. And the lorries were already waiting for them to be loaded. There was a fire truck on the side of the road: it’s hot, anything may happen. It’s magic when you see a full flow of grain spilling into the body of powerful large truck. And no less miraculous are the groups of storks that follow the harvesters walking along the stubble. And they’re not afraid! My husband said: soon it will be a fine day mice! And I add: and for cats. We also talk about hard work of com‑ bine operators: rumble, dust, heat… It’s nice for us citizens to watch the harvesting process from outside. And how straw for rolls flows from under the wheels of the combine, and what smooth rows it makes. And how nice these rolls look on a stub‑ ble field! And what a pleasure it is to chew wheat grains! Moreover, to take five or six tablespoons of grain, pour warm water, leave it for twelve hours. And here it is, a drink of the Slavs called — suritsa. Fil‑ ter it and drink to your health! You can add water once again. And if you leave the grain in a jar, it will give sprouts. Many people know how good they are. There are plenty of vitamins and minerals in them. That’s what it is, the grain, the basis for the bread! For many years, I associated the im‑ portance of bread with the crumbs of the cook Fyodorovna. That’s why I have nev‑ er thrown a slice away, having once seen how carefully she treated it, how much bread was valued in the family. But I never thought about the value of flour or the grains from which it was made. Even when in high school we were jumping on a haystack. It was fun climbing to its very top and going down. And in my youth I did not realize the hard work of those who sow, grow, harvest grain. Moreo‑ ver, it’s sacred. And now I understand it keenly that bread is really the head of eve‑ rything. It’s like breathing, without which there is no life. And in the house, it’s the master. And if there is bread, as people say, and there will be a song. By Valentina Zhdanovich

беларусь. belarus 2020

Eternal values

Very big family The dearest wish of one of the best mechanizers of Molodechno District is for his grandchildren to live in peaceful, calm Belarus, not knowing hunger and devastation

— Grandpa, grandpa! —.as if on com‑ mand, the kids rushed forward along the thorny stubble, when the machine opera‑ tor turned off the engine of his Amkodor It looked like nothing on earth! After all, 20 grandchildren, raising dust, rushed on the field to their grandfather. They hugged him, some asked to be taken into his arms, others wanted to sit in the cab of the tractor, the others were funnily climbing up a haystack. In this noise, fun a photographer tried to catch touching mo‑ ments. And only grandfather Franz, happy, but a little embarrassed, from time to time looked at the sun: there was a couple of hours until sunset, the weather was fine, so many straw rolls he could have unloaded,

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but he was being distracted. But we in‑ sisted: Franz Luzhinsky, a simple rural worker, one of the best mechanizers of not only Molodechno District Agroservice, but of the whole district, and his “sit cozily, so as not to fall down” — 4 daughters and 33 grandchildren deserve the front page in our newspaper! It took a lot of effort to gather three generations of the Luzhynskys in one place on a weekday. But it was worth it. The fam‑ ily is amazing and incredibly close-knit: if there is construction — they do it together, and if it’s a holiday — all the more! And holidays are not uncommon for them. Franz and Klavdiya used to live in Ka‑ zakhstan for half a century and returned

to their historic homeland in 2010. And put down new roots very deep! Here is a fact to confirm it: 22 out of 33 grandchil‑ dren were born in Belarus. It is not difficult to calculate: in the last decade, let’s call it “Belarusian”, every year there was a dou‑ ble replenishment of the Luzhinskys. They have 17 grandsons and 16 granddaughters. The eldest, Dima, is serving in the army, the youngest Elina is still a baby. — We went to Belarus following our children, and today I do not regret it, — confesses the mechanizer. — Natasha was the first to settle in Molodechno. Then Anyuta came to stay. She liked it, found a job, got married. In 2007, Alesya and her family headed for Belarus. For me and

Eternal values my wife and our eldest daughter Olya, 2010 was a memorable one. The date of the move was September 7. Two months later I received a Belarusian passport, driver’s license, and got a job in a district agroservice. The whole family welcomed the move. First of all — hooray! — they were reunited. Secondly, for the first time in many years, the mechanic confesses, he had a feeling: here he was in demand, even irreplaceable. There is more private business in Kazakh‑ stan: you work for three people — and get paid for one, if you don’t like it — goodbye. In Belarus, the hard-working driver was im‑ mediately noticed and many times invited to the district and regional stage to be honored. Tadeusz Zaretsky, the director of the district agroservice, does not conceal it:

bring 50 rolls of straw, each 200 kilograms, to Franz Luzhinsky for unloading. Tade‑ usz Zaretsky said with a smile that paired trolleys without sides are his own develop‑ ment. The fuel consumption for the straw harvest has reduced 14 times! While the kids were having fun in the field and posing for a photographer, I talked to their moms. They all settled in Molodechno and its surroundings. Alesya and Olya have their own cottages in Khoz‑ hevo. In their household there are cows, broilers, hens, rabbits — everything that provides food security for families with 8 and 11 children. There are cucumbers, tomatoes in greenhouses. We visited Alesya and gasped in amazed delight: the house is beautiful, as much as 200 squares meters! For celebrations, the Luzhinskies

tares of pasture for the term of 20 years (for many children families it is free of charge). — Does grandfather come to you? — I ask Alesya’s little ones. — Yes, he does. We’re feeding him lunch then — at first the little ones feel shy. And later they pull my hand to show me their favorite places in the yard. Natasha has nine children, so she and her husband changed the city apartment for a private house. They bought it in Molodechno. Now they’re converting the attic into a full-fledged second floor with five bedrooms. The youngest, Anja, her husband and five children live in their own town apartment. It’s a great pleasure to be in such families. Because they’re real, they live

such workers as Franzewicz are hard to be found. Conscientious, concerned about every piece of land, loves technical equip‑ ment: — You can buy as many expensive tractors as you want, but in bad hands they will cost nothing. So I rely on people. It’s a rare case but for 60 years of our agros‑ ervice existence, there were only three leaders. And we have not lost our material base, we stand firm on our feet and inspire confidence in the future into people who work for us. These are not fine just words. For the first time I saw in the field I saw a tractor

come here and put three dining tables in a spacious courtyard. — We, as a family with many chil‑ dren, received a subsidy for the con‑ struction of the cottage. The organi‑ zation built it, there was enough state support money for interior finishing materials. But not to pay for work. But it was even for the best. My husband learned from scratch to put tiles, plas‑ ter, make screed. And today he’s mak‑ ing money on it. We want to put up a sauna, fence around the yard — Alesya shows us her premises. Near the house, she and her husband rent three hec‑

closely-grouped, friendly and simple. When asked whether they miss Kazakh‑ stan, they answer: just a little. But they do not regret that they settled in Belarus and came back to the roots, where their great grandfathers used to live. Here are good conditions for children: medicine, educa‑ tion, art schools, roads, after all… And I was touched by the words of the mechanic that in the evening in his prayer he lists all his grandchildren and asks God for one thing: let them live in peaceful, calm Bela‑ rus. not know hunger, devastation, study and become good people. By Natalya Ostapchuk

беларусь. belarus 2020

Economic sector

Strong character is good for the cause Machine-building is a strong feature of the Belarusian economy. Tens of thousands of tractors, trucks, thousands of combines and buses, as well as passenger transport and electric transport are produced annually. Most of it is exported. In an externally oriented economy, the industry remains a reliable basis of the national budget, bringing billions of dollars in revenue to the country and providing thousands of Belarusians with well-paid jobs. The following article is about the development of this trend.

BELGEE is perhaps the youngest brand in the country’s ma‑ chine-building industry. To get on to the wheels and to gain full speed for several years became possible due to the principle of cooperation which is now applied by many world manufacturers. The main partner and supplier of components for the domestic en‑ terprise is China, which, in turn, uses the technology of the Swed‑ ish firm Volvo. And then, as they say, everything is in our hands. For two years of serial production of cars the level of localization exceeded 50 percent. And this is a vivid example of caring for one’s own future, says Gennady Svidersky, director of the joint venture BELGEE: — Borisov has an engine plant, where complete assembly is made. The BELAZ-SERVICE enterprise produces rear and front axles. There is a factory of radiators, a factory of seats. In other words, the full cycle of the plant iscomplemented by the supply of the main components from the Belarusian enterprises. If today we make a car on a full technological cycle, i. e. produce welding, painting, testing, assembly, plastic and metal parts, all these plants have a large reserve for localization. The development of our own production in the field of passenger car industry is a question of the future of the company. First of all, the fulfillment of localization conditions is the possibility of duty-free sales in the EAEU markets. Today, the task has been set to develop

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the domestic workload. This will ensure a high level of performance and, as a result, develop the same cooperation network that has al‑ ready been established for trucks, tractors and road equipment. One workplace at BELGEE, for example, can provide 7 more workplaces at related industries, service and support. The situation in the machine-building industry should be radically corrected, said Alexander Lukashenko at a meeting on the strategy of the industry development in November 2016. Ma‑ chine-building has always been in the focus of attention of the government, but it got under special control when five years ago it considerably subsided due to the fall of the world market, And it must be said that the state managed to preserve this sector of in‑ dustry, despite the difficult transition phase. But we must move on. By the way, at the Minsk Automobile Plant among more than half a thousand models, today there are new types of Euro‑5 and Euro‑6 standards not only for the Western European market, but also for the neighboring countries. The bulk of designers are work‑ ing on expanding the model range, one of the priorities is on the development of a new family of buses. Testbed vehicles are already ready, for example, model 303 and the electric bus on its basis. As the engineers themselves say, it is absolutely useless to copy some‑ one, for specific markets we are developing target vehicles that are competitive in their technical characteristics.

Economic sector

One workplace at BELGEE, for example, can provide 7 more workplaces at related industries, service and support

New urban transport will replace the country’s existing fleet of vehicles within 5 years. Mechanical engineering, which gained power in Belarus back in the 1970s, remains the most important branch of the country today. Its agricultural and transport sectors are develop‑ ing particularly actively. The Minsk Tractor Plant has been one of the best-in-class companies. In many respects, the enterprise is considered conservative. It is not surprising, as the classic Be‑ larus‑80 tractor is still popular on some world markets. But to get stuck on the successes of the last century would be tactically wrong. MTZ has worked out a development strategy until 2030, directed at the improvement of the consumer properties and quality of new products in the context of tightening environmen‑ tal requirements. Head of Design Bureau of the plant Sergey Ily‑ ukevich explains: — Much attention is paid to localization. For example, in 2018 we started the development of a snow compaction ma‑ chine — ratracs, which had not been produced in Belarus before. Initially, the level of localization of this vehicle was not more than 40%, while today — about 75%. Yes, one should live and work with one’s own mind and skill. This conclusion was made at the enterprise many decades ago. MTZ is one of the ten world manufacturers of its segment, about 90 percent of tractors are exported. And this is a real achievement of 22 thousand employees of the holding. Though, competition in

this field is tough. The only task is quality. We can say that this is the main issue for our machine-building industry. Along with the cargo engineering, specialists consider special equipment production to be one of the promising areas. At pre‑ sent, the Amkodor includes about 120 units — both attachable equipment and equipment for various purposes. And in half of them domestically produced components constitute 90 percent. Dmitry Shapel, head of the assembly shop at the Udarnik plant of Amkodor Holding, notes: — For us, manufacturers, localization is important because at any moment we can eliminate certain design defects that for‑ eign suppliers may not know about. And we don’t have to spend currency on purchasing components abroad, but we support our economy, create jobs and constantly improve ourselves. Belarus is an export-oriented state with a socially oriented model of market economy. More than half of industrial output is exported. It is no secret that this is typical of the countries with a high degree of development and openness of economy. Machinebuilding is perhaps the most knowledge-intensive sphere and one of the most capital-intensive. Every year, tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars are injected into it. But the pay-off must be com‑ mensurate. For example, such as a new MAZ tourist bus. Last year, the plant BELGEE produced 20 thousand cars, and even in the Belarusian segment the sales figures rose — from 10 to 17 percent. The company is sure that if people vote with their wal‑ lets, and the products are sold abroad, it is a bright indicator of suc‑ cess and correctly chosen strategy. However, taking into account the fact that even the neighboring countries introduce their own localization requirements and tighten market protection meas‑ ures, Belarusian producers should not lose flexibility in building their marketing strategy. And have a firm character. By Vladimir Velikhov

беларусь. belarus 2020

Moving along the path of environmental friendliness

he so-called “green cars” on the roads have already be‑ come our reality. They don’t need fuel — they just need charging from a normal sock‑ et. The design is extremely simple: electric motor, battery, four wheels. But the most important advantage is no emissions into the atmosphere. Six years ago, there were only three elec‑ tric fuel stations in Belarus. One in Minsk, two in Gomel. It took up to eight hours to recharge the car. The method is reliable, but not always convenient: it limited the mobil‑ ity of owners of electric cars. In 2015, the charging time was reduced to half an hour. However, not everyone could recharge — the advantage was felt by the motorists, who were heading along the highway Minsk — Vilnius for the Baltic states, one of the most “electro-mobile” parts of Europe at that time. The year 2018 was a turning point, when a national operator was determined and a course for further expansion of facili‑ ties for electric cars was outlined. The logic of those innovations was quite simple: with the developed infrastructure, Belarusians will have more desire to buy electric cars. Today the main network of Belorusneft fill‑

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ing stations has 267 charging stations. And there will be more! By 2022 there are plans to increase the scale and capacity of service so that to serve not 9 thousand but 35 thou‑

According to the estimates of international agencies, by 2040, one third of all car park in the world will be electric. Today there are over 400 such cars in Belarus. But this is so far. The transition to electric cars is one of the main tasks for the next five years. sand cars. Alexander Dragun, Director of Belorusneft-Minskavtozapravka says: — At this charging station the capac‑ ity is 50 kilowatts. 25–30 minutes’ charging per 100 kilometers. In the future there will be faster charging stations for 250 kilo‑ watts, which will charge an electric car five times faster: for 5–7 minutes per 100 kilo‑ meters of travel. The development of the electric network goes in the direction of more powerful charging stations.

Belta

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Innovations

Undoubtedly, the economy is the most important component of any state’s sustainability. Of course, its strengthening is also relevant for Belarus. Not to understand it today would be at least not forward-thinking. Yes, economy is a priority, the more so if it is innovative. Until recently, electric cars were not considered to be a cheap for Belarusians. They cost a pretty penny, plus the customs clearance. Today, following the abolition of road toll and customs duty for electric car owners, VAT has been abolished. And six more years of free parking. The bonus package has recently been supplemented by another good feature — “green rooms”. According to the estimates of interna‑ tional agencies, by 2040, one third of all car park in the world will be electric. To‑ day there are over 400 such cars in Belarus. But this is so far. The transition to electric cars is one of the main tasks for the next five years. Elegant and environmentally friendly, they have become an excellent solution for large cities. Today, passenger electric trans‑ port is actively developing in Belarus. Clas‑ sic, with dynamic and ultra-fast charging. Belarusian electric buses were first men‑ tioned in 2016. We were the first among the CIS countries to produce them en masse. — Recently we have started working closely on autonomous running, — says Dmitry Parkov, First Deputy General Director for Production at Belkommun‑ mash. — This is our promising direction,

Innovations from design, calculation, to trial models and testing of electric vehicles. — We have learned to design traction electric motors from scratch, power elec‑ tronics — converters that control these motors and provide battery charging in the car, — said the head of the Scientific and Engineering Center of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Alexander Belevich. — Traction batteries are one of the largest components in terms of volume and cost. This is a key component, and we have learned to form a battery on the basis of cells. As a result, we can safely say that we know how to make components that can be used to create an electric car. It’s a long way which takes many dec‑ ades to travel, but our scientists have done it within three and a half years. To‑ day, the Academy of Sciences is also work‑ ing on creating ice resurfacing vehicles and electric-powered municipal vehicles. And as for light electric transport, the machinetool plant Optron was one of the first to start producing it. Today the enterprise has a whole range of pilot items: from electric scooters to electric motorcycles. Belarusian scientists are developing lithium batteries. They also apply electro technologies in cre‑ ating unmanned aerial vehicles. Yes, the development of electric trans‑ port is a national priority. According to optimistic forecasts of scientists, there will be about 100 thousand owners of electric cars in the country by 2025. Much has al‑ ready been done for such prospects in Bela‑ rus. The movement for tomorrow is on the path of environmental friendliness! By Alexander Pimenov

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bution to the development of environmen‑ tally friendly transport. According to En‑ ergy Minister Viktor Karankevich, electric transport is one of the important directions for Belarus: — A number of decisions have been taken at the highest level to encourage the use of electric transport and the develop‑ ment of charging infrastructure. This has created the basis for the successful use of electric transport in the domestic market. The electricity consumption of charging has been increased. So, if last year it was about 3.8 million kilowatt-hours, this year we expect 12 million. The growth is more than tripling. In the issues of technologies that are growing at an exponential rate all over the world, especially in terms of fu‑ ture vehicles, it is impossible to do without science. By the end of 2020, a fully domestic electric car will look like this: a battery, con‑ trol electronics, a charging module. Almost all the stuffing in the minivan is Belarusian. It remains to localize the production of the electric motor — and, as they say, have a safe trip! The car accelerates to 120 kilom‑ eters per hour and can travel 300 kilometers on one charge. The Belarusian electric car will soon become a reliable assistant to en‑ terprises and organizations. It is the com‑ mercial transport that the Academy of Sci‑ ences is focused on. As it turned out, the choice was right, because at the moment a lot of organiza‑ tions, enterprises and private structures are interested in this type of vehicles to use them in their commercial needs… Today, everything is done at the Unit‑ ed Institute of Mechanical Engineering:

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and we will move along this path. Today we are engaged in development of serial production of our own batteries, we have created the first sample and will develop this direction further. We are also moving on the way of creating a bus using hydrogen fuel. Today Belkommunmash is a key sup‑ plier of electric transport for the domestic market. The geography of supplies is also growing on the external market: today more than 90% of domestic production is exported. Our electric buses already run in 40 cit‑ ies in more than 23 countries! Next year, the vehicles made in Belarus will go to Great Britain, Poland and Spain. Electric buses and contactless trolley‑ buses became a driver of the transport and ecological revolution. This spring Minsk Automobile Plant also produced its first electric bus. The novelty of the last genera‑ tion is able to drive a large city through‑ out the length and breadth without re‑ charging It has a driving distance of up to 300 kilometers, which is comparable to the advanced models of world manufacturers. And in terms of acceleration dynamics and average energy consumption, the electric bus exceeds many analogues. Today MAZ is ready to produce such equipment en masse and next year to increase the number of its electric buses to 10, or even more. Today Belarus is developing a com‑ prehensive program to switch all public transport in large cities to electricity. It is planned to do it by 2025. The commis‑ sioning of the Belarusian nuclear power plant in Astravets will be a powerful contri‑

беларусь. belarus 2020

Scientific research

The ends justify the search Computer modeling has helped Belarusian scientists to find chemical compounds blocking the coronavirus

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he question of how to treat pa‑ tients with coronavirus is still open. Not wonder, the minds of many researchers around the world are put to the search of a targeted anticoronavirus agent. Our sci‑ entists are also contributing to this work. Project Manager — Director of the Unit‑ ed Institute of Informatics Problems of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus Alexander Tuzikov, reveals some details.

With a long-term perspective There’s a near and far future in drug de‑ velopment. Usually they are developed for specific diseases, and it is a complicated, long, expensive process. But when there are emergencies like the current pandemic, the natural approach is to choose the options from the existing drugs. In recent months, there has been a lot of news from various re‑ search groups offering not only well-known antiviral drugs, but also antiparasitic and even hormonal drugs to treat COVID‑19. It does not mean that they are well suited for the new role, because they were originally created for the treatment of other diseases. But when you need to urgently decide on the treatment and it is necessary to have at least some drugs, this is a way out. — The fact is that a drug is not just a chemical compound that has a neu‑ tralizing effect on, say, bacteria and vi‑ ruses. It is important that it has also gone through a long process of verification of

беларусь. belarus 2020

Alexander Tuzikov

useful properties, meets many require‑ ments, including safety, has minimal side effects. That is why, in urgent situations search for already known drugs that have been clinically tested is the fastest way. Re‑ cently, a large number of such studies have been conducted, many articles have been published. But today, there are no drugs specifically targeted against SARS-CoV‑2. And we are in the process of creating them, which is a long-term issue, — Alexander Tuzikov introduces us to the problem The research group includes the staff of the Laboratory of Mathematical Cybernet‑

ics of the UIIP NAS, which is headed by our interlocutor, as well as representatives of the Institute of Bio-Organic Chemis‑ try of the National Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Chemical Sciences Alexander Andrianov and Candidate of Chemical Sciences Yury Kornoushenko. Such an al‑ liance is not accidental. A significant role in the creation of new drugs is now played by computer modeling, computer search of compounds that can potentially become effective drugs against this coronavirus, and then they are tested in practice.

Scientific research

Five contenders

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The joint team started working back in February. By the time, publications related to the study of different aspects of the new coronavirus had appeared. Its genome was revealed, there was information about some proteins of the virus, vital for its de‑ velopment, reproduction inside the body. — At the end of February in interna‑ tional open data bank three-dimensional structures of some proteins of the new coro‑ navirus were published. And this informa‑ tion was the starting point for our research. We could take the three-dimensional struc‑ ture and start the work on search of chemi‑ cal compounds, which would block the areas important for vital activity of this pro‑ tein. By the end of March we received the first results, — says Alexander Vasilyevich. Work of specialists on bioinformatics and computer modeling helped to carry out this important initial stage on selection of the most suitable substances for medi‑ cine creation within a very short period of time: performed manually, this kind of selection would take years. For the database of chemical com‑ pounds, with which our scientists worked, has more than 200 million variants! — Our team used the possibilities of powerful computers to look through this database and find those compounds, which meet the requirements to medicines: they

An example of interaction of one of the obtained compounds with the coronavirus target protein

should have small molecular mass, have cer‑ tain solubility and so on. As a result of the screening, these options were selected. And then such procedures as molecular docking, quantum-chemical calculations and molec‑ ular dynamics, requiring a lot of computer resources, were applied to them in order to select those molecules, which block specific targets and the reproduction of a given pro‑ tein. As a result 5 compounds with neces‑ sary properties were found — surprises us the project manager.

Global task The scientific world has responded quickly to the COVID‑19 pandemic.

Already in January, a competition for projects related to coronavirus was an‑ nounced in Europe — in the field of di‑ agnostics, drug development, vaccines… For the implementation of 18 best of them 48 million euros were allocated. On 20 May, a new competition was an‑ nounced with funding of 122 million euros. The USA, China, Russia and other countries are also investing huge resourc‑ es in this area. — The mankind understands that this is a strong threat and it is not the last one. We need technologies that will en‑ able us to respond quickly to such chal‑ lenges. The pandemic has shown that, unfor‑ tunately, mankind is not ready to promptly deal with biological threats. New proven approaches are therefore needed to rapidly create effective drugs. Computer methods make it possible to optimize part of the process. There is no other alternative for rapid development, — Alexander Tuzikov is sure. The Belarusian team carried out the work on its own initiative in the frame‑ work of fundamental research programs that are now being implemented in the NAS. Now we need the next stage — a joint project with chemists, physicians to test the results in practice. Such an appli‑ cation has already been submitted to the working group on combatting coronavirus created in the NAS. By Yuliya Vasilishina

беларусь. belarus 2020

Belarus — UN: joint projects

A city which is comfortable in every sense Today, statistics eloquently show that private and commercial road transport accounts for the lion’s share of exhaust emissions in the transport sector in most countries. Undoubtedly, a private car provides the best freedom of movement and additional business opportunities. However, its unreasonable use creates many problems, especially for the environment, safety and health of citizens. “Smart”, “green” city... An increasing number of settlements in Belarus are choosing urban development models aimed at making cities more comfortable and convenient for people, rather than for transport or industrial enterprises.

The project “Green Cities”, funded by the Global Environment Facility and im‑ plemented by UNDP together with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Envi‑ ronmental Protection of the Republic of Belarus, has developed a new document for the country, i. e. the Sustainable Ur‑ ban Mobility Plan for Polotsk and Novo‑ polotsk. No doubt, for a modern city such a plan is an important strategic document of development. — Mobility is, first of all, the availabil‑ ity of facilities, services and information for citizens in the city and about the city,” said Igor Pankov, Executive Director of the Republican Public Association “Belarusian Union of Transport Workers”, expert of the project “Green Cities” on the develop‑ ment of a sustainable urban mobility plan for Polotsk and Novopolotsk. — This is the realization of the right of every person to

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Igor Pankov

get to a particular object or event in a con‑ venient way. It should be noted that for Belarus, the development of sustainable mobility plans is the first experience of this kind, including for experts who are moving

from theory to practice. In fact, it is a new practical document of strategic planning of urban development. After all, besides the quality of the road network and the work of urban transport it affects many other aspects, i. e. the environment, health, accessibility of the urban environment for people with disabilities. — The work on such a document al‑ lows to take a fresh look at the state of the city, — says Igor Pankov. — I believe that the main problems, which all Bela‑ rusian cities face regardless of their size and status, were specified in the Plan of Sustainable Urban Mobility for Polotsk and Novopolotsk. Yes, the Sustainable Ur‑ ban Mobility Plan for Polotsk and Novo‑ polotsk offers a comprehensive approach that has not been applied in the country before. For the first time in Belarus, a qual‑ itative picture has been obtained — how

Belarus — UN: joint projects

On the street of Polotsk

and where people move in regular com‑ munications. Thanks to the large amount of data obtained, a correspondence matrix was built and it turned out that, in gener‑ al, the structure of urban mobility is quite stable. The picture, even by European standards, turned out to be good — only about a third of Polotsk and Novopolotsk citizens move daily in private or depart‑ mental cars. The rest prefer public trans‑ port, bicycles or walk, in other words, use sustainable means of transportation. — It’s another matter how good and comfortable these types of movement are — that’s what we need to work out in the future, — said Igor Pankov. — In any case, the city authorities have received a qualitative basis for further development and dialogue with citizens, saw what prob‑ lems are the most acute, what to start with. According to the expert, an impor‑ tant element in the development of a sus‑ tainable urban mobility plan for Polotsk and Novopolotsk is the organization of a dialogue between the city authorities and residents. First of all, it is important to understand what problems exist from the point of view of the citizens. On the one hand, such a dialogue helps to rank the problems, on the other hand, to in‑ volve the citizens themselves in activities to solve them. — A lot of things can be done with your own hands, — Igor Pankov is sure. —

And the city authorities should provide administrative support, assistance in ob‑ taining some kind of permits. It is impor‑ tant to involve business in such a dialogue, for example, for the improvement of urban areas adjacent to some business centers, office buildings. The expert believes that there are many options for solving urban devel‑ opment issues. Taking into account the economic situation, the developers have put into the document low-budget, but effective solutions. Development of cy‑ cling and bicycle infrastructure, develop‑ ment of adequate parking policy, rank‑ ing of streets, constructive decisions on arrangement of public transport stops, optimization of throughput capacity of transport hubs — these are the first steps specified in the Plan, which do not require large financial injections. Many of these solutions are already being implemented by the project “Green Cities” in Polotsk and Novopolotsk. — We have been working closely for the last five years to improve traffic or‑ ganization in Polotsk, — says First Deputy Chairman of the Polotsk District Execu‑ tive Committee Sergey Leychenko. — The experience we have gained shows that with the help of simple budget measures, we can change the state of mobility in the city for the better. It is not necessary to buy expensive equipment, set new traffic

lights, qualitative analysis and introduc‑ tion of modern European solutions in the organization of road traffic are enough. Yes, some changes at first do not resonate with motorists. However, we must remem‑ ber that the streets are designed not only for cars, but also for pedestrians, cyclists, people with disabilities. Together with the project “Green Cities”, we are trying to create comfortable conditions for all road users. One of the most interesting innova‑ tions that GEF-UNDP-Ministry of Natural Resources project “Green Cities” is imple‑ menting in Polotsk, is the introduction of an innovative scheme of traffic organiza‑ tion, which will bring visible changes in functioning of transport in the central part of the city. Some solutions will be applied for the first time in Belarus. For example, a new type of artificial uneven‑ ness, the so-called “bus/speed cushions”, will be introduced. They should not cause discomfort to public transport and its pas‑ sengers, but reduce the speed of passenger cars only. In addition, for the first time in Bela‑ rus there will be traffic zones for vehicles with a speed limit of 30 km/h on small streets of local importance. This is done for the comfort and safety of pedestrians. An innovative road traffic manage‑ ment scheme also has a number of envi‑ ronmental benefits. Firstly, the new du‑ rable markings will eliminate the annual renewal of road markings with enamel, which contains a number of harmful sub‑

Sergey Leychenko

беларусь. belarus 2020

Belarus — UN: joint projects

Novopolotsk

stances. Secondly, traffic is ordered — it moves steadily, with less acceleration — braking, with less fuel consumption. Accordingly, emissions of harmful sub‑ stances into the atmosphere are reduced and the quality of the environment is im‑ proved. Thirdly, there are more walking and cycling opportunities, which have a positive impact on human health. Experts note the first positive points, which confirm that the city authorities of Polotsk and Novopolotsk are actively working with the Plan of Sustainable Urban Mobility. In particular, Novopolotsk has signed a memorandum of understanding with the European Bank for Reconstruc‑ tion and Development and is negotiating a credit line to extend the tram network in the city. And for the EBRD, having a Sus‑ tainable Urban Mobility Plan for the city is a prerequisite for cooperation. If there is no plan — there is no financing. Albert Shakeel, Deputy Chairman of the Novopolotsk City Executive Committee: “The long-standing idea of our city, which was reflected in the Plan of Sustain‑ able Urban Mobility, is the development of electric transport, primarily tram traffic. The electric bus is a good thing, but it rides on rubber, and fine dust will be present in the air anyway. In cold time it will require a lot of electricity to heat the passenger compartment, or hydrocarbons will still be used. There is a strong industrial fac‑

Albert Shakel

tor in Novopolotsk, and we approach the environmental issues very carefully. That is why we advocate for the develop‑ ment of the tram network, and we are in the process of negotiating financing for this purpose”.

— The economic situation in our cit‑ ies, aggravated by the pandemic, is un‑ likely to improve rapidly in the coming years — says the expert of the project “Green Cities” on the development of a plan of sustainable urban mobility for Polotsk and Novopolotsk Igor Pankov. — And it is necessary to develop in any case. Attraction of grant funds from interna‑ tional financial structures allows the cities to be on the go. According to Igor Pankov, availability of such strategic documents in the city will greatly simplify the negotiation process with potential investors. — I am confident that our expert team will provide full support to city adminis‑ trations, which will decide on the need to develop strategic urban development documents — says the expert. According to Igor Pan kov, t he most important thing is to understand that the city needs it: — It is necessary for city administra‑ tions to be more active, to search and ap‑ ply for grants which are allocated by the European Union, various international environmental organizations. The Nor‑ dic countries have a special programme. I assure you that if a city has a clear desire to develop a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan, funds will certainly be available. The expert urges administrations of Belarusian cities to actively participate in such an annual event as the European Mo‑

An example of artificial irregularities "speed cushion"

беларусь. belarus 2020

UN News in Belarus bility Week. Many Belarusian cities have been participating in this pan-European campaign for many years. And the num‑ ber of residential places participating in the European Mobility Week is constantly growing. It is a good occasion for the city to organise a dialogue with its citizens on topical issues. It is an opportunity to learn and adopt the best European practices. Be‑ sides, participation in the EMW allows to take a new look and rethink the condition and quality of the urban environment.

— The experience of participation in such a campaign always gives additional points when a city applies for funds for the implementation of infrastructure pro‑ jects, development of strategic urban de‑ velopment documents, — concludes Igor Pankov. The EMW takes place annually from 16 to 22 September and ends with the cam‑ paign “World Car Free Day”. More than fifty countries of the world participate in the events dedicated to the European Mo‑ bility Week. By the way, last year 77 settle‑ ments from Belarus took part in it. It should be stressed that the main goal of the campaign is to ensure sustain‑ able mobility of urban population, which should be based, first of all, on the devel‑ opment of public transport and the crea‑ tion of comfortable, safe conditions for pedestrians and cyclists. By Vladimir Mikhaylov

Discussions on local topics The Polesye State University hosted youth online dialogues of the UN campaign 75

he ancient city of Pinsk was the first to host the UN75 national dialogues in the framework of the infor‑ mation campaign “ To‑ wards the future we want”, the launch of which was announced in Minsk back in March. More than 100 students and teachers of Polesye State University gathered online to listen to experts and discuss topics related to lo‑ cal socio-economic development, adap‑ tation to climate change, the use of inno‑ vations for emergency response. In each cluster, participants identified existing local problems and offered, often, nonstandard solutions. Measures to improve the regional economy included proposals to estab‑ lish a business accelerator on the basis of the university to stimulate local small and medium business and motivation of youth entrepreneurship, development and piloting of new business ideas. By the way, for several years now an incuba‑ tor of youth start-ups has been success‑ fully operating at the university, which has more than one interesting business proposal. Tourism was identified by the par‑ ticipants as another incentive for local economy development. The southern regions of Belarus are rich in natural monuments and are famous for their abundance of biodiversity. Creation of a tourist cluster of the Pripyat Polesye will help to develop a network of ecological routes, including also the Polesye Radia‑ tion Reserve, to create around them ser‑ vice infrastructure. Climate change is already being felt in the southern regions of Belarus, i.e. higher temperatures, lower ground wa‑

ter levels, forest and peat fires. The par‑ ticipants voiced a number of interesting projects that will help to adapt land use practices, including degraded lands, to new climate conditions and to grow new types of agricultural products. Of par‑ ticular interest was the project on culti‑ vation of table grape varieties and devel‑ opment of the Belarusian wine industry in Polesye. The topic of the emergency cluster focused on the use of innovation and digital technologies to respond to and prevent man-made, natural and medi‑ cal crises. The situation with COVID-19 makes it clear that there is a need to change the used technical approaches to respond to emergency situations, to change the approach to the purchase of special equipment and to the function‑ ing of enterprises. It is necessary to create dual-use technologies. As an example, a project was presented to establish a local ozonizer-producing plant, a technology that could be effectively used to control viral diseases both at home and on an in‑ dustrial scale. The proposal to establish an infor‑ mational and analytical center on emer‑ gency situations in Pinsk, which would specialize in crisis forecasting and pre‑ vention, also aroused interest. All partic‑ ipants noted the importance of investing in innovation, building new partnerships and training specialists. In the future, the continuation of the dialogue with the University of Polesye will be the elaboration of specific areas of cooperation to create an investment platform for the development of the ter‑ ritories of Belarus affected by the Cher‑ nobyl disaster. By Aleksey Fedosov

беларусь. belarus 2020

Trace on the ground

Built huts, made a garden and raised five children

Larion Soroka — a participant of two wars, a noble woodworker and a carpenter from the village of Skakunovshchina, which is in Beshenkovichi District of Vitebsk Region, made a good mark on the world. The example of his life inspires his son: a businessman, a member of the Union of Writers of Belarus. Father, having left this world, remains a patron of Valery. According to him, he comes to help in difficult moments even from the other world. Irina and Larion Soroka. 1946.

Father, faher’s name, Fatherland… Respect for elders, especially parents, is a very important part of the Belarusian folk culture and national mentality. In the year of the 75th anniversary since the Vic‑ tory, we remember with special gratitude our fathers and grandfa‑ thers, mothers and grandmothers: both as great toilers who lifted post-war Belarus from the ruins and ashes, and as people of military glory. It is true that in the hustle and bustle of life it is not always possible to comprehend their great life experience. And to feel with the sixth sense a very priceless gene of the winners passed on to us as a legacy. Because sometimes it seems that we achieve every‑ thing in life ourselves. And we do not even suspect that the invisible gears and springs in the mechanisms of self-survival, were laid by our predecessors. Even without words or instruction, just by setting an example. Over the years, you catch yourself thinking: I’m doing something just like my mother or father did, I use their words and sayings… So Valery Soroka is convinced: life endurance and peas‑ ant, hard working nature of his father are the essence of his personal‑ ity. And in life, both Sorokas, father and son, had to go through such wheels of fate that many, as they say, can’t even imagine. But let’s not get ahead of our feet. First of all, let me intro‑ duce Valery Soroka, with whom we talked about his masterful fa‑ ther and the experience that he passed on his son. Needless to say, we touched upon the important layers of life in the postwar hinter‑ land and the difficult path of a village boy, the son of a front-line soldier, to himself, to understanding the real, timeless values. To‑ day he is an entrepreneur, founder of the private unitary enterprise “AUM Soroko”. He rents out the premises built by himself in three

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buildings near the famous Minsk Shopping Centre “Zhdanovichi”. In the village of Laparovshchina, near the Minsk Sea, he built a house for himself and rents out premises there, too. The employees of his firm also create documentary videos, which are posted on the Internet. Recently, a film “Partisans” has appeared on the web‑ site of Valery Soroka. But it is today. And in the Soviet past, a young public prosecution officer Valery Soroka got, as they say, “into hot water”: he became a victim of a political situation in his own pro‑ curocy system. It was a difficult period of the 80s, when the fa‑ mous Vitebsk case was being investigated, Perestroika was gaining momentum. He managed to endure, bearing in mind his father’s words: “Remember, son, to live happily means to live honestly”. Having recovered from the upheavals, he wrote documentary nov‑ els, for which he was admitted to the Union of Writers of Belarus in 1995. One of the references was given to him by folk writer Ivan Shamyakin. Now Valery Soroka is the author of 11 books. Some stories can be read on his website. — Valery Illarionovich, what do you remember most from your village childhood? — The smell of wood in our big house. All autumn, winter, one room was covered with chips, sawdust. Pine planks, birch, oak smelled… And the second bright memory — my father’s premade workpieces were hanging right under the ceiling. There was a big stove, above it wooden laths were attached to the ceiling. There were planks, bars on them. They were drying when the stove was fired. The father made of them window frames, doors, — the whole car‑ pentry for huts. Daddy had different wood-planes, workbenches,

Trace on the ground axes, saws, chisels… I woke up and fell asleep to the sound of those tools: my father worked a lot. And the main thing is that he was an amazing man. — In what way did it manifest itself? — Larion Soroka was born in 1907 in a large family with many children, graduated from three classes of parochial school. At the time, for a village boy he was quite educated. He knew a lot of po‑ ems, even read them from memory. He used to work reciting po‑ ems, and I was listening. Everything was in Russian: the church education was in Russian. He recited Pushkin, Nekrasov, other classics. He told me, the deacon was a teacher at school. In the class there was a tseborok (bucket) with water, in it there were birchrods: so that they did not crack or break when used. God forbid you didn’t learn a lesson — you were thrashed right away. You behaved badly, made a noise, came to the lesson untidy — another thrash. This, I imagine, was very sobering for the students. It made them think, be alert all the time, not relax. And in this way the atten‑ tion was activated, everybody tried to learn everything and behave themselves: tseborok was always in sight. Dad said: everyone kept the noise down in class. — Was your daddy strict himself? — No, he was good-natured, soft. I’ve never been hit in my whole life. Not once in my life! My mother could smack me, tell me off, and he never did it. I think it’s because he had been through a lot himself. After all, such people are not capable of nasty, mean things. It’s a different mentality. I remember, Maksim Gorky wrote: I was crushed a lot in life, that’s why I am soft. People who suffered many hardships, are not capable of sordid acts. — Because they suffered and know what pain is like… — …and fear. He understood what pranks are childish: and they are sometimes powerful impulses, bursts, emissions of the en‑ ergy of Life, which young souls simply can not cope with. He lived through a lot — and therefore was hardworking, kind, wise. It is hard for us to imagine, but he grew up in a family with 13 children! And since childhood everybody was got used to work, to live in a group, to be content with the little ones, to help others. — And the craft, work with wood, who taught him? — He was self-taught. A handyman as they say. He also made leather and felt snow boots. We had sheep, bees, a vegetable garden of 50 hectares — a big farm. In honor of my birthday — and it hap‑ pened in 1952 — my father planted a garden. About 50 different fruit trees, in three rows to Lake Skakunovskoye. It’s right there. It was considered sacred, there was a church near it, and in the lake the Epiphany rites were performed. I saw in my father a great love for nature, animals, and people too. And as the years go by, I find that the most difficult thing in our life is to love people: everyone has their own character, worldview. So, I developed the ability to live in peace with myself, with others since my childhood. And I grew up in parental love. — Did you have a large village? — Comparatively large: 50 huts. There was its own shop, para‑ medical and obstetrical station, dairy factory — but it was gone in the 50s. And then the church was pulled down. With the wisdom

of hindsight, I inderstand: the whole village community brought up a person, we absorbed its regular way of life, mastered its severe laws and rules. In the 30s my father was offered to head a collective farm: he was a literate one. He refused. Because he saw what was going on, he understood: a lot was required from the leader, and for faults one could get to no- so-distant lands. And he was not a com‑ munist: for some reason he treated them with suspicion, though he did not say anything bad. “People are different, and you have to understand everyone” — that’s how he explained it to me. But as a peasant, accustomed to live by his labor, to work on land, to have his own farm — he did not perceive collective work. However, like all normal people, who are used to living by their work, to cultivat‑ ing their land. — Apparently, you have the same attitude towards collective farm labor… — Well, now it’s a different way of life, collective farms aren’t the same… But here I am analyzing the statistics: there are a lot of loss-making enterprises in Belarus according to the results of work for 2019. And unprofitable means ineffective. When there is no real owner, there will be no order anywhere, right? Everywhere you need a competent owner, and to develop your business effectively, you need to put your heart and soul, your strength and will. In order to make a profit — not only to consume what others have earned. — Let’s go back to your father. Where did he serve in the army? — In the building units, apparently. By the way, he made the first bath-house at the lake in the village — and people took turns to go there. For free. It was a good bath-house! And my father could stand the hottest steam, no one could compare with him: he was so strong and stubborn in this matter. Everybody ran away — he was taking a steam bath alone, and I lay down on the floor and added water. — They say steam-bath is healthy. And how long did he live? — I guess you can’t improve your health with steam-bath only. My father didn’t live long: 73 years. Maybe it’s because his life was

Valery Soroka (the youngest on the photo) with his relatives and mother. 1955. беларусь. belarus 2020

Trace on the ground hard. And his willpower was hardened, cast-iron. Once in early winter the lake was getting covered with ice, and a fellow villager in a sheepskin coat and felt snow boots went to it in a boat: to drive geese to the shore. The boat overturned, the man was under 70, he started to sink to the bottom. The men ran up, got into the water — it was cold! And father, he was 55 years old, swam up to the poor man, grabbed his hair, but did not hold him. Because, he said, he got entangled in his underpants. So he had to go to the shore, and the man was drowned. Dad was the only one who tried to save him. He never swam, though. But his willpower was cast-iron. He always tried the first ice on the lake. He made himself fit during the Finnish War, in 1939, when he was drafted. When they found out that he was a carpenter, they made him build river crossings. As soon as fighting burst out (there were sharpshooters) — he had to sink into the ice water, 10 times a day. Thank God, he came home without a scratch. And from that war he brought good planks, trophy Finnish chisels. And even a jack, 15 pounds of weight. — Apparently, those were good tools… — Of course! That metal didn’t become blunt. And my father also worked in summer: he made a canopy in the yard, and put his workbench there. Ac‑ tually, our house was kind of a collective one. At first, there was a school in it, then collective farm general meetings were held, service orders were given out by the foreman. And in the evenings men, especially in winter evenings, would gather for a sit-down. They set 5 tables, played cards, checkers. There was heavy smoke: home made cigarettes were smoked. My fa‑ ther was working in the next room, he did not pay much attention to others. He didn’t talk at all, listened more. And I was sitting on the stove, there was no air to breathe because of smoke. And I listened to eve‑ rything the men were talking about. And they talked about all kinds of things. Moreover, I quickly learned to play cards, and I was about eight years old. — Fast socialization, as they say now… — Very fast! And when there were not enough partners — they called me. — Did Father tell you anything about his second war? — Yes, I know it in brief. When the war broke out, he was draft‑ ed. He found himself in Western Ukraine, as a wireman. He told me: we are pulling a wire-coil on the field — and a column of Germans is moving along the road. And another one: motorcyclists, tanks, cars… We dropped the coils and ran to the village. We jumped into the cellar, kept quiet. The Germans came and found us at once. They gathered 50 prisoners, placed them in the middle of the column and said: go in that direction. Two kilometers away there was a camp for several thousand people. Nobody abused prisoners of war yet. The Germans gave food and the local people brought food, too. And a fellow villager came to the camp with my father. They talked: what shall we wait for? They decided to run away at night. They managed to get to the woods, to the swamp: 10 kilometers away from the camp. And at dawn, they heard dog barking, submachine gun shots:

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they were chased. They crawled into the swamp: only their noses were sticking out of the water. The Germans fired at the swamp — the bullets were whining. One of them hit my father’s lip, it started bleeding. He bit it to make it bleed less. The Germans were gone. They were looking for fugitives, they knew: the weak surrender, the strong leave, if they are not caught — there will be resistance. Father said he’d stayed in the swamp all day. He stood up, called — no an‑ swer. The man didn’t returned from the war: either he was killed in the swamp or they found him. So death went by my father… — Did he try to get to our troops? — Yes, he did. He understood that he wouldn’t go far in a Red Army uniform. He asked some people to give him old clothes. He was walking home, covered about 25–50 kilometers a day, some‑ times he was given a lift. One of the villages gave him a pass of a refugee: an old woman advised him who to turn to. It took him almost a month to get home. He wore out three pairs of boots. There were three children in the family — my brother was born during the

Valery Soroka (front row, center) — sponsor of a number of performances by Minsk Folklore Theatre "Matulina Khata"

war, and I was born after it. My father started living in the village. And someone informed that a soldier had returned home: there were such people. Opposite our house there lived a neighbor, also Soroka, the headman. When the Germans and the police entered the village, my father rushed into the barn and buried himself in straw in the attic. They asked the mother: Where is the husband? Mother: I do not know, I have not seen. They drove her outside and put against the wall: we’ll shoot you down, say. The father was lying in the straw, he heard the conversation. He stood up and was ready to get out, he was going to give himself in — he felt sorry for his wife. And he heard the voice of the headman, his neighbor: do not touch her, she has three children. They fired above her head and left. Although the father survived, but it was a real hair-raiser for him. He understood: it was necessary to run away. He joined the partisans. And when the Red Army attacked and liberated the vil‑ lage in 1944, he went back to the front. Mother in the same year re‑

Trace on the ground caught me, but I didn’t want to hug her. Only at night, I remember ceived a death notification, which said that the father was killed in thinking: can she really bo my mother? In the morning I woke up Lithuania. The name of the farm near which it happened was men‑ and I looked at her trying to remember: are you my mother or not? tioned. Later my father told me that the fights were very heavy, My mother was awake, her eyes were closed. She felt her son look‑ 15 people stayed alive from his company, a hundred soldiers. And the commander was a brave lieutenant, a Jew: forward and forward. ing at her. And said quietly: my little son… Ouch, I remembered, We must attack! There was no tactical strategy. No one, he said, and rushed to her: “Ouch, Mom!” I recollect such moments — they cared about soldiers, how many of them could die. The commander touch my soul, give strength. More than once they helped me find with the gun ran in front, they followed him with rifles. That’s how my balance of mind when I was going through hard times in my life. they were running, and were surrounded. Most of them were killed, — Did your father teach you his carpentry craft? were killed, the others had to raise their hands, 5–7 of them. — Systematically — no. I helped him with something, of — It was, apparently, in the summer or spring of 1944? course: held, carried, fetched something. He was nearby, I saw his work — and it brought me up. And some skills remained for life. — Yes, after the liberation of Belarus, the Red Army was mov‑ Of course, like any villager, I know how to use many tools nec‑ ing to Lithuania. He was imprisoned for the second time. In awful essary for farming. In addition, my father did carpentry work in conditions! People there were dying of hunger, of cold. I don’t know winter (windows, doors, panels, different decorations), and as soon where exactly: I was too small when he told about it. But even there, as a warm season began — he went away the father managed to adapt, to survive. He In the Internet database “Memory of with an axe, to make huts. And, in fact, he could make boots, shoes, mend clothes. A the People” we managed to find rebuilt our village in the postwar period. German brought him shoes to repair — and some documents that refer to the And in neighboring villages the log huts gave some bread for work. Soldiers, privates father of Valery Soroka. He made by him are still standing. He worked from both sides knew how to adapt to mili‑ fought in the 71st Guards Rifle alone, without other workers. The helpers tary life. The father even managed to feed Division, the date and place of were the owners of the hut. There was even other people. By that time the Germans’ conscription are as follows: a waiting list. ammunition had been worn out, there were “29.06.1944, Beshenkovichi RMC, — First, I know, you need good wood, no reserves. In this way he managed to sur‑ Belorussian SSR, Vitebsk Region, it should be stored in dry premises — and vive — in Lithuania, and somewhere near Beshenkovichi District”. Larion then they made a log hut… Poland, as he said. When they were released, Borisovich Soroka, born 1907, the — We did everything in the correct everyone was checked at once: a special in‑ Red Army Guard, shooter of the way. Everything was discussed, prepared, spection. It lasted up to a year. They were 213th Polotsk Guards Riflemen deadlines were set. For example, people stationed in a special company in Lithuania. Regiment, was awarded the medal stripped logs of bark, and the father did They were suspected of connections with “For Bravery” by the order of professional work. Usually the father was the Germans. Six months passed after the 16.09.1944, and by the order of absent from home for 2–3 weeks, he worked end of war, and there was no news of him. 09.05.1945 — the medal “For from morning till night: to make the house Mother was about to go to his grave. Father the Victory over Germany in the ready to move in, as they say. And we, the said that there were witnesses who said: it Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945”. kids with Mom, did all the housework. The was survival, a struggle for life, and that huts were built by those who had money. they survived thanks to him. They let him Either they had cash, or their children who lived in town, nephews, go. And meanwhile there were award lists, medals in the military relatives helped. Dad was paid for his work in cash. And he was so committee waiting for the hero at his place of residence. kind, he didn’t charge much. As much as people could afford. They Once, already in 1946, he called the village: I’m alive! Everybody were all poor back then. became numb. He came back, started to work as usual, raised the — Weren’t the collective farm managers against that he was household: we had a cow, pigs, sheep, bees… It’s true that my mother doing it? did most of it, and we helped her, and he did carpentry work. At that time, money was not paid at the collective farm: workdays were — No, because everyone knew: he had skillful fingers. And peo‑ counted, ticked. According to them people were given grain, meat. ple needed huts. When the construction was over, they celebrated it There was no cash at all at first, and life went on, which was not easy. by drinking a lot. And my father, though strong, was not tall, thin, Let’s say, I was born in 52, and in 54 my mother — Irina Alekseyevna, besides every day did hard work. Well, it so happened that he couldn’t her maiden name was Kovalenko, born in 1913 — got seriously ill: stand after it. I remember him being brought in a cart, “unloaded”. she had meningitis. She was brought to Vitebsk, and operated on. She Mother often swore at them: what are you doing? I need a man who’s stayed in hospital for 6 months. When they brought her home, I was healthy, and you have brought me a cripple! And we helped to bring two and a half. In mother’s absence, my elder sister Zinaida looked him into the hut, to put him to bed. My dad recovered from it, and after me, as well as the whole farm. And I became estranged from her. headed out again. By the way, he never smoked when he was sober, They said: it’s your mother and I didn’t understand or recognize her. only when he drank. He always had a pack of cigarettes, treated eve‑ I said: she’s some aunt. Go and give her a hug, and I ran away. They ryone. He was so friendly, sociable, and never drank alone.

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Trace on the ground — Did you have vodka in your hut? — Of course! How could we do without it in the village? And a lot of people, it’s no secret, made moonshine. And there were 2–3 moonshine stills in the village, they were passed round if necessary. I remember, I was about 5 years old, a policeman, with whom my father was on friendly terms, came to our house. He sat down at the table and asked: Do you have moonshine? Everybody was silent: the policeman, however, was in uniform. He came up to me: tell me, do you have moonshine? I said, “I’ll tell you if you let me hold your gun. He took the gun out of the holster, took out the ammo: here you are. I held it. What a pleasure! I was holding a real gun in my hands. I was going to tell the whole village about it. I said with joy: There’s moon‑ shine. Where is it? In the wardrobe. There were a couple of bot‑ tles among the clothes, he took them out and said to the father: Come on, Larivon, let’s have a drink. What are you afraid of? They drank, and went about their duties. And my dad didn’t even reproach me for what I had done. — Apparently, he knew child psychology well. He understood: it was not because of malice, an innocent child. And what did he want you to be, what occupation? — I don’t think we’ve had this kind of conversation. But as I grew up, I tried to study well. I under‑ stood: otherwise, I would have to stay in the village, and there was hard work from morning till night. I want‑ ed to study, to get a higher education. I read a lot, I was an avid reader. Even being a primary school pupil — in the evenings by torch, with a kerosene lamp. And there was shortage of kero‑ sene. I used to stay up reading until midnight. My mother made me go to bed — and I couldn’t stop. It was interesting! My parents got tired, they could only reach the bed. — What subjects were you good at? — I was good at math. And other so-called practical subjects. At first I studied at our village school, then I had to go to Bo‑ cheikovo 9 kilometres away to get a secondary education. 18 km a day! There were two of us. Frost, cold, snow, rain, slush — we would go. Sometimes we were given a lift, if a car went along the road. We walked fast. We managed to cover the distance for an hour and a half. And we both learned quite well, by the way. Because we knew that in order to enter the university, we had to study well. And I had a desire to enter the law school. Actu‑ ally, my cousin was a policeman, he came to us and told us a lot of things. And I gradually developed a craving for this profes‑ sion: justice, law and order. I also wanted to be a policeman. In the ninth grade I already knew: I would work for the police, or for public prosecution. And my friend, Alexander Kanapelko, became a military helicopter pilot, served in Russia. Now he is

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living in Vitebsk: he has a house there, we are in touch. All school years we were side-by-side with him. — Listening to you, Valery Illarionovich, I understand where your gift of a narrator come from… — Yeah, I’ve talked to a lot of people in my life since I was a kid. There was a “hobby club” at home: it must have influenced, too. Well, now so much has been experienced, seen and heard that I want to share it with others. On the road of life we absorb every‑ thing — and then it wants out. — They also say that what happens to us in the outside world only helps to awaken what we have inside. After all, our life energy comes from inside, and if a talent is given by God, as they say, it will awaken. — Well, maybe. After all, it is one thing to chat sitting on a bench, and quite a different thing to experience something important, to write a book about it. And I wanted to comprehend deeply everything that had happened to me, to tell my truth, to be heard — so I started writing. In fact, I went into business for the same reason: to be able to publish my documentary books. After all, as you know, it requires money. Some more words about a talent, abilities. I remember one of my father’s brothers, my uncle. The villagers used to get together at my grandfather’s to read books. So the next day my uncle could retell every‑ thing — almost verbatim. He had such a unique mem‑ yakin ory. And my elder brother m a h S n Iva book by Zhora, who died at the age of 12, graphed An auto wrote poems. By the way, there was another girl in the family, a year older than Zina. The children in the house were alone during the war, a fire broke out — and the house caught fire. So, my father and mother had five children, but raised only three. — And you probably, know the whole penal code by heart, don’t you? — (smiling) Well, not the whole: the years are taking their toll! Sometimes I can’t remember what happened yesterday. (laughing) Especially when you’ve been through so much. Once a traffic cop stopped me in Minsk — I said: Captain, I am law-abiding, a for‑ mer prosecutor myself. Soroka is my last name. Maybe you have heard it. I have, he said. — So, did you enter law school right away? — Not right away, after serving in the army. I didn’t enter it at first, I graduated from metallurgical school in 1970 and started to work at Kirov Factory. Then joined the army, the navy to be exact. When I was in a training center in Kronstadt, I was trained to be a submariner, strong boys were selected for a sport company. And I was a boxer, had the first category — so I was selected. I did well at the championship of the Northern Fleet, in 1972: I was among the winners. But then I had appendicitis out, it was peritonitis with exac‑

erbation, it took me long to recover, I lost my fitness form. The fleet didn’t need such an athlete, and as a sailor I was no good. Anyway, I was freed from military service on medical grounds. And already in 1973 I was studying in Moscow, at the Peoples’ Friendship University named after Patrice Lumumba, but quitted it because of material dif‑ ficulties. I went back to my factory, worked as an electrician on duty, was a tutor in a dormitory, and a year later as its manager. In 1974, I entered the part-time department of the BSU law school. In 1977, I began working at the public prosecution office of Minsk Region, as an assistant prosecutor of Slutsk inter-district prosecutor’s office. At that time my father was under 70, and he fell ill: he couldn’t eat. I took him to the doctors, his diagnosis was stomach cancer. A month or two he can be kept on an IV, they said. So what to do next? Some people advised: it is necessary to take mutton or beef fat, it was called loy, to melt it. To drink pure medical alcohol, and then to drink warm loy. For a day or two my father was treated in this way — and he began to eat. Alcohol burns the cells, and loy heals them immediately. Dad lived with that disease for four more years. He died in 1981. — And how did he feel about the fact that you became a prosecutor? — He was worried about me. Apparently, his life experience told him that I was going through some serious trials. He told me once: “Son, you shouldn’t have taken this job. It’s an ungrateful thing to imprison people. You will not be forgiven. You can’t do bad things to people.” But what if these people committed crimes? I did not ask him this question, but knowing what a kind soul my father had, I can assume that he would answer. — Apparently, we need to listen to the opinions of people who have life experience, let alone the parents — and not even argue with them. — Well, that is the conclusion I’ve come to over the years ana‑ lyzing everything that’s happened to me. But the most interesting experience, related to my father, was when I was detained, suspected of illegal actions and abuse of power, put in the Minsk detention center of the State Security Committee. I was in deep trance, in great depression. Just imagine: a prosecutor suddenly becomes a convict. Imprisoned. And a solitary cell is like a coffin. I calculated the dis‑ tance between the walls: 8 and 16 of my size 42 shoes. It’s like a 3–4‑meter-long pencil case. The walls are black. There is a plank-bed on the wall, which can be used at night. And silence, as if you are lying in a coffin. There’s no information. The walls are thick, they don’t outlet a single sound, only at the top there is a small air hole — Speleologists told me: for scientific purposes they conducted physiological experiments in caves, in the confined space, in the dark, where there are no external stimuli. It’s called sensory depri‑ vation. So, they said, it is psychologically difficult for people to bear, and after it different physical health problems can develop. — Yeah, it’s psychologically stressful. And I had thoughts about committing suicide. I thought: how can I look people in the eyes if I am convicted? It’s such a shame! My psyche couldn’t stand it — it was a mental breakdown, even though I’m a tough man. I was already thinking about the way to do it. To stand on the table, and tie a sheet to window bars? I lay thinking it over. And every three to five minutes

Ivan zhdanovich

Trace on the ground

Valery Soroka with one of his books

a peephole opened and closed. The guard went around the cells and looked so that nothing of what I was planning could happen. In the morning, it didn’t open often, the duty officer got tired. Well, I de‑ cided I would do it at five o’clock in the morning. I was lying, waiting for dawn. I couldn’t sleep. And suddenly my father came to me. He sat down next to me, in a dark suit. He said: “What, son, is it hard for you?” “Yes, Father, it’s hard,” I told him. He said, “You’re in trouble. But you’re going to be all right. I’m telling you the truth. “How, Dad, can it be okay? You are kidding me!” “No, son, think well. Sit and think it over. You’re gonna be okay. And I’m leaving.” “I want to leave with you! I’ll go with you!” “No, you stay here.” We had a few more arguments, and he left. I came to my senses and couldn’t understand: what kind of dream it was? My mind worked clearly. Dad was here. The dream was uneasy, nervous, my nerves were tightened like strings — and sud‑ denly there was a dialogue with my father: you stay here and I’ll leave. That’s when I thought: what if my father came on purpose to save me? — You know, parents are our patrons. In the Slavic world‑ view it is considered that parents, leaving for another world, be‑ come gods of a kindred — they invisibly patronize those relatives who stay on the earth. So, you got a very timely support… — Yes, I came to the conclusion: I must fight. Because my en‑ emies, who started a dirty game, wanted to drag me into it, they counted on my weakness. And a suicide would be their victory. And in a difficult moment, my father came to me from the other world, supported me. And thanks to that I survived, I managed to overcome all the trials, to regain my feet, to write my books. And now I’m talking to you today. So, my father, a front-line soldier, an honest country worker, Larion Soroka, is still with me. Interviewed by Ivan Zhdanovich

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Origins

Pushkin scholar Cherkashina comes from Volkovysk

— Larisa Andreyevna, your origins, your native land is in Volkovysk, Belarus. How close are you to Belarus! Do you often visit the places where you were born, spent your childhood? — Volkovysk is my favorite city. It’s my homeland, and it speaks for itself. The win‑ dow to the world. Along with the date of birth, Volkovysk is imprinted not only in my passport, but in my heart, no matter how pompous it sounds. When I am asked where I was born, I answer: in the same city with Cinderella. However, I have to explain that the wonderful actress Janina Żejmo, the best Cinderella on the screen, comes from my Volkovysk. And she visited Volkovysk just recent‑ ly, in February this year. Together with my brother, marine writer Nikolay Cherkashin, also a native of Volkovysk. On Zenitchikov Street there is still our house, made of stone,

Presentation of the Homer Diploma in Crete. On the right is the writer's brother Nikolay Cherkashin. Heraklion, 2019.

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it is more than a hundred years old. There is also a former military hospital, near Volya Street, where I was born. This memorable trip would hardly have been made if my brother and I hadn’t been invited to partici‑ pate in the 27th International Book Fair in Minsk, which was held in the framework of the Year of Our Small Motherland, de‑ clared in Belarus. My childhood was spent in Shchuchin, Slonim, Smorgon, Baranovichi. Father Andrey Cherkashin commanded the regi‑ ment, and we often moved to the place of his service. He “got acquainted” with Bela‑ rus during the Great Patriotic War, liberat‑ ed it from the Nazis — in February 1944 he was seriously injured near Vitsebsk. …I went to the first grade in Smorgon. Five years ago together with the broth‑ er I visited Smorgon and we were photo‑ graphed at our school, — the same-looking photo was made in those distant years in which I — the first grader, the brother — the third grader, are both in school uni‑ forms, with school-bags in our hands. It is kept in our family album. Before I did not know that I lived in such a historic city, especially famous for its resil‑ ience during the First World War. Famous writers fought near Smorgon: Mikhail Zos‑ hchenko, Konstantin Paustovsky, Valentin Kataev. The daughter of Lev Tolstoy, Al‑ exander, stayed as a sister of mercy on the battle positions. It is surprising that my own grandfather, Mikhail Romanovich Sokolov also fought near Smorgon in 1916… When my husband’s parents were alive, I often visited them in Polotsk. My fatherin-law, Pyotr Kupriyanovich Patsey, was a wonderful man: during the Great Patriotic

War he was the commissar of the partisan detachment; in his peaceful life he was the principal of the Polotsk Pedagogical College named after Francis Skaryna. He was awarded the title of Honorary Citi‑ zen of Polotsk. He was on friendly terms with many Belarusian writers and poets, in particular with People’s Poet of Belarus Grigory Borodulin. He had a large library and liked to read me poems in Belarusian. — You are engaged in literary studies. And you probably don’t deal much with Belarus… But maybe there are some binding threads in your work that are somehow connected with Belarus? — First of all, it is Alexander Ser‑ geyevich Pushkin, our Slavic genius. Sev‑ eral years ago I published a book “Pushkin travels. From Moscow to Erzurum.” There is a chapter on Belarusian Pushkiniana in it. — Larisa Andreyevna, while studying the life and work of Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin, do you pay attention to literary local history? — Yes, and I like it when ancient, figu‑ ratively speaking, prayed-in manors are transformed. Here’s an example. In the vicinity of the famous Boldino manor, where Alexander Sergeyevich spent three truly miraculous autumns, in the vil‑ lage of Lvivka there is an ancient house, which was inherited by Pushkin’s widow Natalya Nikolayevna, and then her eldest son Alex‑ ander. For many years this house was bare, uninhabited! And relatively recently it was decided to develop it into a branch of the me‑ morial estate and to house in it the Museum of Literary Heroes “Belkin’s Stories”: thus, a room of the count from the story “Shot” ap‑ peared — there is a real dueling pistol on the

Origins table, above it there is a picture with a small hole, as if penetrated by apt Silvio; an office of the landlord of Goryukhino village with all stationery; Mariya Gavrilovna’s bedroom from “The Blizzard” with a small bundle collected for escape with his beloved; Liza Muromskaya’s room from “Lady-Peasant Woman”. It is so interesting and informative to visit Pushkin’s characters! And the museum staff are planning to restore an old windmill in Maloye Boldino, to create stylized estates of Troyekurov and Dubrovsky. When ideas come true, it is wonderful! — Do you know Pushkin’s addresses in Belarus well? — I do, but I haven’t visited them all. First of all, it’s Mogilev. On the evening of August 7, 1824, Pushkin, after leaving Odessa and having covered hundreds of miles along the roads of Malorossiya, reached this Belarusian city. At the post station the poet was wel‑ comed by his ardent admirers — officers of hussar regiments, stationed in Mogilev. The friendly feast, which began immediately at the station house, continued at the apart‑ ment of Kutsynsky, cornet of the Lubensky Hussar Regiment. Alexander Sergeyevich, according to the recollections of eyewit‑ nesses, read poems, and was heard with adoration by the brave hussars. More than one bottle of champagne was cracked that night, and in the morning, the whole cheer‑ ful company accompanied the poet. At five o’clock in the morning Pushkin left the hospitable Mogilev. That same day he passed by Orsha and Polotsk… The eldest son of the poet and his dar‑ ling, Alexander Pushkin, was in the ser‑ vice in Byelorussia. In the late 1860s, Al‑ exander Alexandrovich’s family moved to Novogrudok, Minsk Province, where the 13th Narva Hussar regiments, one of the most famous and oldest in Russia, was sta‑ tioned. And in June, 1870 Alexander Push‑ kin becomes its commander. In ancient Novogrudok, “the regiment was rewarded for the inconveniences of the previous life, — wrote the regimental histo‑ rian A. N. Tikhanovsky. — Once the capital city of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania met the most sophisticated demands, the regi‑

In the memorial apartment of Pushkin on Arbat. In the center is Sergey Klimenko, a Belarusian descendant of the poet, Larisa and Andrey Cherkashin. Moscow, 1988.

ment enjoyed life a lot, and the appointment of colonel Alexander Alexandrovich Push‑ kin as its commander, complemented one of the happiest periods of regimental life”. In the regimental chronicle new exact and vivid lines appeared: “The son of the famous poet, whose name Russia is proud of, Colonel Pushkin, being at the head of the ancient regiment, was an ideal of a gen‑ tleman-commander.” In that distant June there was a joyful event in the Pushkin family: baby Pyotr was born! But the boy — he became the eighth child and the third son of Alexander Alexandrovich — lived quite a short time: in December of the same year a grave ap‑ peared at the old cemetery. The lines carved out on a rock-boulder read: “Baby Pyotr Pushkin was born on June 9, 1870 died on November 6, 1870”. The grave of the poet’s grandson, whose earthly life was so short, survived in spite of the two World Wars, that in the last cen‑ tury ran through Belarus, sweeping away fortresses, towns and castles on their way… And there is a piece of land which remained untouched in the orthodox part of the old cemetery in Novogrudok, where the infant son was lamented by Colonel Alexander Pushkin and his wife, beloved Sonechka. There are also tombs of the deceased Hus‑ sar Rotmasters and Lieutenants, retired counselors and collegiate secretaries… As if making up for the loss, after Pyotr two daughters, Nadezhda and Vera, and son Sergey were born in the Pushkin fam‑ ily. But the life of their kindest mother was

coming to an end: after catching a cold in April 1875 in Vilno, where the regiment was stationing, Sophia Alexandrovna died. Very soon the museum-estate “Lopasn‑ ya-Zachatayevskoe” (the town of Chekhov near Moscow) will host an exhibition dedi‑ cated to her memory. In the same place near the estate, which is called the “Push‑ kin’s Nest”, because the poet’s grandsons grew up there, she and her husband, com‑ bat general Alexander Pushkin, were bur‑ ied in the family church. But let’s go back to Belarus. Very impor‑ tant Pushkin addresses, or rather addresses of the poet’s grandsons and great-grand‑ sons never seen by him, are the follow‑ ing — Bobruisk, Telusha, and Vavulich (now the village of Dubovka). The poet’s granddaughter Natalya Pushkina moved to her husband’s estate Vavulichy immedi‑ ately after her marriage to Pavel VorontsovVelyaminov, a brave officer who served in her father’s regiment. They got married in 1881 in the Church of the Righteous Anna’s Conception in Lopasne. Natalya Alexandrovna used to live in Belarusian Vavulichi for many years. She painted well, mostly landscapes, wrote po‑ ems, but, bearing in mind the prohibition of her great grandfather for his descend‑ ants to write poetry, did not print them. She knew perfectly well the creative work not only of Pushkin, but also of Russian writers, e. g. Turgenev and Dostoevsky, and even maintained friendly relations with them. Good memory of her is cherished till now, — after all Natalya Alexandrovna

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Origins helped poor peasants with bread, medi‑ cines. She supported the construction of new schools in the surrounding villages, and taught peasant children herself. At Christmas she arranged for them Christ‑ mas trees, gave them presents. She created orphanages for orphans and the weak. The old-timers remembered that the poet’s granddaughter loved Belarusian folk songs, took a keen interest in legends and stories. Some of the Vorontsov-Velyaminovs’ children, and there were five of them, later settled in Bobruisk. Pushkin’s descendants had their own house, but it has not sur‑ vived, now there is the Hall of Civil Cer‑ emonies in its place. Natalya Alexandrovna died in De‑ cember 1912 and was buried within St. Nicholas Church in Telush. Every year, in early June, Pushkin’s poems sound near her modest obelisk. — Russian academician Pixanov has the theory of “cultural nests.” Do you see such addresses in Belarus from Moscow — regional or just regional “cultural nests”? What addresses would you name in the first place? — I had a chance to visit Oginsky’s manor in Zalesye, near Smorgon — it made a lasting impression. Amazing unity of nature and music! The polonaise “Fare‑ well to the Fatherland” sounds everywhere, and everything seems to be filled with this heartfelt, sad melody… The ancient alleys, witnesses of many significant events, and wonderful apple orchards, and storks hov‑ ering over the stubble are unforgettable…

(I have recently discovered that Push‑ kin mentioned the surname Oginsky in his historical notes three times). And, of course, ancient Polotsk, satu‑ rated with history, — the center of the city with its cathedrals, unique museums and monasteries — is one big “cultural nest”, from which the scientists with world names “flew out”: philosopher and humanist, edu‑ cator Francisk Skorina and theologian, spiritual writer Symeon of Polotsk. The city consecrated by the deeds of Reverend Prin‑ cess Euphrosyne of Polotsk. Ancient Polotsk is associated with the name of Pushkin’s ancestor who gave him his hot African blood — Abram Petrovich Hannibal. It is true that there is no men‑ tion of the poet’s great-grandfather’s stay in this Belarusian city in any of the countless works devoted to the extraordinary fate of the “tsar’s moor”. And yet I take the liberty of asserting that the little moor, who at that time bore the name of Ibragim, lived in Polotsk together with his high patron Tsar Pyotr I. If Pushkin, who cherished the smallest details about his dark-skinned great-grandfather, had known about it, he would have made a stop in this glorious city. Pushkin just passed it by. But the name of this ancient city, founded in the 9th century on orders of Prince Ryurik, ap‑ pears not once on the pages of Pushkin’s manuscripts. The city of Griefslava, Polotsk princess Rogneda, who was named so for her unhappy fate, was called Polotsk. The chronicle has preserved a sad story of Prince Vladimir Krasnoe Solnyshko’s pro‑

With Alexander Alexandrovich Pushkin, Belgian descendant of the poet, at the celebration of the anniversary of the Lyceum. Tsarskoye Selo, 2011.

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posal to marry the proud beauty Rogneda and her unhappy marriage… The poet was aware of this ancient leg‑ end. But Alexander Pushkin couldn’t know that both the Polotsk Princess Rogneda and the Grand Duke of Kiev Vladimir, who once conquered Polotsk and forcefully married the beauty he loved, as well as their distant great-great-granddaughter Prin‑ cess Alexandra Bryachislavna of Vitebsk and Polotsk, who became the wife of Holy Prince Alexander Nevsky, are connected with him by blood ties of kinship. The poet’s statement about the Bela‑ rusians as “the people close to us from the dawn of time” gets a different meaning! — How does the literary local history develop in Russia today? Do you follow the works of Russian literary local historians? — I am closely connected with Push‑ kin’s memorial estates: Lopasnaya near Moscow, Tver Bernovo, Kaluga Polotnyan‑ ny Zavod. I often visit these regions, follow all the innovations in the field of literary local history. I am glad that a lot of books on regional studies have been published re‑ cently, including literary ones. — Who would you single out from the literary local history of Russia? — First of all, Boris Arkadyevich Dio‑ dorov. But he is not a local historian in the usual sense, but the People’s Artist of Rus‑ sia, one of the best book illustrators. So, this man (by the way, recently he has turned 85!) created a private museum “The Road to Pushkin” in a small Tver village with an unusual name Pogoreloye Gorodishche. The story goes back to the seventeenth century, to the Time of Troubles. In Decem‑ ber 1828, on the way from Malinnikov to Moscow, Pushkin visited the ancient town Pogoreloye Gorodishche of Tver province. The poet came to the town, which once had been defended by Gavrila Pushkin, in order to find the family documents that had survived since those distant times. In 1617, when the troops of the Polish king’s son Vladislav approached the fortress of Derzhislavl (that was the name of the settle‑ ment at that time), voivode Gavrila Push‑ kin ordered it to be burned, but not to be left to the enemy. The Charter, found by the poet, was granted by Mikhail Romanov in

Origins 1621 and exempted the inhabitants of the burned town from taxes. “I found in history one of my ances‑ tors, who played an important role in that unfortunate era, I took him on stage, not thinking about the sensitivity of decency… but without any nobleman’s pride” — the poet wrote it about his famous ancestor in the first draft of the preface to “Boris Go‑ dunov. Gavrila Pushkin became one of the characters of the tragedy. So Boris Diodorov, a native Musco‑ vite, decided to create a museum and cul‑ tural center in a small village to familiarize young people with the history of his region. He moved rare furniture of Pushkin’s time from his Moscow house, filled the ex‑ position with unique items, paintings, stat‑ uettes, genuine antique items. He arranges meetings and exhibitions in the museum, publishes books on literary local history. And everything is free of charge! He is not a rich man at all, but last year he was awarded the Prize of Russian Presi‑ dent Vladimir Putin in the field of art. He decided that a million he received was Di‑ vine Providence, and gave the money for the development of the Pushkin Museum! The man is an extremely interesting and creative person. Boris Diodorov is one of the best illustrators of Andersen’s tales, and Queen Margrethe II of Denmark gave him an unusual title: “Andersen’s Ambas‑ sador to Russia”. But he is also Pushkin’s ambassador to the Tver Region! — Do you think literary local history should become a school subject? — I think if it happened, such an ini‑ tiative could be compared to a real break‑ through. I fully support Alexander Pushkin’s words about history that should be compre‑ hended “at home”. And that means the study of genealogic trees, the history of home vil‑ lages, cities, regions. Then, an abstract concept “love for the Fatherland” becomes native, understandable. And this feeling re‑ mains with you for the rest of your life. — The years 2018–2020 have been declared the Year of the Small Motherland in Belarus. It reminded the society, the whole country that special attention should be paid to the development of regions. Are there such initiatives in Russia?

— Unfortunately, Russia has not reached such a spiritual understanding. It’s a pity… Though I happened to read a beautiful ad‑ dress of Metropolitan Clement of Kaluga and Borovsky: to visit your small moth‑ erland, to breathe its air, to gain spiritual strength, not to rush to Thailand and Turkey. By the way, Metropolitan Clement gave his blessings for the restoration of the tem‑ ple in the Goncharovs’ estate Polotnyanny Zavod, which was destroyed in the godless 1930s. The beauty Natalya Goncharova grew up in this Kaluga estate, Pushkin vis‑ ited it and the poet’s children grew up there. The call to revive the shrine for a long time remained a pipe dream. I know a wonderful man, People’s Art‑ ist of Russia, soloist of the Bolshoi Thea‑

Presentation of the book about Natalya Goncharova in the House of Russian Abroad in Moscow, 2012

tre Vladimir Matorin. The best performer of Boris Godunov’s part. The great singer of our time, the king-bass, — he was enthusiastical‑ ly received by spectators of all world capitals! He was one of the first to respond to a noble cause. In addition to all titles and regalia, Vladimir Matorin is Chairman of the Foundation for the Revival of Culture and Traditions of Small Cities of Russia. All the money received from the charity concert of the artist, which was held with great success in the Kaluga Philharmonic, was spent on the restoration of the tem‑ ple of the Transfiguration of the Lord in the village of Kaluga Polotnyavod. And re‑ cently the ding-dong of the bells of the re‑ vived temple has been heard in the historic manor-museum of the Goncharovs, just as centuries ago. And Sunday school for chil‑ dren is open at the temple.

This is a real help to a small village! And preservation of historical and spiritual memory. — Don’t you want to write a book “Alexander Pushkin and Belarus”? — So far it has been just a dream. I’ve been getting close to this book for a long time. And, oddly enough, this desire has awakened in France. Twenty years ago, I was lucky to visit the poet’s descendants in Paris, who had blood kin in Belarus. Imagine my delight and surprise when Nadezhda Baer, great-granddaughter of Pushkin, took out old yellowish photographs from the puffy family album. In the photos there are the poet’s descendants, many of them wearing Belarusian folk costumes, views of the fam‑ ily estate of Vavulich, which does not exist any more. That’s when the idea to visit this part of the country was born. It’s strange why I haven’t visited Ba‑ bruisk and Telusha so far (and in Belaru‑ sian it sounds very tender — Tsyalusha)?! I’ll try to come to Pushkin places this summer. A few days ago, in the memorial Push‑ kin’s apartment on Arbat (this is the first fam‑ ily house of the poet) I met with Andrey Ale xandrovich Kologrivov, a direct descendant of Pushkin. Natalya Alexandrovna Voronts‑ ova-Velyaminova, the poet’s granddaughter, is his great-grandmother. And his father, Alexander Kologrivov, war-veteran, spent his childhood in Bobruisk. And for the rest of his life he cherished bright memories of those days. I would like to quote an extract from his memories: “Bobruisk… My childhood! I remember apple orchards, in which wooden houses are hiding, overflow of the Berezina, ruins of an ancient fortress. There were leg‑ ends about the fortress… As soon as the first snowdrops appeared in the forest, my mother took me and my brother to the Kiselevichsky Bor. We walked along Gogolevskaya Street, past the blossoming gardens…” So I suggested to Andrey Kologrivov, a representative of a “Bobruisk branch” of Pushkin’s descendants, writing a joint book, and he agreed. Well, let’s work! — Thank you, Larisa Andreyevna! We are looking forward to seeing you in Belarus! Interviewed by Kirill Ladutko

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To the fairy tale — on foot or by bike

Ecological recreation is becoming an alternative to a foreign tour The number of times I’ve been to Belovezhskaya Push‑ cha is very difficult to calculate. In most cases I was journalistic business that brought me there: top-ranking government del‑ egations and cheerful companies of international youth or sports communities visit Pushcha. We used to come to the National Park with our families but always as members of guided tours. But I do not remember being a member of such a small group. And it would have hardly been possible in the near future if it hadn’t been for my girlfriend of youth, who has long been living in Moscow. As they say, every cloud hs a silver lining. So this summer she did not plan a trip to her small homeland, but the pandemic changed all the plans and she came. And since nowadays we don’t receive guests at home, we agreed to meet in Pushcha. She came to her native place with her daughter and a would-be son-in-law. The young people had never been to Pushcha before, so they were eager to see this landmark. By the way, there are not many cars with Russian plates in the parking lot near the National Park. Today’s tourists get there mainly in their own cars, although it’s not dif‑ ficult to do it by means of public transport: there are regular buses and minibuses from the bus station in Brest. It is about 60 kilom‑ eters from the borders of the city to the mentioned parking lot is.

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On the board in front of the entrance one can read all the in‑ formation about services and excursions. You can also do it in advance using your own smartphone. Present tourists who are in‑ terested in seeing the age-old forest with their own eyes, and not in a hurry, I think, will be attracted by the possibility of a bicycle tour. One can discover Pushcha on six bicycle routes which last from 1.5 to 4 hours. The shortest 10‑kilometer journey of is called “Tsar’s Meadow”, then comes a 15‑kilometer “Voytov Most”, “An Animal Crossing” is only one kilometer longer than the previous one, “A Big Journey” stretches for 27 kilometers, and the section “Kamyenyuki — Byely Lyasok” is 28 kilometers long. Bicycle rental is organized without weekends and breaks. By the way, the rent price includes visiting an enclosure with animals. The animals are worth seeing, especially by those who get to the National Park for the first time. Our young people chose the cycling trip “Tsar’s Meadow” — apparently, the name attracted them. And they didn’t regret it. Later they told us with delight about the birch with the “head of a bison”. The growth on the tree, which looks like a head of the master of the Pushcha, was noticed more than 20 years ago. Ac‑ cording to specialists, such an outgrowth is formed when a alien

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Tourism

oak-tree forest, where under oaks and hornbeams there is eternal shade. The plants, accustomed to this semi-darkness, look like a special dark-green cover, which makes you feel to be in deep an‑ tiquity: it seems that it looked like this, maybe, a thousand years ago. Or maybe that’s what it really was like. There is silence and calmness that are characteristic only of the wilderness: you will find them in no other forest. At least, Korotkevich masterfully de‑ scribed the forest in his “The Land under the White Wings”. …One can visit the museums in Pushcha, including a new open-air archaeological one, the “Vygonoschansky” re‑ serve in Ivatsevichi District, which is now also a part of the Na‑ tional Park. Lovers of new impressions will discover for themselves Ruzhanskaya Pushcha, not so well-promoted and visited by tour‑ ists, but an extremely interesting and mysterious forest. In any case, it is necessary at least occasionally to come to the protected areas, generously scattered nationwide. Nature knows how to give strength, in addition, it never betrays and does not cheat. By Svetlana Yaskevich Belta

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organism gets into the trunk. Most often these uninvited guests are mushrooms of different species. The tree got through it and and the alien organism formed an exotic hump. This excursion also includes a visit to a huge luxurious oak-hermit. The tree is three hundred years old — for an oak it is not such an old age, but the trunk diameter has already exceeded one and a half meters. This oak always reminds me of Andrey Bolkonsky’s reflections in “War and Peace” about the triumph of life. The swamp “Tatar bagno” has already dried up, and the name has remained, as in the 13th century the Tatars, who reached it during the invasion, used to station there. The former narrow-gauge road built by the Germans during the First World War is now a very pic‑ turesque place. The invaders built the road to carry out wood. Dur‑ ing a year and a half, the prisoners laid a 325‑kilometer-long railway network. Now there is asphalt laid on the place of individual narrow gauge lines, and bicycle routes run along them. And the meadow it‑ self now is an exotic object and a landmark. It is located in the mid‑ dle of the thicket. According to some sources, the first hunting ball was organized here by King Stanisław August Poniatowski. Thanks to him, at fist kings, then secretaries general used to hunt there. And the contemporaries are not lagging behind: today festi‑ vals, public events are held there. It is also necessary to stop in Urochishche “Turlyuy”, to admire a picturesque wood fork, a cen‑ tury-old pine forest and many other things. And the main thing is that one can enjoy the trip leisurely, making stops whenever and wherever you want. This time we discovered hiking routes, which will help you to explore the pushcha anew. There are three artificial lakes on the ecological path “Lake Ring”. They were created in the early 1970s to controle the hydrological regime. The water in them is dark, because there are deposits of peat at the bottom. And in this dark water the trees, the sun, the sky mirror in a special way — as if it is not a natural phenomenon, but some kind of screen, besides si‑ lence and slowness in general create an effect of animation, a fairy tale… But you get in a real fairy tale not here, but in the protected

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беларусь. belarus 2020

Lifestyle

If you want to be

healthy

Is it possible not to eat meat and stay physically active? Are the dietary supplements harmful or useful? How to stay fit? As they say, there are so many people, so many opinions. Let’s find out about some of them.

К “Eat me!”

Kremlin diet, separate nutrition, interval fasting, physi‑ otherapy, yoga, fitness… So many ways to stay healthy, it’s easy to get confused. It would be good to turn a blind eye to it and live “somehow”, but the coronavirus is not dozing off: it is looking for a new victim with low immunity. And we do not want to get sick, and there are so many things to do…The question arises: how to keep up health in the conditions of global hypodynamia and epi‑ demics that replace each other? When at every corner of the city delicious fast food is on sale and on the shelves of pharmacies there are rows of beautiful jars of dietary supplements, in which the complex of vitamins and trace elements is the most balanced. The Internet does not give clear instructions for action. More precisely, it offers as many options on the topic “you want to be healthy”, as there are pages in search services, i. e. a lot. So I decided to turn to a the safe and proven method: to talk live with those who in my subjective opinion look like a “healthy person”, look good and inspire trust. And then to “average” for myself, to form a personal point of view on this subject.

Healthy lifestyle-consultant, Sergey Pustyulga:

“Don’t run to extremes” For 40 years he’s been committed to a healthy lifestyle. He doesn’t drink, he doesn’t smoke. He served in the Armed Forces for 17 years, trained guys at the Institute of National Security for 13 years: he taught general physi‑ cal training and hand-to-hand combat. Later, Sergey Pustyulga, having withdrawn from military business, “set on the feet” one of the leading Minsk clubs for a healthy lifestyle, worked there as a fitness director. — Sergey Nikolayevich, what is fitness? The concept is borrowed from American culture…

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— That’s right. I don’t like the word “fitness” very much, as I grew up on the Soviet traditions, where there were notions of “physical culture and sport”, “fitness and health-improvement ac‑ tivities”. What is the principal difference? The approach. In our country physical culture is seen as an element of harmonious personal development, in America and Western Europe it is the preparation of a person for work. It is important to be an active, healthy social element that will not “stand idle”. After the collapse of the USSR, our integral system of approach to physical culture collapsed as well. Each specialist, trainer began to bring something different, introduce new elements in physical training, based on a personal understanding of how it should be. This is how fitness began to penetrate into our culture. Now we are at a stage when two systems coexist: according to an old tradition, we have physi‑ cal training at kindergartens, school, university, army. And after it? To go to a sports group which trains for specific sports, just like it used to be before. And if I don’t want to do some particular sport? That’s where fitness comes to help: zumba, less mills, pilates… But its level is not yet European, let’s say. In Soviet times there was a public coach — a person who was interested in his work, knew a lot, was certified. And now, to be a fitness instructor, it’s enough to graduate from an economic, technical university. What can such a coach teach? Except to make money on a clientele. But first of all, there must be a question of health of the person you train. You have to understand that exercise is a cure. If you give an overdose — you can get a negative effect. Less — no effect. In Europe, a trainer is also a kinesiologist (he studies health status by the tone of differ‑ ent muscle groups — Auth.) In the American system you need to get many different certificates. And while you go through all the stages, invest financially, you will think through carefully whether you want to do it. This is a system that’s just starting to work for us. For example, to promote someone’s individual method, you need to be a member of the club of this author, which means to be trained by him or her and get a certificate, which must be verified every year. Therefore, before you go to the nearest to your home gym, I advise you to find out what education and what certificates your coach has.

Lifestyle

— And what to begin with, if you want to move to a qualitatively different standard of living: to train properly, to eat?.. In general, to feel good. — In the club where I worked, we built such a system. I suggest you should take it for yourself. First, the client goes to the sports doctor or provides a certificate of medical examination. The doctor draws up an anamnesis, makes a computer screening diagnosis. It takes no more than 5–7 minutes and can determine body compo‑ sition, potential hazards: kidney problems, weight problems, etc. The doctor then writes out recommendations and tells you what to start with. It’s a gradual, long process. There’s no need to rush anywhere. — Sergey Nikolayevich, what makes people think about their health? The answer could be age, when something hurts, does not allow to live a full life. But today young people are also actively interested in these questions. And you yourself have been doing sports since your youth. — Yes, from a young age I was curious to know if I could im‑ prove my genetic abilities. I did so many sports! Wrestling, weight‑ lifting when I was 12 to 18 years old. Then I was called up for military service, in the army there was no weightlifting, so I chose officer all-round: cross, gymnastics, grenade throwing, shooting, sambo. Why do people want to get up from the sofa and start tak‑ ing care of themselves? Because they want to get up from this sofa cheerful and without pain, especially in the morning and at any age. — And how to cultivate in a child right habits? — All habits are formed in the family. If parents do not do sports, do not eat properly, their children will follow the same life‑ style. Someone meets friends to drink beer, spends two hours on it, and someone decides to spend time together in the gym and to discuss pressing issues there. It’s called a culture of communica‑ tion. Let me mention my son as an example. I never forbade him anything, gave him the right to choose, but explained my position.

He has also been practicing sports since child‑ hood and lives a healthy lifestyle. As they say in the army: by personal example… — Now there’s so much information about what’s bad, what’s good, how to eat… Vegetarianism, fruit-eating, cheese-eating, separate nutrition, blood type diets, Kremlin, interval nutrition… The list is huge. And what to eat or not to eat is not clear. — In the Soviet Union there was such a no‑ tion: rational nutrition. It’s when we lay out the products correctly in positions of protein-fatcarbohydrate, observe caloric value. It seems to be nothing complicated, we eat correctly: I ate only one cookie a day, had only one cup of cof‑ fee, without sugar. And there’s still a lack of pro‑ teins, fats, carbohydrates and trace elements. Why is that? Probably because of the lack of assimilation of those elements by the body it‑ self. What do we do? To consult with specialists: gastroenterologist, endocrinologist, nutritionist with medical edu‑ cation. Because there are many diets and even more bio additives, but they can be dangerous for you. In general, bio additives are concentrated products. And if we overeat cottage cheese, which can’t be consumed more than 200g a day, what about “kilogram” doses of concentrated substances that are in cottage cheese? The most important thing is not to rush to extremes: “bad food — we will not eat it”. We have to proceed from what we have. Manu‑ facturers of products still observe the minimum standard of care. They say chicken consists of antibiotics. But you can boil them out! Yogurt is bad? You can make it yourself, fermentation starter is on sale. You don’t have to listen to everyone. Everyone today is trying to promote and sell their product, their theory. What to do and what to start with? With the minimum. For example, keep to water regime: drink more! If you don’t you understand what steps should follow each other, ask a specialist you trust. — Do you eat meat? — I do. I believe that any diet should only be used if there are any health problems. Any body is self-cleaning. It’s enough to

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Lifestyle create minimum conditions for that. You don’t have to dive into ayurveda, switch to one-sided nutrition, penetrate into your body to the cellular level, if you’re not a doctor… I don’t want to talk badly about self-taught, there are some good ones. But I’ve seen only some good self-taught trainers. A lot of people are interest‑ ed in dietology, but none of them, as a rule, have read a textbook on dietology. It’s not about nutrition, it’s about diet. I think it’s wrong to say that vegetarianism is a normal diet. If a person has prob‑ lems with meat consumption, accumulates elements that are un‑ necessary to the body — yes. But the doctor will not tell a healthy person to stop eating meat. Because our entire structure is made up of protein. — Speaking about a healthy lifestyle, we can’t but mention global issues that are beyond our control, such as ecology… — Yeah, well, the environmental situation is pretty complicated, es‑ pecially with Chernobyl. And in general, civilization changes the way we live: I’m talking about hy‑ podynamia, or the so-called cam‑ eraman profile, when you sit at the computer solving is‑ sues without any distrac‑ tions. And good nutrition requires finances. Sausages are cheaper than a piece of meat, you’ll agree. You must have enough time to cook in the kitchen. Motor activity is in a sense a luxury now: you have to pay for a gym. Of all these parts, you need to somehow put together a puzzle called healthy lifestyle. By the way, I personally find helpful the gadgets that fix every movement and condition of my body. — What is your attitude to such a trendy phenomenon as body-positivity? — As to lobbying certain interests. If we talk about healthy lifestyle- there is advertising of sportswear and shoes of this or that brand. Fast food restaurants need to promote their products, so they reject “90–60–90”, for example. And a certain disorder in so‑ ciety is created. But it is important to understand that this is not a war of people, but of economic structures. Healthy lifestyle itself or body-positivity, as an attitude to oneself, is relegated to the back‑ ground. I think that society should regulate such processes and not go to extremes. There should be no opposition of one to the other.

Photographer Anastasiya Vragova:

“Healthy lifestyle is life philosophy” Nastya became interested in veg‑ etarianism when she studied at the Minsk State Linguistic College. She got married, became famous as a wedding

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photographer, received numerous awards at various international contests. She and her husband Arthur, also a photographer, are in‑ vited to work in France, Italy, Greece and other Western European cities. Nastya has not changed her lifestyle. I asked her to tell me what influenced her choice at an early age. — At the age of 16 I started to be interested in the topic of healthy lifestyle, to study literature. And the deeper I went into the topic, the less the relationship between meat and health became clear to me. Of course, many factors influence our good health: ecology, physical activity, psychology and so on. No healthy diet will correct the situation if a person lacks sleep or in a nervous strain. Nutrition is not a panacea, but an important condition to feel “in the resource”. I gave up meat because animal protein has a high acid load. Of course, the human body works to excrete decay products. But the cost of restoring acid-alkaline balance is demineraliza‑ tion of bones and cells. And everyone heard about antibiotics used to keep animals on farms. Through meat they get into our body, acidizing it. Consump‑ tion of animal products causes greater risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, osteoporosis, diabetes. And I don’t even want to be indirectly involved in cru‑ elty against animals. The rejection of animal products is one of the best ways to reduce the negative im‑ pact on the environment. I want to quote a PR manager of one of Minsk vegan cafes Marta Skugareva: “If a person gives up meat for one day, he or she will save 3 thousand liters of water and 300 trees from felling. By giving up meat for just one day, you can do more for the environment than if you drive a hybrid car and do recy‑ cling”. The fact is that animal production increases greenhouse gas emissions due to the huge amount of methane produced by ani‑ mals (this is their digestive activity). As a result, the temperature on Earth is rising. Also, most of the water on the planet is used not for personal needs of people, but for the livestock industry. For example, for the production of 1 kg of beef 43000 liters of water is needed, while for the production of 1 kg of cereal — 1000 liters. But the initial motivation to change the diet for me was still the desire to stay healthy and active for many years. The other fac‑ tors I’ve listed work together. It is not just a choice of food system, it is a life philosophy. How do you feel? Medicine is against such radical methods. — Today, 10 years after giving up meat, I feel great! I have been regularly examined and tested for several years — everything is normal, sometimes I even get compliments from doctors. But it’s a long way to rebuild the body. In the beginning it is possible to feel even worse, as there will be active cleansing and, as a rule, chronic diseases aggravate. Therefore, in no case you should change the diet radically! The opinion of traditional medicine that meat con‑

Lifestyle alisa gungor

tains amino acids essential to other foods has long been criticized. Traditional medi‑ cal discourse very rarely touches on the subject of intestinal microflora and its abil‑ ity to form the very “indispensable” amino acids, for example, B12. There are just a number of conditions: a person must be well cleansed, consume a lot of raw fiber to feed this very microflora, exclude dysbac‑ teriosis. But when people switch to plant foods, they often pay little attention to targeted cleansing of the body. And many people simply can’t eat raw vegetables in large quantities. Accordingly, microflora cannot produce the necessary amino ac‑ ids. It takes time to regroup, to recover. It takes years. And the shortage of amino acids is actually building up. These aren’t fairy tales, and anemia is a real possible problem (forgive me, my friends- vegans). These problems usually appear in a few years. And that’s why a person has to take supplements. — What is the fundamental difference between vegans, vegetarians… What group do you and your husband belong to? — He eats dairy products. He switched to vegetarianism after three years of living together. Although he grew up in the coun‑ tryside, his parents always raised pigs and chicken, and there was a lot of meat in the family. In mine, too. But now my parents have given up meat, too. I consider myself to be a vegetarian because I drink coffee with milk. But I don’t eat other dairy products or I can eat something a few times a year if I want. But I also eat honey, and vegans treat it as an animal product. All these categories of ve‑ gan, vegetarian, cheese eater… and so on are pretty conventional. For example, there are vegans who add raw yolks to their diet once every few months to make up for B12, but do not stop consider‑ ing themselves vegans. And for other people, it can already be a big deviation from “vegan philosophy”. You can’t separate them all into clear categories.

Vladislav Ivanovsky, psychotherapist of Minsk city psychoneurologic dispensary:

“Think for yourself, decide for yourself”. He gave an interview for our edition (№ 4–2020). Then in a two-hour conversa‑ tion we touched upon a lot of questions that could not be covered in one article. This is an abstract from the in‑ terview which deals with nutrition. — Vladislav Georgiyevich, everyone already knows that most of our products are refined, and therefore it is necessary to take additional vitamins. However, there are a lot of facts about how

dangerous different dietary supplements can be. What can we do? Who to believe? — From time to time my friends send me videos about some scientific research conducted by a well-known TV com‑ pany, which prove that such dietary supplements should not be taken. (I use them myself and in large quantities.) I try to find out: what exactly a tested person took. It turns out that we were talking about artificially synthesized vitamins in mixed dosages. That’s right! It’s dangerous to give synthetics in large doses. Vitamins are different, and that’s what we need to know. If you can’t, you have to turn to specialists. The truth is, if you want to turn public opinion in the right direction, the facts can be inaccurate. For example, when my relative studied to be a web-designer, she was given a task to make an animated film with seven additional meanings. If you made it with less than five — you failed a exam. That is, if students know how to do it, what to say about professionals on television! In general, in short, you should either learn to analyze information yourself, or find professionals in this matter and follow their recommen‑ dations. As the song sings: think for yourself, decide for yourself whether to have it or not… *** Having talked to different people, I made a trite conclusion for myself: there are as many opinions, as there are people. The only thing that everybody agrees on is that a radical change in the way of life should be made gradually, carefully preparing for every next step. And the sooner, the better. It seems that modern youth understand this — to look good and be healthy is now in fashion. And in general, as they say, all diseases come from nerves. So, I think we should start with a good mood. Even my son at the age of five once said: we will start having fun from morning. By Alisa Gungor

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Stop the moment

A picture to remember

In general, I got acquainted with him many years ago: we acted together in a Sunday entertainment program on one of the Minsk channels. He, an experienced actor, was in the lead role; I, a stu‑ dent of the theatre department, was in a supporting role. We stayed together for 5 minutes, but we “came to terms” in an instant. Hu‑ mor, charisma, youth and bottomless blue eyes of Denis, I guess, more than once influenced his acting success. As far as I know, he is always filmed somewhere. Sometimes in Russian series with film stars, sometimes in commercials, sometimes in some social project. Now Denis has a new “pursuit”: he is involved in the creation of a national series, a village comedy “Svoi”, in which plays the main role of a young composer. Only the second episode has been filmed, so what the film is about has been a secret so far. Besides, the famous Belarusian actor, who has worked in the theater for 10 years and 17 years in the movies, has a hobby since his youth: he enchases cold weapons with precious stones and metals. By the way, the weapon is also made from scratch. For some time he used to work at the National Art Museum, in the department of restoration of furniture and frames. And now Denis owns the best on the Internet-rating photo studio Minsk. Even famous Belarusian media people, famous artists, business people, athletes and models come to him. I came once to see with my own eyes what was going on there, to feel the atmosphere of a fairy tale, albeit created by a successful entourage.

Why do people spend money on personal photo shoots and spend many hours in f ront of a camera? Even the best picture cannot be viewed endlessly: one day it will still get into an album and onto a shelf or folder in your computer. We are going to talk to Denis Nikitik, the owner of a well-known Minsk photo studio, about illusions and aspiration for selfdeception.

vk.com

Wow-effect

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The first thing I see… Or better, I feel is snow-whiteness and cleanness, coziness, compactness, harmony… Well, it’s heaven. Oh, I want to live like this! Denis stops a flight of my fancy with a rather specific question: “What’s your shoe size?” You mustn’t dirty the floor, because the pictures will show all the dirty spots. Suddenly, my beautiful shoes are left at the entrance, and I am in a lightweight tulle skirt of weightless tulle to match props and in wide red slippers sliding round 100 square meters of clean “living room”. There is a bedroom, a kitchen, by the window there is a beautiful mirror, which I certainly want to looked in. A wedding dress is missing… No wonder, brides and grooms come here to be photographed for their wedding album almost every week. Other frequent guests are pregnant women: they want to keep in memory the most important moments of life. In general, the business-line of the studio is family. There are three halls: white, loft style and family. Even grandparents come here to “visualize” their genealogical tree. I wonder if there were cases when clients ruined the atmosphere of home paradise, spoiled things? Because, clearly, all props cost a lot of money. But Denis doesn’t remember such cases. Sometimes, he says, a cat model runs back and forth, and it takes time to get it, for example, from under the sofa. Or a Peruvian husband does not understand what the team of photographers, led by his Belarusian wife, want from him. It can’t be helped, in Peru there is no such a thing as making a professional photo shoot… One day, Denis re‑ calls, moms with “one year olds” came: 20 adults and 25. “There was also kish-mish!” — he recollects with a smile. One of the moms

Stop the moment wanted to breast-feed the baby and without any shyness naked her breasts. “Madonna Litta!” — Denis admired the image of Leonardo da Vinci, which as if came to life, and asked the woman to have some pictures taken while she was breastfeeding. “Well, how can we neglect such a moment? The mother is sacred!” — Denis explains. Photographing in the studio is not a cheap entertainment. Rent‑ al hour costs 40–45 rubles depending on the hall. On the New Year’s Eve the price may increase to 50 rubles. However, the owner of the artificial paradise has enough work for every day: someone rents the halls for two hours, someone for five, six. Both for photo shoots, and for video ones. There is a season (from October to Feb‑ ruary), and a no-season — Denis puts me in the way of things. In the season you can make very good money. But when the number of clients decreases, there is no need to relax: it is necessary to maintain the studios (rent, utilities, etc.) permanently. And it is quite costly. Our conversation is interrupted by UNICEF employ‑ ees, who have been shooting video in the next loft hall all this time. They need to discuss with Denis a few questions about the lighting for the next video. And they need advise on which cup looks better against the table background: glass or white. The serious faces of people discussing their questions made me think: why do we want to be photo‑ graphed? Because it’s actually all an illusion… — That’s right, an illusion, — Denis picks up my reasoning. — Nevertheless, people want to keep the part of their life when they are truly happy. And not in their mobile phone photos, but in the photos in which there is correct light, appropriate clothes, good atmosphere …Everything should be beautiful. Yes, photography is self-deception… Grandchildren will say: props, not real! And what’s the difference? What’s wrong if a person wants to live in il‑ lusion? People come here and the first thing they say: I want to live here! I want to spend time in an atmosphere where everything is perfect! Where you can sit in a rocking chair and forget about eve‑ rything. For example, I can’t stand two minutes in it — I fall asleep: I can smell fresh air, the curtains are barely moving, the fan is making a monotonous noise… Calmness… Why not? All this is true, I keep thinking, but any fashion is fleeting. And the trend of spending money on someone to take you a couple of great pictures is likely to change. As wise Solomon said, all is gone, here today and gone tomorrow. Denise doesn’t agree. “I think this trend, as you say, is going to last. Why? We always want to believe in something. As it was in medieval Christianity: if you want the king‑ dom of heaven, buy it. And really: you don’t sell anything but illu‑ sions. People always want to plunge into a fictional world where they feel comfortable. Do you think this will end? I don’t think so.”

In selfie style I rarely take pictures of myself. More often, of something or of someone. It’s kind of embarrassing to monkey in front of the black rectangle of my smartphone. Especially when others see it. But I have repeatedly heard from psychologists that well taken photos

with you in the foreground increase self-esteem. And there is even pho‑ totherapy, when you find a profes‑ sional photographer, look for a suit‑ able location style and put on airs and graces in front of the camera for an hour or two… Then the best pictures are hung in the places where you can easily see them, and you keep on looking at them… Realizing how beautiful you are after all. Apparently, that’s why my friend started to post more and more Photoshop-processed photos on social networking sites. Maybe she wants to tell everyone, but above all herself: I am still young! I look great! And she is in her early fifties. There is another example. A girl has a hundred photos of the same type: her face. Here, she slightly turned her head to the right, and here — slightly bowed her head to the left. All in all, that’s the same girl. I asked: why do you need so many pictures of yourself? That’s what she said: — First of all, I don’t look in the mirror every minute of my life and I don’t see what I look like at one time or another. And in photos and videos, I can analyze myself and find flaws to correct them. Secondly, I’m constantly looking for new images of myself. I like to be different. And I want to be able to quickly express the right emotions, like professional models do. One last thing: when you go to a photo shoot, you meet new people, expand your circle of acquaintances. I like it. Well, if something makes you happy — why not do it all your free time? The main thing, in pursuit of quality external “entourage” not to lose something really important, which is inside… After all, even the biggest colorful bubble tends to burst some day. By Alisa Gungor. Photo by the author.

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Festival

The song stays with a person…

“Slavic Bazaar” in Vitebsk, which turned 29 this year was called not only legendary, but also unique and experimental. It was the only international festive even, which was held with no postponements and cancellations caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

he organizers took all security measures, so the most popu‑ lar performers from differ‑ ent countries visited us will‑ ingly. And four days Vitebsk was imbued with the most sincere human feelings. This is what Gleb Lapitsky, Director of the International Fes‑ tival of Arts “Slavic Bazaar in Vitebsk”, said about it: “It was an intense time, when we had to solve sometimes unsolvable problems, but we still solved them. At “Slavic Bazaar”, love and friendship found real meaning,

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because real friends of “Slavic Bazaar” are here today, and real art lovers are also at “Slavic Bazaar” this year”. The opening ceremony of “Slavic Ba‑ zaar in Vitebsk” was held on July 16 at 20:30. For the first time, the concert was attended by a world-class ballet dancer, former premiere of the Royal Ballet in Lon‑ don Sergey Polunin. Philipp Kirkorov, Alexander Buinov, Oleg Mityaev, Anatoly Yarmolenko and the ensemble “Syabry”, Inna Afanasyeva, Al‑ exander Solodukha, Vladimir Provalinsky, the Grand Prix winner of last year’s Viteb‑

sk Music Competition Adilhan Makin and many others also appeared on the stage of the Summer Amphitheatre. As for Kir‑ korov, due to the coronavirus pandemic he had not been on stage or given interviews for almost six months. Since 1994 Philipp had been shining at “Slavic Bazaar”, and finally a star was lit for him in Vitebsk, which pleased him very much. Following the traditions, the festival was opened by President of Belarus Al‑ exander Lukashenko. By the way, these days the head of state is on a working visit to Vitebsk.

Festival As usual, the concert was held at the Summer Amphitheatre. By the way, the Summer Amphitheatre in Vitebsk is not only a brand identity of the city. This is one of the recognizable architectural sym‑ bols of Belarus. This year the main stage of the International Festival “Slavic Ba‑ zaar in Vitebsk” turned 32 years old, and 19 of them it has been open-air. The con‑ struction of an openwork protective cover began in 2006 by order of Alexander Lu‑ kashenko. In terms of technical solutions. the design, technological solution, installation, testing of the structure — all stages of the construction and the facil‑ ity itself have become unique not only in our country but also in the world. Over 29 years the Vitebsk Cultural Forum has become a real festive event for spectators, and for its organizers — an opportunity to discover new vocal talents. As for par‑ ticipants of children’s and adult contests of young performers, they got their first chance for popularity. Before the open‑ ing concert, last year’s winners — Adilhan Makin from Kazakhstan and Ksyusha Ga‑ letskaya from Belarus — hoisted the flag of “Slavic Bazaar” up the festival flagpole. The long-awaited words were also heard: “Attention! Says and shows Viteb‑ sk!” They, as well as the President’s words that “Slavic Bazaar has become the heart of cultural and spiritual unity”, were received with enthusiasm. — And this heart should be beating in the name of the main idea which is the ba‑ sis of the festival: “Through art — to peace and mutual understanding”. Especially today, when all countries and peoples are on the verge of global geopolitical crisis, it is vital for us to preserve the tradition that unites people. After all, no matter what hap‑ pens in the world, the international festi‑ val in Vitebsk has always destroyed barriers and strengthened friendship between peo‑ ples. In his speech, the President stressed: — At this t I am overwhelmed with feelings of joy and pride for all of us, first of all for Belarusians who have never been and never are on their knees before the challenges of time. An example of this is “Slavic Bazaar”, a festival with a bright and interesting fate. As you remember, its

history began in the 90s against the back‑ ground of the uneasy formation of new relations between sovereign states created out of the splinters of the huge empire. Alexander Lukashenko reminded that the festival was intended to be a festival of friendship between brotherly peoples — Belarusians, Russians, Ukrainians, repre‑ sentatives of other states: — A quarter of a century ago this great event managed to tour through the cities and villages of the immense Soviet Union,

Alexander Lukashenko

Peace, friendship and mutual understanding have always reigned at the Vitebsk festival. What is the secret? Probably, and first of all, in the cultural code of Slavs, in the general thousand-year history of ancestors of modern Slavic peoples. It will not give us the facts of barbaric destruction of traditions and other civilizations. There is only the creation and mutual enrichment of cultures. the collapsed Soviet Union. This year it could have made a pause, as the world fa‑ mous shows and competitions did. And the President made a special em‑ phasis: — But then and today we have pre‑ served our “Slavic Bazaar”, our Slavic tra‑ dition. The head of state stressed that de‑ spite international conflicts, intereth‑ nic and domestic political crises, peace, friendship and mutual understanding have always prevailed at the Vitebsk festival: — What is the secret? Probably, and first of all — in the cultural code of the Slavs, in the common thousand-year his‑ tory of the ancestors of modern Slavic peoples. It will not give us the facts of bar‑ baric destruction of traditions and other civilizations. There is only creation and

mutual enrichment of cultures. Therefore, said the Head of State, every year “Slavic Bazaar in Vitebsk” attracts participants and guests from around the world to the picturesque banks of the Dvina: — To the city that has been inspiring famous musicians, artists and actors for centuries. It has given us talented film di‑ rectors and designers, scientists, athletes and coaches who have made Belarusian and not only Belarusian land famous all over the world. And today, he said, the brightest per‑ formers, the kindest and most responsive spectators have gathered in this amphi‑ theater: — There would have been no “Slavic Bazaar” without them. The ones who come to this festival answering the call of their hearts. Those who are united by a sincere love for the national Slavic culture. Let the festival days give you a lot of bright emotions, the contests will open up new names in the world of art. Over the years, the festival acquired a lot of good traditions. Among them, a spe‑ cial prize of the Prsident “Through art — to peace and mutual understanding”. This year it went to Moscow with an old friend of “ Slavic Bazaar”, People’s Artist of Russia Philipp Kirkorov. Alexander Lukashenko addressed the Russian performer: — Philipp, of course, is a brilliant ac‑ tor, performer, singer. Today I asked cer‑ tain services (we have them) to give me his detailed biography. And I was amazed that this man has a huge number (we can say, since childhood) of various international awards. And I thought: Well, we will him another award. And then I thought: no, not another one. This is an international award, this is a soulful Slavic award. And its roots are Slavic. And I think he will receive it as the highest award. It is hard to find such a sincere person, the head of state stressed: — Everything he says, comes from the bottom of his heart, despite the fact that he is an artist, a great artist. For his part, Philipp Kirkorov said he was honored to receive this award from Alexander Lu‑ kashenko:

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Festival

The winners of the Grand Prix of the festival are Belarusians Roman Voloznev and Angelina Lomako

— Today, at this difficult time, when “Slavic Bazaar” is the only one that survived among all musical events in the former So‑ viet Union, I consider this prize very sym‑ bolic. The fact that today you have found an opportunity to hold this festival, even “Eurovision” gave in, was postponed, while Belarus and “Slavic Bazaar” lived, are living and will be living! I am proud of my friend‑ ship with you, Belarus! The Russian singer joked that he still had something to strive for in Belarus. Af‑ ter all, he already had the title of People’s Artist of Russia, Ukraine and Moldova, but had no Belarusian title of this level. Another award, the Union State Prize in Literature and Art, was handed to the ar‑ tistic director of the Cinema Actor’s Thea‑ tre Studio Alexander Efremov, famous documentary filmmaker Anatoly Alay and a creative team of directors Irina Margo‑ lina, Oksana Cherkasova, Elena Petkevich and Irina Kodyukova. For example, Alexan‑ der Efremov was nominated for the Union State Prize not only for a series of theatrical productions of Russian classics in the actor’s theatre-studio, but also for films dedicated to the Great Patriotic War. As the director himself confessed, his father defended Bela‑ rus, was wounded here… And it influenced his turn to the theme of the war.

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The gala concert of the opening cer‑ emony lasted until late at night. Only fa‑ vorite and people’s artists came on stage. The renowned stars came to support the rising ones. The smile of Alexander So‑ lodukha, Chairman of the Jury of the Children’s Competition, was shining from the stage. Igor Butman’s saxophone sounded. Anatoly Yarmolenko did not miss the opportunity to say a few warm words to the audience. People sang along with Alexander Buynov, Inna Afanasyeva, Elena Vaenga and, of course, Philipp Kir‑ korov. He knows the audience and the stage of the Summer Amphitheatre well. More than once he collected full houses there, used to be a jury member. And since this year, the king of the Russian stage has an excuse to visit Vitebsk more often. Before the concert of the open‑ ing ceremony, the name “cornflower” of Philipp Kirkorov appeared in the Festival Square of Stars. By the way, Alla Pugache‑ va, ex-wife of Kirkorov, was more than ten years ahead of the artist: her flower ap‑ peared in the square back in 2009. At the opening ceremony of her own star Phillip made a joke: — At last, Alla Borisovna and I are back together again! And seriously, it’s madly nice to be back here in my beloved Vitebsk.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, by the way, sent a greeting to the guests and participants of the festival, in which he noted: — For many years now the festival has been serving the noble goals of spiritual unity and mutual enrichment of the cul‑ tures of the brotherly Slavic peoples, play‑ ing a significant role in the development of multipolar, multilateral humanitarian cooperation. Who and what sounded in Vitebsk? Melodic Balkan ethnics, a singsong Ukrainian “language (mova)”, Brazilian drums and favorite Russian hits — Vitebsk has long connected not only neighboring countries but even continents. After all, music, according to the director of the festival Gleb Lapitsky, is also the best lan‑ guage of folk diplomacy: It seems to me that we are returning to the festival its right tradition: to hold Days of Slavic cultures. Of course, we can do it in different formats, but we must de‑ clare the triunity of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. If people of art fail to do it, no politicians can do it. When it became clear that the festival program should be revised, we had a desire to make a full concert of Ukrainian performers. First of all, this was what the audience wanted. Secondly, it

Festival turned out that Ukrainian artists respond‑ ed to our proposal with great pleasure. And everything turned out to be fine. This year “Slavic Bazaar” brilliantly hosted not only the concert of the Union State, but also grand concerts of Belarusian and Ukrain‑ ian artists. Vitebsk spectators — and it was seen! — had really missed their favorite artists: the concert “With Ukraine in the Heart!” predictably gathered a full house. The guests and participants of “ Slavic Bazaar in Vitebsk” were greeted by the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky. “The hospitable Belarusian land welcomes Ukrainian masters and their admirers, who together create good mood, true friendship and eternal values. There are no boundaries in art. Its goal is to inspire and fill with happiness,” the message said. The first prize of the Young Perform‑ ers Competition was awarded to Ukrain‑ ian Elina Ivashchenko. The winner of the second prize was Carolina Lyndo from Lithuania, while the third prize was shared by Ivona Odicki from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Hansultan from Ka‑ zakhstan. For Ukrainian pop diva Taisia Povaliy, the stage of the Summer Amphitheatre brought luck many years ago. The singer has entered the history of the festival not only as the first winner of the Grand Prix of

the contest of young performers, but also as last year’s owner of the named “corn‑ flower” in the Square of Stars. The People’s Artist of Ukraine joked: — As you see, I am getting younger, and the festival is getting stronger. I am happy to be in my beloved Belarus again. I call it not only my beloved, but also my dear one, because it was “Slavic Bazaar” that gave a boost to my career, within just one day I became famous. That is why Belarus is my creative motherland. I do not get tired of thanking it. My heart will stay here forever. People’s Artist of Ukraine Tina Karol also found a lot of warm words for our country and its residents: — Belarusians and Ukrainians — we are soul mates. It can be felt especially now, at this difficult time, when fate has given us a chance to be close, to be together. I want to thank “Slavic Bazaar” for uniting the Slavs. It’s nice that the Belarusians, despite the pandemic, have preserved the long tra‑ dition of the festival and have not put it on hold. “Slavic Bazaar” is a real festival of the soul. Tenderness, coziness, hospitality live here — everything is like at Mom’s house. Starry Belarusian-Ukrainian duets proved once again that Vitsebsk is called the capital of Slavic diplomacy for a rea‑ son. The joint work of Tina Karol and Inna Afanasyeva was a surprise for many view‑ ers. For the Ukrainian, the composition

“Native banks” was a kind of creative ex‑ periment. That was the first time the singer sang a song in the Belarusian language. Two more unexpected performances: duet of our Alena Lanskaya and People’s Artist of Ukraine Pavel Zibrov (they performed the well-known “Chervona ruta”). The audience was also delighted by Anatoly Yarmolenko and the men’s vocal quartet Hetman, who performed “Let’s Survive”, a composition from the repertoire of the ensemble “Syabry”, in 5 voices. From year to year hundreds of artists from different countries come to Belarus to turn the city on the Dvina into the mu‑ sical capital of the whole Slavic world, to meet the audience and, of course, to ad‑ mire Vitebsk at night. Elena Vaenga, another long-awaited guest and longtime friend of the festival, spoke about such important things as brotherly love of the Slavs and a special festival spirit: — “Slavic Bazaar” is a diamond among festivals. I don’t know how you manage to do it, but the most heartfelt and kindest spectators are here. The Grand Prix of the International Children’s Music Competition “Viteb‑ sk‑2020” for the second year in a row was awarded to a representative of our country, i. e. 14‑year-old Angelina Lomako won Be‑ larus its fifth victory. Roman Voloznev returned to Minsk with a diploma as Grand Prix winner of the Vitebsk festival. At the gala closing con‑ cert of the festival, 14 young performers told their musical stories. But our Roman, as it turned out, was the best “storyteller”. Voloznev received at the festival in Vitebsk the cherished “Lyra” and the money prize of 20 000 US dollars: — I can’t realize it all yet. Vitebsk, just thank you! Of course, I expected only vic‑ tory from the contest, and when it hap‑ pened, I still could not believe it. The festival ended up with colorful fireworks. Thousands of lights were shin‑ ing in the night sky of Vitebsk. And next year “Slavic Bazaar” will celebrate its 30th anniversary. By Mikhalina Cherkashina. Using “BelTA” materials, “SB. Belarus segodnya”.

Street Art Festival "On Seven Winds" was held at "Slavic Bazaar in Vitebsk" беларусь. belarus 2020

Book to help

For everyone who loves

theatre A new study guide on “The History of the Theatre of Belarus 20-21st centuries” by Richard Smolsky, published quite recently, is a wonderful opportunity to get acquainted with this history in a summary form.

t one time, when I w as e n rol l e d i n full-time postgrad‑ uate studies, I had to take entrance exams, including the history of the Belarusian theatre. And I was preparing for it, referred to different sources. There was a lot of infor‑ mation. Numerous articles of the theatre scientists about these or those periods in the history of the Belarusian theatre made me dizzy. It was clear that each of them studied their own direction, analyzed it in detail in the context of the life of Bela‑ rus — political, social, ideological… I had to bury myself in separate mono‑ graphs of the leading Belarusian theatre scientists, doctors of art criticism, profes‑ sors Vladimir Nefed, Anatoly Sobolevsky, Gury Baryshev, doctors of philological sciences Stepan Lavshuk and other sci‑ entists. By that time a three-volume “His‑ tory of the Belarusian Theatre” had also been published. (The fourth one was pub‑ lished later). It thoroughly and in detail traced the stages of origin, development and formation of the national theatre. I remember how difficult it was in the pro‑ cess of preparing for the exam to choose the necessary information to answer the questions, to systematize it, and to choose the main aspects, one of which deals with

беларусь. belarus 2020

the peculiarities of the Belarusian theatre development. And the textbook “The History of the Theatre of Belarus 20–21st сenturies”, ac‑ cording to the annotation, reveals the pro‑ cess of origin, formation and development of the Belarusian professional dramatic theatre in the historical space of the past and present century.

I am convinced that the theatre is not just one of the most ancient, unique and universal art forms, which is absolutely obvious. Theatre is much more than just art; it represents a peculiar way and model of an ideal life, a life of creativity and high spirit, a life in which the eternal humanistic values, which the civilized world has been based on for centuries, are upheld and established.

The author of the manual is Richard Smolsky, Doctor of Art History, Professor, Honoured Cultural Figure of Belarus, ExRector of the Academy of Arts. By the way, being the rector, he gave our magazine a big interview (No. 10–2008). He continues to work at the Academy as a chief research‑ er, professor of the Department of Theory and History of Arts. And what is the thea‑ tre for him, to which he devoted his whole life? And that’s what he said: — I am convinced that the theatre is not just one of the most ancient, unique and universal art forms, which is absolute‑ ly obvious. Theatre is much more than just art; it represents a peculiar way and model of an ideal life, a life of creativity and high spirit, a life in which the eternal human‑ istic values, which the civilized world has been based on for centuries, are upheld and established. And when asked to whom the text‑ book is addressed, Richard Boleslavovich answered the following: — While working on this textbook, I tried to take into account my long experi‑ ence as a postgraduate student, who also took entrance exams for postgraduate studies at the Theatre Sector of the Kon‑ drat Krapiva Institute of Art History, Eth‑ nography and Folklore (now the Theatre Department — Auth.). For me it was im‑ portant that students, master’s students, post-graduate students, who major in the

Book to help field of culture and art, before taking en‑ trance as well as candidate exams, did not have to be burdened with mountains of textbooks. On the basis of numerous his‑ torical phenomena and new facts, signifi‑ cant events in the national theatrical life of this period, my main task was to show them and other students of higher educa‑ tional institutions of culture of Belarus, as well as all other amateurs and admirers of creative activity, a complex and sometimes contradictory process of origin and de‑ velopment of the Belarusian professional stage art in the space of 20–21st centuries, at times very unquiet. I have also tried to reveal the great role and valuable contri‑ bution of the theatre to the formation of the Belarusian nation and the Belarusian statehood, to the enrichment of national culture and the strengthening of spiritual potential of our people. It is clear that the limited volume and format of the textbook, according to the author, determined the approach to the very structure of the book, its content, choice and selection of the material. —   O n ly t h e most fundamen‑ t a l l y i mp or t a nt phenomena, events and trends in the theatrical process of 20–21st centuries were in my sight. I also paid attention to the most important creative personalities. These are playwrights, directors, actors, scenographers and other talented figures of the national stage art. And, of course, those professional groups who have made a big contribution to the common cause of cultural and state construction in Belarus. By the way, the textbook by Rich‑ ard Smolsky is based on the materials of his own long-term research into various stages and problems of the national stage art development. Most of them are re‑ flected in his monographs, brochures, ar‑

ticles published in collections of scientific conferences and analytical works of the Academy of Arts and the Belarusian Un‑ ion of Literary and Art Critics, as well as seminars on theatre criticism for students of the Academy of Arts. So, it turns out that personal professionalism of the the‑ atrical critic, theater historian, the critic served him well in writing this manual. I think that those who will have to take the exams in the history of the Belarusian the‑ atre, and these are first of all the students who study “acting skills” and “theatre di‑ rection”, will be grateful to the author. They will surely understand that the theatrical art of Belarus passed a great, complicated, at times controversial, but in general fruit‑ ful way of its creative development and formed into a bright phenomenon of the national artistic culture. And there is another thing I remem‑ bered in connection with the profession‑ alism of the Smolsky theater historian, theater expert. There is one story that relates to Napoleon when the Emperor was in Moscow. I quote my in‑ terlocutor: — Imagine, October 12, 1812. Napo‑ leon is in Moscow. The campaign has been failed. The city is on fire. Na‑

poleon needs to save his army and himself. And what do you think he did? On Octo‑ ber 12, 13, 14, Napoleon personally redpencils the La Comédie-Française Theatre charter, which contains 102 paragraphs. And on October 15, in the Kremlin, he ap‑ proves these regulations. Emperors, kings, governments, presidents have been chang‑ ing in France since then. But the charter remains the same to this day and protects the theatre. Even today, the French respect Napoleon as an outstanding figure who did a lot to develop culture in France. I gave this example to underline how much Smolsky understands the regulari‑ ties inherent in the art world and how well he can draw parallels. There are parallels in the textbook as well. I would also like to point out that, while talking about theatre, he chose a con‑ venient and proven classic chronological approach, according to which five periods are distinguished in the history of theatre. The last one refers to the theatrical art of Belarus in the period of 1991–2010. And there is another remarkable fea‑ ture in the book by Richard Smolsky. He takes a modern look at the facts of ideo‑ logically charged history of the theatre, he is objective, his book is full of interest‑ ing facts. So, the panorama of the theatri‑ cal life seems to the readers worthy of their attention. By Valentina Zhdanovich

беларусь. belarus 2020

Theatre and life

Alexey Dudarev

Small motherland Comedy in two acts

Characters: ivan zhdanovich

ATELA — He MASHA — She GABI — Doll Continuance. The beginning in the No. 6,7.

ACT TWO Day three The same apartment. Atela is sitting on the couch. He has a small radio in his hands. Listens to the radio. RADIO. The beginning of the hour is pre‑ sented by the lingerie shop “Rodnulya”. News! The crypto currency is gaining strength again. World financial agencies report unusual growth of Bitcoin in recent hours against tra‑ ditional world currencies. Lard prices on our counters are growing at such an incredible rate that experts are already comparing it to the world’s major bits and pieces of cryptovol‑ ta, which are also becoming more expensive by the hours rather than days. And to world news. The ousted from power monarch of the island state of Ur-Lagash, where a military coup took place a few days ago, King Rich‑ ard Al Mababa, together with his family and his immediate surroundings, was deported to the island of Aqshak and is under extended guard there. According to informed sources, Richard Al Mababa rejects the possibility of his abdication. The military are looking for his eldest son. And now, an hour of good mood! Music. Atela sits still gazing into space in front of him. Masha appears. MASHA. Creepy! Awful weather. There is a lot of snow outside. I just want to hang my‑

беларусь. belarus 2020

self. If there are a lot of people and no houses, it’s scary, and if there are a lot of houses and no people, it’s even scarier. Can you imagine, even in a cemetery it’s more fun… It feels like there’s someone there… Even dad didn’t take offence that I came without Gabi… I thought so… Only his tomb is dusty and covered with butcher’s broom… I never thought that I would be sensitive to “love for my native ashes, love for my father’s graves”. In fact, it’s more fun in a cemetery… And in the city… I was walking along Communism Boulevard and met a fox… The real one, a redhead… Tail in air… I looked surprised… and passed by. What the hell are you doing here? Yes… Poor Drevlyansk… Could you imagine foxes walking along your streets?.. Why are you si‑ lent, migrant? ATELA. What’s there to talk about? MASHA. I don’t get it. ATELA. What don’t you understand? MASHA. Are you all right? ATELA. There’s nothing wrong with me. MASHA. Stop! Something’s wrong. How do you talk? ATELA. How? MASHA. Normal. ATELA. So it’s okay if I am talking nor‑ mal. MASHA. I don’t understand anything! Are you cheating on me? Or cheated on me before? ATELA. Translate. MASHA. Translate what? ATELA. What is to cheat!

MASHA. Well, like, you’re fooling! ATELA. I’m, like, not fooling you. MASHA. Wait, wait… What about: I am ATELA! Vacation! Scholarship! Did you play the fool? ATELA. I did.. MASHA. What for?! ATELA. A fool’s bolt is soon shot. MASHA. Soon shot ATELA. Yes, yes… MASHA. So you’re not a student? ATELA. A student. MASHA. So you’re not Atela? ATELA. ATELA. MASHA. I don’t understand anything! And you’re not going to your Pekheteriya because you don’t have money for a ticket? ATELA. I have money, there is no Pekheteriya MASHA. What do you mean? ATELA. I made it up. MASHA. Where are you from? ATELA. From Ur-Lagash. The state on the islands. MASHA. The first time I’ve heard. ATELA. And I’m studying here. MASHA. Where? ATELA. At the Academy of Manage‑ ment. MASHA. For nothing. You should have entered the Academy of Theatre. Such a tal‑ ent! Cold-cold! Cold-cold! ATELA. Don’t mock me. MASHA. So please explain why the hell are you hanging around in the zone?

Theatre and life several days now. What? Why are you lau ghing? MASHA. I’m not laughing at you. At myself. If you knew what I’ve been thinking of you all these days! I am Atela! You are Ma‑ sha! Chikh-pykh! ATELA. Stop it! MASHA (laughs). I thought you fell down from the palm tree! Well done! Cool! ATELA. I thought you were planted… MASHA. By whom? ATELA. By them. MASHA. From Pekheteriya? ATELA. Stop it! MASHA. Well, then, from… what’s … ATELA. Ur-Lagash… MASHA (solemnly). Republic of UrLagash! ATELA. What the hell Republic! King‑ dom! MASHA. Well, kingdom. So is your papa a bribe-taker in your kingdom? ATELA. Papa — he is my father. MASHA. Of course. Corrupt. Other‑ wise, how could he have sent you here to study? Come on, it’s not cheap. ATELA. It’s not cheap at all. MASHA. Why are you looking like that? ATELA. Your holy book clearly says: Honor your father… MASHA. Probably. ATELA. Didn’t you read it? MASHA. No. Did you read it? ATELA. I’ve read it. MASHA. That’s great. Why are you in the zone, anyway? ATELA. What are you… doing here? MASHA. This is my small motherland! I came to my father’s grave! ATELA. Don’t yell. At least you can come to your father’s grave, and I… I don’t have anywhere to go. Nowhere! They’re probably already looking for me. MASHA. Well, what does that have to do with you? ATELA. Are you asking me?

MASHA. I’m sorry. Even if your daddy took bribes, even if he taught you to take bribes… I say, assuming… Let him stand trial… By law. Do you have laws in your Pekheteriya? ATELA. We have. MASHA. And you, do you have any‑ thing to do with it? ATELA. Sometimes children have to atone for their parents’ sins… I guess it’s my turn. MASHA. Too early, student… So you’re not going back to your academy. ATELA. No. MASHA. Why? ATELA. I will be deported. Right away. I’m sure there is already a request. MASHA. Well, let it be. It’s not a big deal! ATELA. You’ve asked about our laws. MASHA. Well… ATELA. Imagine the fate of the relatives of high-ranking criminal elements! In your terminology — enemies of the people… MASHA. I’ve imagined it. ATELA. And how? MASHA. Creepy. So you’re hiding here from everyone? ATELA. I’m hiding. MASHA. In the zone? ATELA. In the zone. They’re gonna be afraid to come in here. Especially our brave generals. I know them. Desperate cowards. MASHA. How long have you been here? ATELA. For about a week, I guess… MASHA. Well, then what? ATELA. I don’t know. MASHA. Well, suppose no one comes in here but a mad fox. Neither the gendarmes,

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ATELA. I’m hiding. MASHA. From whom?! ATELA. From all. MASHA. Well…? And what have you done that you can only find shelter in the zone? Killed someone? ATELA. No way! MASHA. Raped? ATELA. You’re crazy! MASHA. Speak! I’m not a prosecutor or a gendarme. And I’ve been living under the same roof with you for days now. Confess, migrant! ATELA. I’m studying here. MASHA. I’ve heard that before. ATELA. I’m a student at the Academy of Management. Here’s my student card. MASHA. You have already shown it. ATELA. I’ve passed my exams. MASHA. The exam passed… ATELA. I told you not to mock! MASHA. I’m sorry. ATELA. According to your laws, all in‑ ternational students must go to their home country for the vacation period. Or live in a dormitory and report every night at the gen‑ darmerie! And the dormitory is being reno‑ vated! Even if it hadn’t been, in any case I needed to flee. MASHA. You’re not a freshman? ATELA. A graduate. The point is that I just don’t have anywhere to graduate to, you know? MASHA. No. ATELA. Our warriors got crazy. MASHA. Revolution? ATELA. Military coup. In order to elim‑ inate high-ranking criminal elements. Who was your father? MASHA. A fireman. ATELA. Is it your fault that your father is a fireman?! Not a gendarme, not a minister, not a farmer, not a treasurer, but a fireman! Is it your fault? MASHA. No. ATELA. What’s my fault? Even if he is a high-profile criminal! He’s my dad! And I’m his son! I’m a student! MASHA. Come on now! Forget and ask for political asylum. ATELA. I will be deported. As the son of a criminal element. And I will be deported. I’ve been staying in your country illegally for

This is how we can figuratively illustrate the content of the next part of the comedy беларусь. belarus 2020

Theatre and life nor these commanders. What’s next? You’re gonna die, aren’t you? ATELA. Spring is coming. MASHA. Winter hasn’t really started yet. You don’t have enough dolls (make faces) “tstoby tsaya goryatsaya pitsya?” ATELA. Why don’t you tell me what to do? MASHA. I’ll give you a hint. ATELA. I’m all ears. MASHA. As spies say, you need to be legalized. ATELA. What? MASHA. Acquire civil status. ATELA. I don’t understand it. MASHA. To become a full-fledged citi‑ zen of our country. ATELA. And what do I have to do for that? MASHA. Get married. ATELA. As they say at our department: you’d better not go to Odessa with such a joke. MASHA. I’m not kidding. According to our laws, a person who registers his or her marriage in our country, obtains citizenship. ATELA. Are you out of your mind? What a fool would marry me! MASHA. I. I’ll marry you. ATELA. Are you serious? MASHA. Absolutely. I’ve never been married before. We should try it. ATELA. You are crazy. Do you have any idea what kind of problems you might be getting into because of me? Together with me. MASHA. And I’ve always been having problems. I have a plan. And I wasn’t mar‑ ried. Honestly. When I was getting a new passport, a gendarme looked at it and asked: Where are your stamps? ATELA. What kind of stamps? MASHA. Registration. About marriage. Marriage is concluded. Marriage is dis‑ solved. Concluded. Dissolved. I said I didn’t have any stamps. You had never been mar‑ ried?! I hadn’t, I said… Why not? They don’t want to marry me. Well, foo-l‑s! ATELA. Who are fools? MASHA. Our men. I guess the gen‑ darme must have meant them. ATELA. They’re not fools, they’re idiots. MASHA. What’s the difference?

беларусь. belarus 2020

ATELA. A fool can still be treated, taught something, and an idiot is a diagno‑ sis, a clinical case, when there is nothing to hope for. MASHA. I see. ATELA. What do you see? MASHA. It’s possible to be taught. To learn. Let’s try it! ATELA. You are a palm tree, as you said, a palm tree! MASHA. Look! I remember… ATELA. Are you suggesting a fake mar‑ riage? MASHA. No, an effective one. Look: You get status, I’m married. First time married! First time married! And to whom! To Atela! To a moor! Don’t strangle me when you’re jealous… ATELA. Why strangle? I’ll kill you at once and that’s it. MASHA. Cool. And the main thing is, you’ll get status! Citizen! Just in case some‑ one from our gendarmerie or your Pekhe‑ teriya comes. ATELA. Ur-Lagash. MASHA. You will show a stamp! Wash, the enemy, stop and lie down! Everyone will protect you here! ATELA. And you? MASHA. Yeah! I’ll rip anybody’s throat out who will try to hurt my man. Do you believe it? ATELA. I do. MASHA. Then go! ATELA. You think there’s gonna be a jerk who’ll register this sort of marriage? MASHA. Do you have your passport on you? ATELA. I have everything on me. MASHA. I have a relative I know in the neighboring village administration. ATELA. Do you even know any rela‑ tives? I envy you. MASHA. The brother of my cousin’s cousin, my own aunt’s niece ATELA. I got it. MASHA. Profitable connection! He’s some kind of big fish in the village admin‑ istration. And a big fish with authorities. If I bring him a mammoth with a passport, he’ll marry me to a mammoth, that is, register me. But a mammoth must have a passport! You got it?

ATELA. I got it. MASHA. Then propose… ATELA. Propose what? MASHA. Propose to me I don’t have a daddy, I don’t have a mom, I have no one to give me blessing, I bless myself. Propose to me. ATELA. How? MASHA. Well, like, you are asking me to be your wife. ATELA. I “like” don’t do anything. MASHA. Do as you know. ATELA (solemnly). Mariya… MASHA. Masha… ATELA. Shut up! You’re being proposed to. MASHA. Deal!. ATELA. Mariya… I’ve weighed every‑ thing, discussed everything, assessed eve‑ rything… You’re a very bright, sincere and defenseless person… MASHA. What-oh? ATELA. Shut up, I told you! MASHA. I am silent. ATELA. And you’re very beautiful… I knew it right away, I saw it right away, I felt it right away. You are worthy of happiness and great love… Great love… MASHA. Keep on talking… ATELA. I feel as if I’ve known you all… You lived in my heart, in my soul before I was born… Maria… I will do everything humanly possible, everything a real man can and must do to make you happy… Be my wife… Do you agree? MASHA. You ask… ATELA. Do you understand a normal language? Yes or no? MASHA. Yes… ATELA. Yes, Mariya? MASHA. Yes, Atela… Gabi appears. She is holding tiny golden crowns in the hands. Gabi is holding them over MASHA’s and Atela’s heads GABI (singing). The wind sang it a lullaby: Sleep Mashenka, sleep tight! The snow was making clothes for it: It was a pretty sight! The snow was making clothes for it: It was a pretty sight! Blackout. To be continued.

Projects

The National Historical Museum successfully held an exhibition dedicated to the results of the author’s art project “Heritage of Belarus” by Alexander Alekseyev and Oleg Lukashevich.

Anna Zankovich

Bright diversity of heritage

ver the years, the project has become known not only in Belarus, but also far abroad. And in the National Histori‑ cal Museum there was the first exhibition, which comprehensively re‑ vealed the sides of the authors’ work since 2001. For the first time all the main com‑ ponents of the art project were presented to the public: presentation books-albums, documentary films and photos. It was also possible to get acquainted with documen‑ tary evidence of its main achievements. By the way, during the exhibition 18 re‑ issues of the book-album “Heritage of Be‑ larus” from 2004 to 2017 were presented. A 320‑page book includes more than 400 art photographs, which depict the spiritual her‑ itage of the country. Authors Alexander Alek‑

Alexander Alekseyev and Oleg Lukashevich

seyev and Oleg Lukashevich demonstrated the beauty and significance of historical masterpieces and monuments of architecture of Belarus. Ancient temples, palaces, castles and manors, precious metal objects, being part of the spiritual and material heritage of the Belarusian people, occupy a special place among the historical values of our country. The text in the book-album is in three lan‑ guages: Belarusian, Russian and English. In the presentation books-albums of the “Heritage of Belarus” series, the authors for the first time in the history of independ‑ ent Belarus purposefully realized the con‑ cept of artistic representation of greatness, uniqueness and diversity of architectural monuments and items of decorative and applied art of the 19th — early 20th cen‑ turies, which are preserved in the territory

of the Republic of Belarus and are national and world heritage. In each republishing the authors update the information about the restored monu‑ ments of the national heritage. And if we compare the editions of 2004 and 2017, we can see a long way Belarus has covered in restoration of the historical monuments of the country. At the book market, albums of the “Heritage of Belarus” series have become the main representative edition, the sales leader among similar products. In total since 2004 46500 copies of the book-album have been published, which is a record for the national book publishing among simi‑ lar products. — This is the most significant and wellknown project in the field of our national

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Projects heritage for the last decades. Thanks to the efforts of Alexander Alekseyev and Oleg Lukashevich, iconic monuments of Belarus have been reflected, forgotten names and events have been revealed. The country’s treasure is represented abroad. Their album has created a new image of Belarus in the world — a European country with a thou‑ sand-year history and rich culture, — said Chairman of the Belarusian Cultural Foun‑ dation Tadeusz Struzhetsky at the opening of the exhibition at the National Historical Museum. No less convincing are the successes of the authors in documentary film directing: there are 31 films about outstanding his‑ torical figures of the past centuries, modern artists and world-famous natives of Belarus. Euphrosyne of Polotsk, Francisk Skorina, Adam Mickiewicz, Maksim Bogdanovich, Ivan Khrutsky — these and dozens of oth‑ ers recreate the development of a powerful cultural layer of the nation. Interestingly, over time the film direction fell into into two directions: “Our Heritage” is about ar‑ chitectural monuments and works of arts and crafts, and “Epoch” tells about the peo‑ ple from Belarus, who made an unprece‑ dented contribution to world history. Mark Chagall, Ignat Domeyko, Louis Meyer and many others are well-known names that created the glory for those countries where their talents were revealed. The talented films created by the au‑ thors have won a number of awards, in‑

беларусь. belarus 2020

The art project “Heritage of Belarus” has already gained wide popularity not only in the country, but also far beyond its borders. Today books-albums, documentary films of the project are presented in the collections of the largest libraries of the world, in prestigious universities, cultural and diplomatic institutions, in private collections — from the Queen of Great Britain to the Pope. It provides an opportunity to introduce the Belarusian history, culture and heritage to a wide circle of the world community. cluding international ones. For example, the film “Epoch of Marc Chagall” won the 9th Eurasian Telephone Forum in Moscow in 2006. In 2011, 2012, and 2014 a number of films were awarded diplomas of the winner of the national television competition “Tele‑ vershina”. An important component of the “Herit‑ age of Belarus” art project is the organization and holding of photo exhibitions of the same name. In their photos the authors reflect the uniqueness of monuments of Belarusian history and culture. Through a realistic, ar‑ tistic and expressive representation of the

true Belarusian identity, a new and attrac‑ tive image of Belarus is created in the world. It is also worth noting that since 2003, the authors have held dozens of national and international photo exhibitions — in Great Britain, France, Germany, Poland, Austria, Italy, the Czech Republic, Belgium, and Armenia, where the new image of Be‑ larus — a European state with a 1000 year history and rich culture — has been pur‑ posefully pomoted. By the way, from 2014 to 2017 the art project “Heritage of Belarus” was present‑ ed in Minsk in the open air at the art space of the Chelyuskintsev Park (more than 150 3x2 –meter photographs) and became the most large-scale. The exposition was al‑ most one kilometer long. Millions of resi‑ dents and guests of the Belarusian capital got acquainted with it. In particular, the exhibition in the National Historical Museum displayed art photographs representing the restored architectural heritage of the country: Mir, Nesvizh, mansions in Skoky, Merechovs‑ hchina, Loshitsa and Krasny Bereg, pal‑ aces in Zalesye and Gomel, churches in Polotsk, Synkovichi and Ivenets. It is impossible not to say that the high artistic level of the project is marked by a number of awards. On January 7, 2005, the President of the Republic of Belarus, Ale xander Lukashenko, conferred the Spiritual Revival Awards on the authors of the album Heritage of Belarus, A. Alekseyev and O. Lu‑ kashevich. At the 45th Book Art Republican Contest, for the first time in 14 years, the highest printing award of Belarus, a diplo‑ ma of Francisk Skorina, was conferred on the same album. At the same contest the au‑ thors of the project were repeatedly awarded with the Honorary Diploma of the winner and the sign “Golden Folio”, they were rec‑ ognized as the best photo artists in 2018 and the best book designers in 2016. Yes, the art project “Heritage of Bela‑ rus” has already gained wide popularity not only in the country, but also far beyond its borders. Today books-albums, documentary films of the project are presented in the col‑ lections of the largest libraries of the world, in prestigious universities, cultural and dip‑ lomatic institutions, in private collections —

from the Queen of Great Britain to the Pope. It provides an opportunity to introduce the Belarusian history, culture and heritage to a wide circle of the world community. The presentation of the project at the National Historical Museum was attended by the guests who were participants of the first consultations, experts and members of the professional support team of Alex‑ ander Alekseyev and Oleg Lukashevich on the entire creative path. Among them there were the heads of the Belarusian Cultural Foundation and the National Historical Museum. Speaking about the beginning of cooperation, Alexander Alekseyev recalls: — One day in Paris we started looking through the books about different countries and among many guide-books we found nothing about Belarus in a huge bookstore. Unfortunately, this disappointment is felt by many Belarusians abroad: their interlocu‑ tors do not know our country, “have heard something”, but even where it is situated is a mystery for them. This was the beginning. We thought a lot about the album, argued about what it should be like, how to present the material. We discussed the future pro‑ ject a lot with specialists, worked in muse‑ ums and libraries, in archives with primary sources… As the guests joked at the presenta‑ tion, in the end the representatives of the diplomatic corps, famous actors and busi‑ ness partners received not just an album as a gift. Now it became their opportunity to travel virtually, and have a great time in qui‑ et pandemic evenings. Obviously, the book will serve as a worthy memory of Belarus, or an invitation to come to our country. And here’s what Oleg Lukashevich said about the movement to restore monuments from “noble ruins” throughout the project: — We travel a lot in Belarus, and busi‑ ness trips can last for a week or two. We try to learn not only from books, but also from people interesting stories, memo‑ ries of what happened to the monuments before and what is going on around them now. After all, these are large territories of palaces, fortresses surrounded by towns, large estates… It is very important to un‑ derstand how these stories can supplement background information, the results of sci‑

Anna Zankovich

Projects

entific research. In this way the concept and the whole project become alive, more volu‑ minous. And, of course, we caught the time when both Mir and Nesvizh, and certainly less known architectural masterpieces were in ruins. I suppose almost everything. But within these twenty years, a lot has changed, and continues to change. When we started, Belarus did not have its own specialists in restoration of such historical objects, and gradually a school was being formed. I think our books and photos help draw attention to this topic. According to Oleg Lukashevich, it was important for the authors to show the rich heritage to the Belarusians them‑ selves, it was important to discover their country as if anew, learn more about it, see their identity, be proud of it. This is the first thing. And secondly, it is a European herit‑ age of a high level, its key objects are palace complexes of tycoons, churches and cathe‑ drals, the homeland of people who became famous by making a great contribution to the culture of the world. These are not just beautiful landscapes, it is a noble heritage… Perhaps the most interesting are the places connected with artists, musicians, scientists, writers: they are natives of Belarus, and the modern world knows little about it so far. Meanwhile, the albums “Heritage of Belarus” show the mansions of Tade‑ usz Kościuszko in Merechovshchina and Mickiewicz in Novogrudok, Pusłowski Pal‑ ace in Kossovo, Oginski Museum-Estate in Zalesye, views of Zdravnevo in Vitsebsk Re‑ gion, where Ilya Repin used to live. These are really interesting tourist sites, culturally sig‑ nificant, completed in terms of reconstruc‑ tion, with well-established infrastructure.

Alexander Alekseyev and Oleg Luka‑ shevich continue their research, and when they learn that some monuments are be‑ ing restored, something new appears, they come and take new photos. Thus, new in‑ formation appears. Texts need to be clari‑ fied, obsolete images need to be replaced as the object already looks different… One thing remains unchanged: it is the preparation of iconic images of histori‑ cal and cultural monuments. Apparently, this is the mystery of success of photos, al‑ bums, and in general the author’s approach. At the exhibition, it was perfectly demon‑ strated. Alexander and Oleg achieve such quality in composition, lighting, perspec‑ tives, color rendering, which make the idea of heritage symbolic. For example, Mir and Nesvizh are known in any context, memo‑ rized once and for all. Romantic, full of creative aspirations, the authors seek har‑ mony in all architectural styles and natural environments, which is impeccable in un‑ derstanding the value of heritage. They have yet another intention — to make a book about films that have been made. It is clear that any film does not in‑ clude and cannot include dozens of interest‑ ing little things, nuances that should not be lost. Films in general, make a separate story, because so many unusual meetings have taken place over the years. Different cit‑ ies, dramatic destinies, the search for fam‑ ily ties and communication with relatives of famous countrymen, owners of collec‑ tions and archives. Authors still often work abroad, looking for memorable places — all this is extremely interesting for them. By Oleg Bogomazov . Photo by the author.

беларусь. belarus 2020

Personality in art

Eduard Astafyev:

“The main thing in creativity is responsibility to yourself” The famous Belarusian sculptor considers himself a lucky man. Even despite the fact that he has no creative plans now.

беларусь. belarus 2020

Eduard Astafyev is much younger than his 78th birthday. He likes to joke in the conversation, he’s witty. Though physically, of course, he is not as strong as, say, even a decade ago. Then, on his favorite means of transport — a bicycle — he could easily cover more than a dozen kilometers a day. However, at the best of times, he covered much longer distances when he was traveling with friends across Europe. Within twenty days, they visited about five countries. The indelible impressions remained in memory for a long time. Now his health, of course, is not what it used to be. And there are, why deny it, flaws in it: even though he led an active life, did sports. However, the bicycle is still Astafyev’s priority vehicle today, which he still prefers to all other means of transport. And to a large extent, because walking has become more difficult. Anyway, there are always three types of two-wheeled bicycles in his studio, i. e. an executive-class one with the most modern stuffing, sport utility and everyday. Now the everyday one is used most often. And the others are more like a reminder of a hobby that is not forgotten, which many years, many interesting moments in life are associated with. nd Astafyev is also grateful to fate for bringing him to his favorite thing in life. Yes, today he is a famous sculptor in the country. Actually, our conversation with Eduard Asta‑ fyev was about his way to a creative profession, about its essence, his achievements in it. — How did you become a sculptor? Was it deliberately or accidentally? — As a child, I liked drawing, as all children do. And then one of my friends suggested copying. I started copying some elements, subjects of other people’s paintings, caricatures were very interest‑ ing. I was pushed by people. Probably because of the time: the 50s, life was quite hard. I was growing up without a father — my parents had divorced. I was an indecisive boy, but I liked drawing. Then I learned that there was a studio at the Theatre and Art Institute in Minsk. Very famous artists were teaching there. I studied there for a year and then joined the army. By the way, before the army I worked at a plant for two and a half years. I wonder, how I man‑ aged to do everything: I worked and studied — I was finishing the tenth grade, attended the studio, danced… After the army I went to work again. I tried to enter the design department of the Theatre and Art Institute. Failed. Now I think: it’s good that it happened. Then I got addicted to sculpture. I made an exhibition at the Offic‑ ers’ House and entered the sculpture department of the Institute. I was taught by very famous sculptors — Alexey Glebov, Andrey Bembel. These are masters with great authority. I learned a lot from them. At the same time I learned from other students, my fellowstudents at the institute. Because they entered the institute after art school. And I’m kind of off the street. I didn’t have much experi‑ ence. When we were taking entrance exams, I didn’t even know how to make a framework for sculpture properly. But I successfully graduated from the institute, was sent to Vitebsk. I wanted to start from scratch. Later I moved to Minsk, because my family lived here. At first, I was given quite simple work by the art and design factory. Later, when they understood my potential, they began to

Personality in art entrust me with serious monumental things. This is long work, which sometimes lasts for years. From the project design to the opening, it’s a very laborious process. But I took up everything, because I had to live, earn money, raise my daughter. very artist has works that are particularly close and dear. For Eduard Astafyev it is a monument to Francisk Skorina in Prague. Many famous sculptors dedicated their works to the first Bela‑ rusian book printer and enlightener. It is known that one of Raph‑ ael’s frescoes depicts a man very similar to Skorina’s self-portrait in the Bible published by him. It is noteworthy that Raphael painted it next to his own image. It is likely that Skorina, according to re‑ searchers, met and worked together with brilliant contemporar‑ ies — Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo. The streets of many cities in Belarus are decorated with monuments of Skorina, and there are also some abroad. However, the sculpture of the Be‑ larusian educator in Prague, where he started publishing, stands apart. According to some historians, Skorina’s grave is located in Prague, as well as the remains of his son. The sculptor Eduard Astafyev was entrusted to immortalize the memory of the Belarusian educator in the Czech capital. Together with the architect Yury Kazakov, they visited Prague to come to an agreement with the city authorities on the site of the monument. Today, Francisk Skorina with the first Bible in his hands, cast in metal in full height (the monument with a pedestal is more than two and a half meters high), welcomes guests of the Czech capi‑ tal in the park of the Old Town, a few hundred meters from the National Library. As a matter of interest, says Eduard Astafyev, five centuries ago young Francisk used to work as a gardener right in this place. This sculpture was a landmark event not only for the history of the two peoples, but also for the author himself. By the way, Eduard Astafyev was born in Russia, by a Russian father and mother-Belarusian. Eduard’s father, Boris Vasilyevich, joined the army in 1942 when his son was two weeks old. Dur‑ ing the war was fought as a penal battalion commander, in which the chance to survive, as we know, was minimal. Boris Vasilyevich survived, but returned home on crutches. So for Eduard Bori‑ sovich the theme of war is very close. Among his works there is one dedicated to the memory of his father — the last surviving medal of Boris Vasilyevich cut in a piece of granite. As the eternal commemoration of the merits of a simple soldier of war and the Great Victory. ozens of monuments and memorials in Belarus have been made by Eduard Astafyev to commemorate the Great Patri‑ otic War. A special monument is dedicated to the prisoners of the death camp at the cement plant in Krichev, Mogilev Region. During the war the invaders tried to restore cement production at the plant. The plant and the adjacent territory were encircled with barbed wire and a heavily guarded concentration camp was placed there. According to the archives’ data, 18 thousand people were exterminated there. Moscow civil guards who were captured in 1941 were kept as prisoners of the camp, e. g. Alexander Okaemov, the first radio

беларусь. belarus 2020

Personality in art performer of the song “Eaglet”, and Gennady Luzenin, chief choir‑ master of the Moscow Philharmonic. They managed to establish a connection with the Krichev underground group. Having learned about it, the Hitlerites subjected patriots to severe torture. But they did not betray their comrades. When they were brought to the shooting site, the song “Eaglet” burst into the sky… That’s how Alexander Okaemov faced his death hour. And the last words of his friend Gennady Luzenin were “Goodbye, life! Farewell, Moth‑ erland!” Heroes were posthumously awarded the Medal of Cour‑ age. Today, streets are named after them in Krichev, and a monu‑ ment, the author of which is Eduard Astafyev, is erected in the place where these courageous heroes died. he sculptor devoted a lot of works to immortalizing the memory of Belarusian cultural figures and war heroes. If it were possible to collect these works together, there would be a gallery. Unfortunately, his cherished dream re‑ mained unfulfilled, i. e. to make a sculp‑ tural group of 12 famous personalities of Belarus — Francisk Skorina, Euphrosyne of Polotsk, Kirill Turovsky, Kastus Ka‑ linovsky — following an example of the Bible with its 12 apostles. Eduard Astafyev enjoyed participa ting in plain-air held in small Belarusian cities. He considers it a wonderful tradition full of many new acquaintances, themes, discoveries… And as a result — there were new works. And very often they were left for the locals, as, for example, the monu‑

беларусь. belarus 2020

ment to the merchant Shatila, founder of Svetlogorsk. It was erec ted on the day of the 45th anniversary of the city. Moreover, thanks to Eduard Astafyev, Svetlogorsk became the first city in the Gomel Region where a monument to the founder appeared. In the district center Ostrovets, Grodno Region, Astafyev left a sculpture “Dubochak”, which locals call no other than “a little citizen of Ostrovets”. stafyev stresses that he was interested in life in all its mani‑ festations. One could make sure of it at his exhibition in the Museum of History of Belarusian literature. Although the exhibition contained a small portion of the sculptor’s works,

Personality in art

it told a lot about the author’s personality at the time. There were mostly small forms made of bronze, steel, glass, and sometimes of material at hand: a piece of iron, a piece of boulder, mirrors. But each work made you think about the great and heroic. Or just smile to subtly noticed by the author scenes and characters from life. The fact is that the tragic and comic in Astafyev’s works often go together. — The characteristic feature of the profession of a sculptor is that it is not only creative, but also labor-intensive in terms of practical realization of the work. Were these difficulties an obstacle for you?

— No. When you feel an idea, when something good comes of it, the difficul‑ ties are leveled out. Actually, moral satis‑ faction in our business is not just a word. Of course, when you work with stone, for example, you have to wear a mask, glasses, it’s physically hard… But when you see the result of your work, all the hardships are put aside and easily forgotten. — Are there someone’s images in your works or is it the embodiment of the author’s attitude to modernity? — Much depended on whether it was commissioned work or purely creative — for an exhibition. If it is a commission, it already contains some theme. Fifteen years ago I was commissioned with a monument to Roman Shatila, the founder of the city of Svetlogorsk. Although Svetlogorsk is just a little over half a century old, but once in this place there used to be a village of Sha‑ tilki. According to some documents, in 1560 Roman Shatila had an estate there. The topic seemed inte resting to me. I always remember with pleasure the time I worked on it. I had to find the way clothes looked like at that time. I went to the theater, talked to the chief artist, looked up in books, in libraries. I had to know much about clothes, weapons. It was very exciting. In 2006, the monument appeared in Svetlogorsk. In gen‑ eral, sculptors did a lot of work here in terms of plein-air. It’s nice to come to the city, to stay here. All the more so because it stands among the forest. And a sculpture always enlivens a place, it takes a lot of attention. Even if a stone is thrown onto the grass, the place looks cultured at once. And when it is made by human hands,

беларусь. belarus 2020

Personality in art

the space looks vitalized. I have many pleasant memories of Svet‑ logorsk. Personally, I took part in three plein- airs there. — You have a lot of sculptural works in your studio. What is embodied in them? — I have a lot of works related to female images. Of course, sculpture needs a special approach. It needs a special place, light‑ ing. Before, in Soviet times, there were thematic exhibitions de‑ voted to sports, labor, agriculture. I have over twenty works on these topics in the museums of Belarus. I have the same number of memorial plaques in Minsk and other cities. About ten years ago, for example, a memorial plaque was erected to General Vasily Morkovkin in Smorgon, the first commander of the Smorgon bor‑ der detachment, who was later the Commander of the Belarusian border troops. — As for the characters, do you follow the path of authenticity in your works or do you want to show the characteristics of this or that person? — I learned from big masters, big professionals of realistic art. It was the 60s and the beginning of the 70s. That’s why, naturally, I accepted their school. Formal things weren’t very welcome then. And today I like to show a living face, a human figure. At the same time, I think that I’m not alien to some formalistic works. For ex‑ ample, a beautifully tied knot made in bronze or marble… In a word, each work requires its own approach and its own solution. — Can we talk about the Belarusian school of sculpture? Can we be proud of our achievements in this field?

беларусь. belarus 2020

— I think we can. Because we, especially in the post-war peri‑ od, had great masters who set the style in sculpture, e. g. Alexander Grube, Zair Azgur, Alexey Glebov. I visited different republics of the USSR — Georgia, Armenia, Moldavia, Ukraine, was abroad of the then Union — in Italy, Poland and the Czech Republic. There were different schools there. The Baltic states have their own ap‑ proach to sculpture. As for the works of Belarusian sculptors, their style is characterized by bright expression, which, together with an interesting architectural solution, makes the works of our sculptors memorable. A great number of monuments were made after the Second World War, which brought a lot of tragic events. This theme cannot be expressed in simple forms. — What did you get from participating in exhibitions? — It was an opportunity to present my creativity. To express what I think about, what worries me, what touches my soul. After all, what is art? It’s a way of expressing oneself through artistic images. I am a person, an individual. How do I perceive this world, how do I reflect it? I really consider myself to be a happy person: I had an oc‑ cupation in which I could express my thoughts by means of metal or other materials. I expressed my egoity, what motivated my life. — Do you take into account the viewer in your creative process? — I don’t think I want anyone to like me. I just live and express my thoughts. I’ve never had a desire to please anyone. There are arts councils, the members of which, professionals, express their views of your work. These are professional opinions, I respect them. — What could you advise the sculptors who are starting their way in art? How much should they believe in the creative future? — As they say in China, let you live in an era of change. Per‑ haps, the wise Chinese are right, because turning points change a lot in human relations and in art, too. In Soviet times we were pro‑ vided with commissions. Now young people have to bustle about more. I wish them confidence in their abilities and more optimism. — What is your creative credo? What were you guided by in your creativity? — Professionalism and honesty. By professionalism I mean that one should not be afraid to redo something that is not sat‑ isfying. And honesty to yourself so that you don’t have to blush for what you’ve done. A peculiar feature of our work is that in a hundred years’ time people can say: Well, why did he do it? That is why it is important not to be ashamed of what may happen in the future, to have clear conscience. must confess, that I couldn’t help but ask a trite journalist ques‑ tion: — What are your creative plans now? — I don’t have any plans. — How come? — I was surprised at the answer. — I live in the past and the present — Eduard Astafyev clari‑ fied. — This is a feature of our time. But I am still a happy man: every day I go to my studio where I meet my favorite characters. I recollect a lot. That’s my life…

By Veniamin Mikheyev. Photo by the author.

Anatoly Kleshchuk

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The ends justify the search

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Pushkin scholar Cherkashina comes from Volkovysk

Strong character is good for the cause

Very big family