Belarus (magazine #9 2019) by BELARUS Magazine

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No. 09 (1032), 2019 Беларусь. Belarus

belarus Politics. Economy. Culture

ISSN 2415-394X

Through life — with a word and knowledge The 26th Belarusian Written Language Day was celebrated in Slonim

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 Газета з БелаРусі

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Ро чы “Б Сус ня. ,хт ай, ц хул ьво тары 50 авы енні, пра ства—аб’ З ол ц а ра е ім ур Ча аўтар ры ім дар дам іў э у ё р – , э с р — я ы т Ц с Г н ц б іё с б із го п а д а М пе рунсаўсве т а с для сустрэчы за міжнароднтым ту,перадавацьновым з н а ў в іч н зе ліз тра ё к э ж р іра ыя ад , даў бар іркі. ў Ся на. і Пяр ы, з меда чы, 27 самі куль і п тол арга “Во аў… кае ма с краят Мір е“ лас астак ычымякіх рсапа ь В н ім р л круглым сталом “Мас т ац к а л ен н ям лі т а р а т ур н ыя б н ч Х . у л ц т э й н Ц а к ге ё і а у а ” е . с а н с б д я р ша ліз ін ам ілы ум пр га , з тац н ыл льн вор су а Са я зе ра м я ча ка ьн у ве ўк чыкія скарбы нашага l літаратураякшляхадзіндаад ыятац на зб кра і с м с днад —за олккіан месн юза пер д Катк нь в лкі гоў тва ча сцююне здКішы розн іо бмас рб ік зро а Ша а я да олда, да ўР н нікі з а ў мтаен ны зных , як есца іяа ш! суп цаытна скай іка мас а та ова ядом Ло Ка с загл чы рад нёв ына наго” з’ехаліся іі нпісь ьш вылю х кро ят боў да матчынай эсп го Вы на Пе сяб аў, іс л ро йкал у, м мпан ьлеп іца выРдэс іаб“Б гр стар тако го ж і Віт ых ры б па яну ў М жва а, тмо за хоўваць беражлівыя 55 Св кай у бл 14краінсветыу.йш збек враы, і вы 19 сн ар Ба рум іка ыц іраўн ы шутдзепубайе ла р ама шын ў М — аля фа ць ч дзял ць у інск е тр ак ск нах. ікі с в тгУраме значыўся с ПяР а о кнаБ ліца ус дск і аз я Далей Ма н фо йкал ожаб й к .—Млел.аБр ы дынолсаіныдапомнікаўдаўніны, ма м “а арго іцца рэд у, зн аад р лдо ся міну пра ян іны а е іц ы ка су вята эда лдо ідэ цц Ста ра цы нічаць умацаванню па Ба том асце кова айкасёрлгетус атхнзгуі йМ,а е та й а эспу вы, тэр Той Слон вы лдаў д бе вы б нав акцы ахоса ав аўн Стар. 4 іім. і: ае с дзідзей дн а Б Пне ет н і ўнн біў й лд ва рг бл рэз вітаў творцаў як в , р к г л л я д а с т і у ю т П . іп Ш с г н а а і к ”, о ц с к ы вя р ра ло і д а о э р н ва ц ся ру 7 е ам “чуцц эс і л ь ягонарузаРадзіму. сва аўрояў. У гэтым невяліч Вы ароіх ге ы м та ва”. ыств ніза ша енаСем н ам,сала ўэсзіімдзаяхяа вадза ры рад к са яго ртуш кізы суве са М ет з і, п ГР”. е юле Пр а а к аведврадзеГродзеншчыныгос на Ал пачн свед моежа ўпаІг энтатр жна жнжуы дн хтуе надШ ай! нім а ў мы ныя ках на нір, алд аўто ада Гэтаўрачыстаесвятазай ы з кімго н яб цц , ад ндо апам удаль уснкаіхце Ігарстяайпапр,асв віты тое, аін амці адразу апынуліся ў эпіцэнт пачэсную пазіцыю сярод Ш ма сяб . У арку пака овы грамае а ча е н а а Д дзеры:ед бе ац р і : кр ізіт ме ла д д ту У ч лар ста раю хамкару йста ры, Мін шык заць ”, ці важнейшых падзей культур а ў ю а та я: чы пра бела ып”а.св рказн тва м в рыўсеагульнайперадсвяточнай ка су і д ру ецца арго уска цьс нур ед ьнвуес іздаон рэсз ць яны астачба, ун р пе сяродску ж ахча но нага жыцця краін ўніц йны узрушанасціілюдскоймітусні. ы і з’яўля на звіцц культ ябй авачланрнганну,а па Встяарук шт скага свя вы р гап таліц кай з с к іка йза іх ыв ц ого піс тка аз ісь аю ацо афіцы тмры чмаі, а Л ль жа і знЛ ь а екніг уц я ра вы, атую ае р р ў Мяс ц о в ыяганд л я р ыяшчэзран ец ц адоб р айна г о д айяшчэраз Б “ с а а а в п а м д е ь з іё ” су м мо Баг рнап цаюцаяРмі углгыанцаэрмтаўела ву АртД ўтар трой юбоў ная м Ва вядо ст сня з у п ьмен аць елар енс ку частавалі іх смачнымі стра звярнуцца да спрадвечных на ірз аўе Р укр кан ріо б буц ся эка ска пр Кі ай лер ць усь ны сл анов 199 ерш ства Дзен усь р тва ьту абя ацы с оц Бе й аю лар о а ы р с т М сл вамі і напоямі. “Гродзенскія цыянальныхтрадыцыйіасэн ам Пр шзду кул му нт яй, мі,к агскім тое к Аодв ай сцёр ”. Да тэх цую ыла тры ка За ту аву гі яцца 4 год ыя в . Так ь б ых звів і Бе ўн аў то ма рэ ніц ць ва аў і “ П наыг і мв гра рэзе нцы сія ібір аЯк ць. аліс На ры, стар гар а. Ст ыхад роб ела Па стан нас м” падворкі” наперабой зазывалі саваць іх месца ў цяперашнім вае і — і ра ал і Ш цы тэтралекоў,дз акзо п ферэ скур з с цы. П за іс ас ь піс Любо стача чы, п ы ў су рэд ам ару, к і бек і Тот рядо ры цыя наву ычн ады, аліц ныя іцца ка эн і лн к алі ўзб часе. “ ска он з мп ы эн зід да сябе з дапамогай народных нт не тоЯ уістаа ча“Лкак нмі,г э чамі ыбін ра й,хт ьме наўалі з ві К к Ве ра вы тыл ла хтоў наль кі, ых ц што ай с ве ым мУ аю гда і тэ ў п ок зыкаўіспевакоў.Анародныя аш рэ м агорн рца м а Бр Ме ш адм іры ры ст і Сардэчна жадаю ўсім но вае руска цы й ны а кніга энтр ма вята ук вай Івн кім лася ычайн ад ар а назв о всеуск у). —длітому е. ічПу,ар баелладў. аБяы летар а ілтоарстірЗэіні ў глануе уето . а с т Л л н Ся Б н е і у лн а у а ы дав ў су а м о л ь тв а тн ава лін р а а х д Бе на га п пра ргка дру аў к юць цы ў беларускіх строях выхцікавыхсустрэч,плённай ры яч зв бас пад кт ар равіч , па зеўмель ым й нд ад а кр і.Я яы д гек мд ывект іл тсуар впія ка ыц Ів лар ме ісь вя міт кав уль тан гава а са ўр ой ізк кы тўрзб адаа ус люі ірту а— аш ач , Ам р усі друг, аўп абі авук ы д пра сн м дзе э па мы а у цыітворчаганатхнення. га дн бл обн аяда охічн оўаны жоруг чн арзеа яекпл ёпаб дза Впра дзі ш С н екіс е і п ымпаноўвалісваевырабы.Ад Аляк ва н а па Да сі Іг ік енст нні т па ння. яч сё ўа льмі пад 5.0—5 гтрраыф тноумтрн тнаьмду ывцекь ая дп аткунр ў ск лоўк Узб а то цьлюя та л ящий квый джан ных ржаў , так нак Прэзідэнт ч нмно ас а гія з прыезджых спя .2 уі н у с. ло дзе ды доб свят ар П Прэм ва ў Дня пад ла еа0 у ь і . Пр ве льмі русныа гг вы ім П ам “ гія ік с“пПажя спам вел равцоачы” ра аб ло сір міч дзя чы ра— істла ісая ў ІгРэспублікі Беларусь ую зел першую ўрачыстую пр агр раўп а шм етры ’ермзнач бе ы рунліт1э7т,. лЗіты шы ал На рус ства а оес ізсаам ьм віт к ам на ін , к ль ве ела з вм бр і д які п роў, (б На кана мы Дарэ сада збеша а п о я о н в а я а ц д л т а й ў а а а д р г л р в т б ц і ы т в а т ра ду агар арад ат ч шэн ініс аль , ан ы Аляк н онію каля помніка Льву та ыя ж це ЛУКАШЭНКА пісьменства ў Слоніме а мбвыа Б еномыкі.еКдасцьзіуўлвЦырымонія Бе тнё э до . ўр сць Дняібеларускага ба У цы ыа ст а арці”ныяпраадкрыцця ыпрыам п дпі г ос ж м, вят Як ыя ма ыста сандр нк аж ры льны ць адка кава аго ка. тра ля сац ва тар вя ана Ам агі д важ дзе у п ра с аў ў цава аме із м а ве яў ар уч ад : ча ма ты х х. пар 19

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Беларусь. Belarus Social and political magazine № 9 (1032), September, 2019 Published since 1930 Founders: Zviazda Publishing House editorialand-publishing establishment Editor-in-Chief: Viktor Kharkov Executive Secretary: Valentina Zhdanovich

It is good were we are At the end of August, the town of Ivye in Grodno Region became another point on the map of working trips of Alexander Lukashenko. The Head of State is firmly convinced that the outskirts are the areas that should develop well. The President voiced his goal: to visit the remote district centers of each region, which sometimes remain out of sight of the regional authorities

Monument to Yanka Kupala has been erected at Xi'an University of Foreign Languages Students have been studying the Belarusian language there since 2018. They also study our history, traditions and customs. The city itself is known as a major educational center of China. It takes the third place after Beijing and Shanghai by the number of universities

Belta

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

Belarus — USA: relations reset

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.

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.

A village in Chinese stile will be built in the Minsk region The Minsk region was visited by a delegation from the Yubei district of the Chinese city of Chongqing. At the meeting at the Minsk Region Executive Committee an Agreement on Strategic Cooperation was signed, which envisages the construction of a village in Chongqing stile in Belarus.

Signed for printing on 23.09.2019 Offset printing. Coated paper. Format 60х84 1⁄8. Conventional printed sheets 6,51 Accounting published sheets 0,00 Total circulation — 1628

copies (782— in English)

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

Through life — with a word and knowledge Сonversation at a friendly table Since 2007, it has become a good tradition to hold the International Round Table “Fiction as a way to each other” on the Belarusian Written Language Day

NOW all the doors are open!

Alisa Gungor

беларусь. belarus 2019

at the 2nd European Games. Makharinskaya speaks of her highly awarded countrywoman as of her personal sports standard. Masha herself is also worth admiring as a talented trampoline, charming and smart 22‑year-old girl

From surprise — to delight The opening of the Days of Chinese Culture in Belarus took place at the Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theatre on the eve of the new theatrical season

Colorful event Vulica Brasil, Belarusian-Brazilian street art festival, was bustling in Minsk

Kvass in village is very good September is a good time for fans of theatrical art: theaters of Belarus after their summer vacations open their doors to them

What is being prepared for theatergoers ? ВSeptember is a good time for fans of theatrical art: theaters of Belarus after their summer vacations open their doors to them

Son of his father Uzbek professor with Belarusian roots tells about the ties of two peoples and literatures, his father’s heritage, a close classic, genuine internationalism

You can`t take your eyes off

Forward, only forward!

hungary today.hu

Love and fate of Aleksander Kostyuchenko

The beautiful Maria Makharinskaya from Vitebsk has more than enough achievements in synchronized jumping. From the recent ones — together with Anna Goncharova she won gold

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Culture unites everyone

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more in the issue 1

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1 `` Perspective seems favorable From the countries of the “far arc” the United Arab Emirates can be referred to the partners with whom the most trust-based relations have been established

2 `` China Investments have grown hundreds of times Direct investments from China have increased by 200 times over the last ten years. China has become our third trade and economic partner, said Belarusian Deputy Economy Minister Elena Perminova after the ceremony related to the completion of the construction of the first residential house in the Great Stone.

`` Karsten retires Two-time Olympic champion in rowing Ekaterina Karsten announced yesterday her retirement from sport She’s always been expected to achieve the best possible results. She used to be called Catherine the Great. But the rower announced the end of her sporting career. She noted that she had been training for her eighth Olympic Games when, ahead of the licensed World Rowing Championships, which is currently underway in Linz, she broke her rib and could not participate in the world forum, so she decided to retire.

The range of China’s technical and economic aid has already reached $0.5 billion and, according to the Deputy Economy Minister, will grow larger. Since 2015 China has granted nearly $185 million in technical and economic aid to Belarus within the framework of 12 projects. “The key projects include the development of the industrial park Great Stone, the construction of public welfare homes and a hall of residence for university students in Minsk as well as a therapeutic wing of the Minsk District Central Hospital.” Chinese investments are aimed at the construction of the first stage of the electrification system of the industrial park and the reconstruction of the Usha river-bed. The Great Stone was the first in our country to receive an international certificate of ecological management and audit, it has the status of an ecocity, its manufacturing infrastructure is harmoniously merged with administrative and residential ones. The best conditions for innovative and export-oriented enterprises have been enabled on the territory of the Great Stone.

Ekaterina does not see herself as a coach yet. She only plans to move from Germany, where her family is living now, to Belarus. On 2 September, she is expected to take part in the Olympic lesson “Knowledge is Power” at the Olympic Glory Hall at the National Olympic Committee of Belarus. Ekaterina Karsten is the first two-time Olympic champion (1996, 2000) in the history of independent Belarus and six-time world champion (1997, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009). She has been awarded the Order of the Fatherland the 1st, 2nd and 3rd degree, the Order of Honor and the Medal for Labor Services. Ekaterina is the winner of the Belarusian Sport Olympus Award.

By Oleg Bogomazov

By Sergey Kurkach

By Konstantin Lyutkevich

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There is no doubt that the recent official visit to Minsk of Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed AlNahyan, will acquire the nature of an additional incentive for the development of interstate cooperation. At the negotiations with the distinguished guest, Alexander Lukashenko expressed firm conviction in this. The Crown Prince did not conceal the fact that he really liked our country and our people. The President emphasized the absolute openness of Minsk to any constructive initiatives: — I am sure that your current visit to Belarus will give boost in trade and economic relations, as well as in the field of investments. We will find the directions of our cooperation. Moreover, there are no closed topics and closed areas for relations between the Emirates and Belarus. From January to July this year, the mutual trade between Belarus and the UAE amounted to $ 55.1 million, 33.4% increase to the same period last year. Exports grew by 33.8% and reached $ 44 million. Imports amounted to $ 11.1 million (32.5% increase). Last year, Belarus received $ 44 million of foreign direct investment from the UAE on a net basis. This is 2.3 times more than a year earlier. In the first half of 2019, the volume of investments from the UAE amounted to $ 26.9 million.

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Belarus — USA: relations reset

Bilateral dialogue, regional security issues and the situation in Ukraine — these and other topics were discussed in Minsk with the United States Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale

This is the first visit of an American official of such a high rank to Minsk in twenty-five years. Meanwhile, Belarus has always declared its readiness to start the reset of the Belarusian-American relations. This time too, President Alexander Lukashenko has clearly stated the position of the country: — As for our relations with you, you know very well and are aware that this is not the only signal we send to the U. S. leadership about the normalization of our relations. It is not normal that in today’s world the two states that once fought on the same side against the enemy have such weak relations today. Of course, we will do everything to develop our relations. Yes, for a quarter of a century there have been extremely difficult periods in the relationship between Minsk and Washington. In 2004–2008, the U. S. took a number of unfriendly actions against Belarus, including the imposition of sanctions. In response, our country reduced the mutual diplomatic representation to temporary chargés and limited the number of embassy staff. However, people across the ocean are beginning to realize that speaking the language of sanctions and ultimatums is a hopeless and unpromising activity in the modern world. As a result,

беларусь. belarus 2019

American diplomats started visiting Minsk more and more often. For example, in 2017, a delegation of members of the U. S. Congress, headed by Senator Roger Wicker, visited Belarus to participate in the session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. A year later, the U. S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Wess Mitchell paid a visit. In March this year, the American side was informed that the restrictions on the number of employees of the US Embassy had been lifted. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs George Kent visited Minsk afterwards. More recently, in late August, the U. S. President’s Advisor on National Security, John Bolton, was received in Belarus. And now another visit of a major U. S. official. Welcoming the diplomat, Alexander Lukashenko said: “It’s nice to see you here, not only in Belarus, but also in Eastern Europe. I am pleased to note that this is evidence that the U. S. has finally paid attention not only to Europe as a whole, but also to Belarus. At this difficult time, your interest in this region is encouraging”. David Hale is a career diplomat, he speaks Arabic. He worked in various positions in the central office of the State Department, was an ambassador to Jordan, Lebanon and

Pakistan, the U. S. special representative for the peaceful settlement of issues in the Middle East. In general, a meeting with such an experienced State Department official is very useful in many ways. One of the most pressing issues of our time is the fate of the IntermediateRange Nuclear Forces Treaty. With its destruction, the world is on the verge of a new arms race with unpredictable consequences. However, according to the President, there is encouraging information recently: — There have been statements that neither NATO nor Russia is going to deploy these missiles in Europe. For my part, I said recently that we will not in any way initiate bad deeds to destroy this treaty. Moreover, we will never deploy such missiles on the territory of Belarus in order to complicate the situation (if it does not threaten our security). And from a historical point of view, it is unlikely that anyone in our country wants to turn it into a testing area again. The head of state reminded that in the last world war Belarus fought against fascism together with the United States. David Hale fully agrees that the Belarusian-American relations need to be normalized and the countries should catch up. He took the opportunity to greet Alexander Lukashenko

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President Alexander Lukashenko and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale

from the U. S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo: — He asked me to come to be present at an important historic event in our bilateral relations. After our meeting, we will make an announcement that we will exchange ambassadors after so many years of their absence. We agree with you that this is an unnatural and abnormal situation, and we are pleased that this chapter is coming to an end. We are closing this chapter because of the steps that your country and you have taken. We also note the vision that you have adopted — a greater diversity in both internal affairs and relations with the outside world. We strongly support this vision and will do our best to help you on this path. David Hale noted that the U. S. is doing this not to compete with any other country, but only to realize the potential of the Belarusian-American relations to the full. In addition, we strongly support the sovereignty and independence of Belarus.

Well, the decision of Minsk and Washington to restore the diplomatic representation at the level of ambassadors is very useful. — We have a feeling that the mutual representation of the two countries in Washington and Minsk at the level of Chargés d’Affaires a. i. is no longer in line with today’s realities and needs to be adjusted,” said the Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makey at the briefing after the meeting with the President. — A higher level of representation could make it possible to better realize the opportunities offered to our countries. Assessing the talks as a whole, the Minister stressed that they were held in an atmosphere of absolute openness and mutual trust: “We discussed a wide range of issues of bilateral relations, including the most sensitive issues — political, human rights, the issues of economic dialogue. We talked not only about the current state of our relations, but also about prospects, discussed

specific areas where we could reach a new level of cooperation between our countries. David Hale called the decision to restore the diplomatic representation between Belarus and the United States at the ambassadorial level a historic moment in the bilateral relations. At the same time, he stressed a very important point: “Normalizing our relations, we do not ask Belarus to make a choice between East and West. The United States respects the desire of Belarus to determine its own path and make its contribution to peace and stability in the region. The U. S. remains a supporter of the sovereignty and independence of Belarus, where the next generations will have a successful future. The U. S. Under Secretary of State welcomed the expansion of cooperation in the areas of non-proliferation, border security, economic cooperation, and information exchange in the field of common security. By Vladimir Mikhaylov

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iplomatic corps

BELTA

Effective diplomatic geography Thirteen new ambassadors of foreign countries officially took up their duties in Belarus

his time, the heads of diplomatic missions of Bulgaria, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Guatemala, Germany, the European Union, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Russia, Tanzania, Croatia, Switzerland and Ethiopia were invited for the ceremony of presenting credentials to the President of Belarus at the Independence Palace. Welcoming them, Alexander Lukashenko expressed the hope that the diplomats (like many predecessors) will take Belarus into their hearts. They will discover a new culture, perhaps they will

беларусь. belarus 2019

find in it something close, in tune with the traditions of their people. Foreign ambassadors begin to work in a very important period for our country. The start of the parliamentary election campaign gives to the current moment considerable prominence. On the other hand, in such circumstances, it is easier for foreigners to understand the foundations of the Belarusian state system, the mechanisms of functioning of the instruments of democracy in the country. The President emphasized: — The beginning of your mission coincides with an important political

event in the country — the upcoming parliamentary elections. You can see for yourselves that the election campaign will be held in strict accordance with national legislation and the requirements of generally accepted international standards. Belarus is increasingly called the donor of stability and security in the European region. Speaking about the fact that Minsk is always ready to provide a platform for resolving global conflict issues and holding the most important international forums within the framework of security, Alexander Lukashenko noted:

D — The disagreements of key world players in the field of arms control again intensify the relevance of developing new approaches to ensuring international and regional security, and thereby the demand for the Belarusian initiative in resuming the corresponding international dialogue. We will continue to urge not only great powers but also small states to take effective measures to build confidence and economic stability. Obviously, not only the nature of relations between the states but also the level of mutual trust and understanding will largely depend on each of the diplomats present at the ceremony. The President assured that their focus on tangible results in bilateral cooperation will receive a sincere response and support in the country. By tradition, Alexander Lukashenko briefly outlined Minsk’s expectations of interaction with each of the states represented at the ceremony. Quite expectedly, the first to address was the Ambassador of the Russian Federation Dmitry Mezentsev: — Your country is our main strategic partner and ally of Belarus. The relations of our fraternal peoples are sealed with the bonds of friendship, good neighborliness and some blood-drenched pages of our common history. We shed blood for peace in Europe, in the world… Now special attention is paid to the issues of the union building. The President of Russia and I agreed that on the eve of the significant date (the 20th anniversary since the signing of the Treaty on the creation of the Union State) concrete decisions should be made on further strategy of development of our integration. And we will do it. Alexander Lukashenko emphasized that Minsk is interested in building up diverse cooperation with the Federal Republic of Germany, which for us is one of the key political and economic partners in Europe and in the world: — Despite the difficult history of Belarusian-German relations, today we are united by common interests — first of all, provision of security, stability and prosperity in Europe. We count on

Alexander Lukashenko:

"Belarus pursues an open, peaceful and multi-vector foreign policy. We are ready for close and mutually beneficial cooperation with all foreign partners, regardless of their political influence, geographical remoteness and economic potential." the intensification of bilateral cooperation, primarily in the trade, economic and investment fields, where there is significant potential. According to the President, Belarus is ready for further constructive development of relations with the UK in all key areas: — The dialogue with the United Kingdom is of particular importance given the decision of the British people to leave the European Union and the new role of the country in the international arena. We are interested in further expanding trade, economic and investment cooperation with the United Kingdom and filling the intergovernmental trade dialogue with serious economic content, specific largescale projects.

iplomatic corps

Alexander Lukashenko addressed the head of the diplomatic mission of the Swiss Confederation with the following words: — Understanding the great importance of the development of relations with the Swiss Confederation, we welcome the increased status of the diplomatic mission in the Republic of Belarus and the appointment of the first-ever Swiss ambassador to our country. In recent years, we have been able to significantly advance both in terms of the level of our contacts and their substantive content. It is important to maintain and strengthen this positive trend. The President noted that one of the key foreign economic goals of Belarus is the systematic diversification of exports, where cooperation with the countries of the so-called long-distance arc is among the priorities. The head of state reiterated Belarus’s interest in developing multifaceted cooperation with the countries of East Africa: Alexander Lukashenko sincerely wished the ambassadors success as heads of diplomatic missions in Belarus, fruitful activities for the benefit of their states and peoples and expressed hope that the time spent in Belarus will become eventful and interesting for them, and diplomats will discover Belarus in all its beauty. By Vasily Kharitonov

WORD FOR WORD Dirk Shubel, Ambassador of the European Union to Belarus: — I am very pleased to become the Ambassador of the European Union to the Republic of Belarus. Now my goal is to improve our relations, on which we are working intensively together. I hope that in the next four years we will succeed in this direction. Jacqueline Louis Perkins, Ambassador of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to Belarus: — I hope that the bilateral relations between our countries will be good. Brexit is a great opportunity for us to develop relations with many countries of the world. We expect to intensify political relations with Belarus, to pay great attention to trade, what your President spoke about.

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egions in focus

crops, flax, which is grown on 7 thousand hectares in Grodno region and processed at two modernized flax factories — in Korelichi and in agricultural town Dvorets in Dyatlovsky district — has not been left without attention. Perhaps these places will become some of the next points of the President’s schedule. As for Ivye, last year it was recognized as the best city in the region for business — with a population of up to 50 thousand people. The number of small and medium enterprises and individual entrepreneurs has been steadily growing here for several years. It is not surprising that one of the largest industrial enterprises in the town is also of a private form of ownership, it is “LidaTechmash” company, which produces agricultural machinery and is a branch of “Tekhmash”. General Director of “Techmash” Petr Belta

There are a lot of such corners in Belarus. Alexander Lukashenko reminded that the south-eastern districts of Mogilev Region and southern districts of Gomel Region had already been “deve loped”. But Ivye, Glusk stayed aside. As we know, the harvest campaign is entering final straight, so the President pays special attention to the work in the fields. The Head of State once again reminded about the lowest possible minimum: — 9 million tons is the lowest limit, which includes all grain, legume and rape. We must reach the level of 9 million, it is a control point. In addition, a good harvest of potatoes and sugar beet is expected this year. The President’s requirements are to be ready for harvesting these crops, not to drag it out. One of the most delicate

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Tsirkunov has set up production of integral units and agricultural machinery in the town, some of which are second to none not only in the country, but also in the CIS. The President also visited the Ivye Culture and Leisure Center. Here young participants of the exemplary children’s theater group masterfully demonstrated to the Head of State a fragment of the play “Nobody will believe” based on the fairy tale by Jan Ekholm “Unusual Adventures of Ludwig and Tutta”, while the folk music ensemble “Chabarok” sang the Belarusian folk song “Kalina-Yagada”. — Well done! — The President heartily thanked the little performers. Then there was a meeting with ol der masters at the exhibition of folk art, where the President was shown the author’s dolls, spinning skills and straw weaving. Then there was a meeting with older masters at the exhibition of folk art, where the President was shown the author’s dolls, skills of spinning and straw-weaving. …Meanwhile, local residents ga thered near the cultural and leisure center. The Head of State’s communication with them turned out to be not only warm and sincere, but was constantly interrupted by applause. The President confessed that he wanted to come to Ivye, although the regional authorities tried to talk him out of it: — No, I say I will go to Ivye, I will see how you work on the outskirts of the

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Belta

province, because, you know, the bosses usually turn up in the center, and do not go to the outskirts. I flew dozens of times over your territory, looked closely and was worried that the city was neglected, not much taken care of. Well, listen, when I came to this “resort”, when I saw it, I said to the governor: “Well, good go-

ing. And it’s impossible to have arranged everything by my arrival. It turns out that you had Dazhynki. And after that, you have been having such a center, and the whole town. Besides, the local residents were very pleased to hear the President compare Ivye, as well as Starye Dorogi, which

he had visited the day before, with he heaven: The whole world is surprised at us, they come here: my God, we are in paradise! This is the second time I’ve got to paradise wihin a week… If there is an opportunity to live in peace, then life gets on well.

Commemorative picture During the conversation between the Head of State and the people of Yvye, there was such an episode. The President thanked the people and was about to leave. Only the Vasilevsky sisters, Esfir and Avigeya, had their own plans. Their dream was a photo for good memory with the Head of State. Alexander Lukashenko did not refuse. The girls told about themselves the following: Esfir (we, however, had no doubts about her) would be a journalist, Avigeya was an eleventh-grader of the Ivye gymnasium. — We really wanted to meet with the President. Back in the fourth grade I wrote him a letter. Recently, I invited him to the prom,” Esfir said emotionally. — I was given an answer that one day he would come. And today we decided to come up to him. It was our dream to see him with our own eyes. Although my legs were shaking and I even was crying a little bit! I hope the mascara was not running. The issue of the President’s presence at the graduation ceremony, by the way, was also discussed. Alas, it did not work out that time… Business trip… — We also have a brother, Moisey. He met with the President du ring the opening of the ice palace in Lida, — the girls smile. беларусь. belarus 2019

Through life — with a word and knowledge

The 26th Belarusian Written Language Day, a holiday of national culture, printed word, enlightenment and spirituality, which was held in Slonim, showed that the Belarusians, reviving their best traditions, do not only appreciate their origins but also multiply them with a sense of national dignity and infinite gratitude to their talented predecessors, who made a significant contribution to the world spiritual and cultural treasury

It is a great holiday and it is truly perceived as a real symbol of independence of Belarus. These words were voiced in the congratulatory message of the Head of State Alexander Lukashenko to the participants and guests of the festive events on the occasion of the Belarusian Written Language Day in 2017, dedica ted to the 500th anniversary of the Belarusian book printing. Then the holiday was taking place in Polotsk in the year of the 1155th anniversary of this ancient city, where the Belarusian educator and first printer Francisk Skorina was born. He also published his first book there. And those days, when the Written Language Day was held for the first time also in Polotsk in 1994, entered the history of the country’s life as a unique phenomenon, became a kind of star ting point for all future annual holidays. They are celebrated on the first Sunday

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of September in the historical and cultural centers, with which the fates and lives of famous figures of the country — educators, scientists, writers, musicians, artists — are inextricably linked. It should be reminded that after Polotsk such centers of Belarus as Turov, Novogrudok, Nesvizh, Orsha, Pinsk, Zaslavl, Mstislavl, Mir, Kamenets, Postavy, Shklov, Borisov, Smorgon, Khoiniki, Gantsevichi, Glubokoe, Bykhov, Zaslavl, Shchuchin and Rogachev were chosen as the capitals of the holiday. Last year, the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Belarusian Written Language Day was hosted by the city of Ivanovo, Brest Region. The main theme of the festive events was “My Small Motherland”. And now it was continued in Slonim. After 2018 it was decided in Belarus to devote not one but three years to this important topic.

Preparations Traditionally, the Day of the Belarusian Written Language is very well prepared for in the country. At the end of 2018, on December 20, the National Organizing Committee headed by Deputy Prime Minister Igor Petrishenko was established. And as soon as the current year began, the Ministry of Information of Belarus started to think hard about the way to conduct the holiday in Slonim, one of the oldest cities on the Shchara, which dated back to 1040. And the opinions and suggestions were discussed at the Slonim District Executive Committee in February. It was there that a plan of action was drawn up in advance. Under the guidance of Alexander Karlyukevich, Information Minister, a meeting of the organizing committee for the preparation and holding of the holi-

To the participants and guests of the Belarusian Written Language Day Dear friends! I sincerely greet the guests and participants of the Belarusian Written Language Day. This year, the festive tradition is hospitably hosted by Slonim — one of the oldest cities in Belarus, which over the centuries-old existence has more than once heroically overcome severe trials. It has preserved its historical roots and now harmoniously combines the past and the present in its appearance. The great mission of the Written Language Day is to unite all Belarusians of the world, to pass on to new generations the literary and artistic treasures of our people, love for the native language, to bring up a careful attitude to the monuments of antiquity, to contribute to the strengthening of the feeling of pride for the Motherland. This solemn holiday occupies an honorable position among the most important events in the cultural life of the country and is a good reason to turn once again to the original national traditions and reflect on their place in the present time. I cordially wish everybody new interesting meetings, fruitful work and creative inspiration. President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko

day was held. In general, as reported by the media, the meeting at the District Executive Committee was a real “brainstorming session” to generate new ideas and strategies. Organizational issues related to the preparation and holding of the 26th Written Language Day were discussed in detail. Special attention was paid to the cultural component of the event, and possible construction works for the preparation of urban objects were also discussed. The meeting was attended by Deputy Minister of Information Igor Buzovsky, Deputy Chairman of the Grodno Regional Executive Committee Viktor Liskovich, Chairman of the Slonim District Executive Committee Gennady Khomich, heads of regional and district services. At the very beginning of the meeting, the Minister of Information reported on the timing of the future meeting of the National Organizing Committee, which all should be well-prepared for. Viktor Liskovich also focused on the special significance of the celebration of the Written Language Day in Slonim: — This year is symbolic and significant for all of us — our Grodno Region will celebrate its 75th anniversary on September 20. This year is also marked by the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Belarus from the Nazi invaders. Therefore, the Written Language Day in Slonim will become one of the key moments of the festive events. Slonim is already well prepared, because the regional holiday “Dozhinki” was held here several years ago, but there is still something to pay attention to and emphasize. In a conversation with the media on the results of the meeting, Alexander Karlyukevich stressed: — It seems to me that the most important thing for the holiday to be successful, is to attract as many people as possible to take part in it. Slonim is a special place in the history of our country, the history of our Motherland. This city and the region are connected

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with the names of a large number of interesting people. The Slonim District has very rich literary and artistic, historical and educational traditions, local history. All this should be in the context and content of the holiday. At the end of July, the National Organizing Committee for the preparation and holding of the Belarusian Written Language Day held a visiting session in Slonim. This high-level event with the participation of members of the government, heads of national, regional and district services, and the leadership of Slonim region was headed by Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Igor Petrishenko. The participants discussed in detail the implementation of the plan of preparation and holding the holiday, the program of festive events, sketches of design of printed materials and performance

Monument to Lew Sapieha in Slonim

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The monument to Lew Sapieha decorated the center of Slonim

The renewed Oginski Canal

And unique books could be flipped through at the festival

Theatrical procession of the festival participants

Opening of the “Sonet" bookshop

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venues, the script of solemn opening and closing of the holiday, issues of accommodation of guests, organization of work of the city services and other issues. During the meeting, Igor Petrishenko pointed out the need for careful preparation of the city of Slonim and Zhirovichi agricultural town for the holiday. The work of the committee began with the inspection of a number of sites. Information Minister Alexander Karlyukevich showed the guests a new bookshop “Sonet”. And then, during the walking acquaintance with the work on the municipal improvement, the participants visited a new pavilion of Belsoyuzpechat RUE, walked along the main streets, which later became a direct venue for celebrations, and visited the city park. In his conversation with journalists, Igor Petrishenko noted: — We visited the objects of infrastructure, which will be involved in the celebration, got acquainted with the reconstruction, municipal improvement, expressed a number of wishes and suggestions. Deputy Prime Minister also said that the respective regional and district funding for the preparation of the holiday was open. — All the venues, where the events will be held, should be upgraded. First of all, the residents of Slonim themselves should feel that the holiday has come to them. In addition, it is necessary to create appropriate conditions for the reception of guests, including foreign ones. The city should become the one, which people would like to come back to more than once. Slonim is first of all famous for its historical past. Therefore, a monument to Lew Sapieha will appear here, the Oginski Canal is being built, which promises to become the hallmark of the city… Belarusian Written Language Day is an important event for every Belarusian. From the very beginning, while studying the primer, we touched on the works of the Belarusian classics — Yakub Kolas, Yanka Kupala, Maxim Bogdanovich and our other outstanding poets and writers. We are really proud of our

culture, our language. But it is necessary to develop further, to promote the study of the history of our country, to pass on our knowledge to the present and future generations. As for the bookshop “Sonet” in the center of the city, its solemn opening took place on the last day of August, but it started working in the test mode on June 15. And that is what Alexander Karlyukevich said about it: — We decided that the “Sonet” should start working, as the room is ready, all the issues with the authorities have been solved. The Slonim District Executive Committee helped us to draw up all the papers very quickly. This is always a complicated and difficult procedure. By the way, Belkniga has done a good job of assortment of goods and search for employees. We are glad that within this period a team of five people will get some experience, see what will be interesting for the residents of the city and the district. “Belkniga” comprises almost 110 bookshops in Belarus, which, according to the Minister of Information, work very well today. They contain more than 11 thousand titles of books. Last year the country published 9665 titles of books. In addition, the Minister promised that there would be many new, interesting and creative initiatives in Slonim. They will deal not only with the books in the Belarusian language, but with the society and reading on the whole, including social networks and the Internet. And a kind of historical and educational quest will be organized, in which the participants will be able to search for the historical enlightenment code of Slonim, which has been inherent in it for many centuries.

How it was And the day finally came. The expectations of Slonim citizens were met: the holiday was a success. It was magnificent, solemn. The opening of the Written Language Day was also spectacular. The ceremony started at 12:00. It was called “My

N in 1532 managed to get for it Magdeburg Law. He contributed to the development of culture and industry of the city, the rise of its political significance, founded the first weaving shop in Slonim. He began his activity as a clerk in the city chancellery of Orsha and reached the highest positions of chancellor and hetman of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. During his time, Slonim became a developed centre of crafts, trade and political life, often hosting meetings of influential state figures. This is what historical sources say. It is interesting to read about it in the notes of a Slonim historian, writer, and local historian Sergey Chigrin (LiM, No. 32). A team of Minsk sculptors — Vladimir Pipin, Ivan Misko and Sergey Logvin — worked on the monument to Lew Sapieha. In one hand of the chancellor there is a mace as a symbol of power, in the other, there is a scroll with the privilege of King Zygmunt, who instructed Sapieha to develop the Сharter of the GDL because his virtue, skill and zeal in public affairs was undisputed. And the text is visaed by a small seal of the GDL, which is visible on the monument. The size of the majestic figure together with the pedestal is more than 4 meters, the weight is about a ton. It is made of bronze. As the sculptors themselves say, this is the metal which becomes noble with time. And to create the image of Sapieha, they consulted the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences, as well the National Library. One of the tasks of the Belarusian Written Language Day is the preservation of cultural heritage. Therefore, many of Slonim’s cultural objects could not do without restoration. This is the Slonim Drama Theatre, which has been working since January 1, 1990. It is located in the very center of the city over the Shchara. Nearby is the Oginski Canal, which was built in the 18th century by Michał Kazimierz Ogiński. The canal is called a small brother of the big canal, which is located in Polesye. Its banks are fortified, two lookout points have been built from which you can admire the city, there is a pedestrian bridge and a bicycle lane.

In the “Sonet" bookshop (from left to right): Information Minister Alexander Karlyukevich, Chairman of the Slonim District Executive Committee Gennady Khomich, Director of Belkniga Alexander Vashkevich

Holding the banners with the names of cities and the Statute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the hands during the parade sb.by

Belarusian land”. It was an art and historical activity, based entirely on the brightest events in the history of the region. The hosts of the show were a young man and a girl representing the young inhabitants of Slonim. The action was a kind of journey in time of the main characters, who were involved into the historical events that were taking place on this land. In the final scene the present of the region with its wide creative potential was presented.The culmination of the festival was the presentation of the National Literary Award. The opening ceremony was completed with the performance of the Belarusian Written Language Day anthem. It seemed that the streets of the renovated city were full of all those who could and wanted to be proud of their city and feel the pleasure of being united in common joy of a festive event. There was a lot of music, smiles, friendly communication, genuine interest in the events that were unfolding on the decorated streets. In the morning there were a lot of school first-graders together with their parents. After all, on Sunday, September 1, they did not go to school: the calendar Day of Knowledge was this year on Monday. The excitement and joy of the citizens was universal. Slonim was really beautiful. On the facades of houses on Pervomayskaya Street there is graphics dealing with history, the pavement on the roads is new, there are a lot of flowers… And in the central square of the city the grand opening of the monument of Lew Sapieha took place. It gathered hundreds of citizens in the square despite the fact that the monument had been erected a week earlier. Those who did not known who Sapieha is, after this festival, would undoubtedly get interested in this unique personality. And in general, the history of the city. A variety of printed products — postcard sets with Slonim’s retroviews, collections of writers’ and poets’ works from the Slonim Land, as well as other thematic albums and publications on history and tourism in the Grodno Region — will also contribute to it. According to the historical sources, in the 16th century Lew Sapieha became the head of the city on the Shchara, and

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During the National Literary Award ceremony. Stanislava Umets won in the nomination "The Best Debut" with the book "Sertsa Sakry".

The best way to rest is with a book

Everyone could feel like a book printer from the past

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There was a lot to see at the Slonim's festive sites

In the ancient times the theatre was located on Opernaya Street. The building has not been preserved, but there is a street bearing this name. According to Sergey Chigrin, no other city in the world has such a name. The Small Canal had a cultural significance in ancient times. A floating theatre was situated on the water, and the nobility of the whole Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth used to come there. There were also merchant ships on the canal and on the shore there were places where they unloaded goods, logs were floated from Volyn. Now on the canal there is a sports rowing school No. 2. The hotel in Slonim, which opened for the guests on the eve of the holiday, has also been restored. It has been upgraded according to the latest standards. And how beautiful the Slonim Railway looks now! Those who cjme to Slonim by train can see it for themselves. The facade of the passenger building has been renewed. There are relief paintings on the walls inside and in the hall. They introduce the guests of the city to its sights, and in the waiting room there is a canvas with the image of the storks’ family in the nest as a symbol of prosperity and well-being. In the waiting room there are new soft chairs. The conditions

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for people with disabilities have also been improved: a ramp is installed at the entrance to the passenger building, a road marking is made on the station square with allocation of space for this group of citizens, tactile tiles are laid along the platform and at the exit of the passenger building. There are also stands with information about the main sights of Slonim and the scheme of access to them, and in the station square there is a pedestal with the same information. On the Belarusian Written Language Day it was possible to get there on the trains of inter-regional economy class lines No. 627/628 Minsk-Grodno-Minsk, No. 631/632 Gomel-Grodno-Gomel, as well as on the trains of regional economy class lines, which run along the route of Baranovichi-Grodno-Baranovichi. Now, as it is known, big puppetssymbols of various festivals are trendy. They were also in Slonim. Three big dolls of lion cub were sewn for the holiday. This doll has a beautiful Belarusian name — Lyavon. Lyavon invited the guests to the farmsteads, and it was possible to take pictures with him, just like as with Lesik during the European Games. Besides, the image of the holiday mascot was used on the advertising materials along with the

general logo of the Belarusian Written Language Day. Lyavonchik was also on different souvenirs. Its image immediately reminded of the history of the city. The coat of arms with a lion holding an arrow (fragment of the coat of arms “Fox” of the Sapieha family) was sanctioned in 1591. And it signified that the city belonged to Lew Sapieha. This mascot was proposed by the staff of the nursery kindergarden No. 14 in Slonim. In the spring, a contest of mascots and slogans of the festival was announced in the region, in which individuals and groups of people took part. There were a lot of interesting proposals. As a result, the slogan “BUKVALno our Slonim” in different variations: “BUKVALno our holiday”, “BUKVALno our language” etc. was the selected. The fact that the basis of the word is a letter, was used in many ways. The author of the slogan is Natalya Goncharuk, chief specialist of the Department of Ideological Work and Youth Affairs of the Slonim District Executive Committee. The main events of the Slonim Written Language Festival were the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as the awarding of the National Literary Award. The two-day cultural program was full

But still, the main character of the holiday was the word, and not only the Belarusian one. The platform “Dialogue of Literatures — Dialogue of Cultures” showed the exposition of literature of 11 peoples of the world in the original languages. Books could be read in Azerbaijani, Armenian, Ukrainian, Russian, Polish, Georgian, Italian, Korean, Moldovan and even Tatra-Bashkir, Chuvash and Iranian languages. And not only classics were presented, but also modern writers who gained fame in the world literary space. The dialogue of cultures was continued by folk songs, dances, rituals and poems in the native languages of the poets, which were read on the stage. For the first time, BRSM volunteers took part in the “Belarusian Written Language Day” holiday. Forty volunteers were involved: 30 students of Slonim State Medical College and 10 students of Zhirovichi State Agrarian and Technical College. In fact, the volunteers worked as guides for the holiday. After all, they knew the city well and were well aware of the location of interactive sites. Some of the volunteers helped people with disabilities. It was easy to get to know the volunteers: all of them were wearing uniforms: sand-colored t‑shirts with “BRSM” inscriptions. One of the venues of the Written Language Day was given to the youth. It worked from morning till late at night. In particular, a large block of the youth platform was devoted to the theme of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Belarus from the Nazi invaders. There graphic, poetic, intellectual and art workshops, master classes were going on. On the eve of the Belarusian Written Language Day, the Grodno regional stage of the republican family agricultural project “The Village Master” was held on the youth platform. By the way, festive events were held not only in Slonim, but also in Zhirovichi. After all, in 2020 it will be 550 years since the appearance of the famous Zhirovichi icon of the Mother of God. The Zhirovichi Monastery has also celebra ted its 500th anniversary. By Mikhalina Cherkashina, Ivan Ivanov. Photo by BelTA.

On the streets of the city, history was beautifully intertwined with modernity sb.by

of events and meetings. The Book and Press Festival and the final stage of the “Living Classics” Republican Competition for Young Readers were held. Belarusian and foreign writers discussed topical issues of modern book business at a round table (read about it in the issue — p. 14). The festivities were taking place at the same time on 16 venues of the city — literary, theatrical, youth with entertainment zones, handicrafts, farmsteads of national cuisine and others. Yes, one can tell about the holiday in Slonim for hours on end. Whoever was there will understand. Shortly before the festival, “Grodnoskaya Pravda” wrote about some of the Slonim exclusives. And there were several of them. It’s worth mentioning the tourist venue “Grodno region invites” and the venue called “Dialogue of Literatures — Dialogue of Cultures”., which united different peoples, The tourist venue looked grand: large stands told about interesting places and cultural objects of Grodno region, and experienced guides answered many questions. Besides, it was possible to go directly from there on various excursions. Hiking, cycling and bus routes were developed for the guests. Each of them had its own specifics. For example, the creative excursion “Slonim historical” told about the foundation of the city and history through the names of the streets. The tour guides also presented three other topics: “Slonim cultural”, “Slonim Architectural” and “Neighborhoods of Slonim”. By the way, bicycles were provided free of charge for the bicycle tour, so that anyone could go, for example, to the Puslovsky manor “Albertine”. One of the country’s main theatres, Yanka Kupala National Academic Theatre, performed Alexey Dudarev’s “Evening” at the Slonim Center of Culture and Recreation. “This is a unique event: Yanka Kupala Theatre has come to the district center!” — said Information Minister Alexander Karlyukevich. According to him, it should become a usual event in the holiday program in other regions of Belarus. There were also other interesting performances with singing and dancing.

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sb.by

Theatrical procession of the festival participants

First-graders of Slonim District received a gift from the President — the book "Maya Radzima — Belarus"

At one of the sites, there were dishes cooked according to recipes from classical books, including vereshchanka, dumplings, goose liver pie, and even "carp a la shlyakhetski"

Vasily Zakharenko (right), Chairman of the Bialynichi District Executive Committee, was passed on the baton of the Written Language Day

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iterary Harmony

Сonversation at a friendly table Since 2007, it has become a good tradition to hold the International Round Table “Fiction as a way to each other” on the Belarusian Written Language Day

nd this year, on August 31, on the eve of the main educational holiday of the country in Slonim, more precisely — in ancient Zhirovichi, situated close to it, received writers not only from Belarus, but also from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Italy, India, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine. Elena Stelmakh, First Deputy Chairperson of the Belarusian Writers’ Union, a prose writer and publicist, delivered a welcoming speech to the participants of the discussions. In particular, she noted the high level of relations of the creative organization with the national unions of writers of other countries. It is proved by many publications of domestic poets, prose writers, publicists and literary scholars in foreign periodicals and book publishing houses of other countries. Deputy editor-in-chief of the magazine “Polymya”, PhD in philological sciences Nikolay Trus gave a good start to the conversation and sometimes even a dispute. By the example of the Belarusian-Slovakian literary relations, the researcher showed the depth of international relations of the Belarusian literature. He noted that the former practices still played an important role in the formation of new aspirations for membership, interpenetration, creation of literary translations. The type of the BelarusianSlovakian relations is dominated by the bright figure of the national poet of Belarus Yanka Kupala, who visited Slovakia as a member of the delegation of the Union of Soviet Writers in 1935. A relatively recent trip was made from Belarus to visit the Slovak addresses of Yanka Kupala. Following Nikolay Trus’s speech, the topic of relations with Belarusian literature was also discussed in other speeches of the round table participants. The poet and translator from Tbilisi, Alexander Elerdashvili, told about the translations of Belarusian poetry into Georgian. He also touched upon the previous times, which had already become history. Mr. Alexander also made a number of interesting proposals, the im-

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plementation of which would contribute to a wi der acquaintance of the Georgian reader with the Belarusian artistic world. The anthology of the world’s women’s poetry is currently being prepared in Tbilisi, and the speaker invited Belarusian poets to take part in it. By the way, Alexander Elerdashvili himself was involved in the translation of Belarusian poetry into Georgian. Yanka Kupala’s “Sonnets” in the languages of the world has just been published. The Georgian translation belongs to A. Elerdashvili. The immortal Kupala word sounds in the book in Belarusian and 16 more (!) languages.

L The issue of translations and presentation of Belarusian literature in the world became the basic topic in the speech of the Novosibirsk poet Vladimir Beryazev, who had worked for a long time as editor-in-chief of the literary and artistic magazine “Siberian lights”. It was this edition that introduced the works of many contemporary poets and novelists of Belarus to its raders: Ales Pashkevich, Valery Kazakov, Elena Bravo, Ales Badak… By the way, as for the Belarusian-Russian literary relations, the developments in this direction are quite solid. First of all,

in recent years a lot of books in Russian and Belarusian, that introduce dozens of Russian writers have been published in Belarus. And not only those who represent Russian literature, but also national literature of the Russian Federation: Bashkir, Chuvash, Balkarian, Chechen, Kalmyk, Udmurt, Tatar, Mari… The following books have been published or are preparing to be publish in Minsk: a book of poems by the people’s poet of Tatarstan Renat Kharisov, by the people’s poet of Chuvashia Valery Turgay, by the people’s writer of Udmurtia Vyacheslav Ar-Sergi, and by the Chechen poet Adam Akhmatukayev, by Kalmyk

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poet Erdni Eldyshev, by Moscow writers Lubov Turbina, Ales Kozhedub, Alexander Chernyak, a book of poems by Evgeny Yevtushenko, a collection of stories by Valentin Rasputin… Two books by the People’s Poet of Tatarstan Robert Minulin have also been published — a collection of poems in the series “Syabryna: Poetry of Russia’s Peoples” and a book of poems addressed to a young reader. They have been translated into Belarusian by Nikolay Metlitsky and Yana Yavich. Translation is a keystone in the relationship between diffe rent types of general fiction. Realizing it well, all the participants of the discussion stressed it. The development of translation projects is always a road with two-way traffic. In Belarus, the state provides substantial support in this matter. This also applies to the publication of literary and art magazines “Polymya”, “Maladosts” and “Neman”, the newspaper “Litaratura i mastatstva”. It also subsidizes the publication of art books, including the translated ones. In recent years, two authorial anthologies of Chinese poetry translated by Nikolay Metlitsky — “Under the Wings of a Dragon” and “Lotus and Chrysanthemum Pe tals” — have been published with substantial material support from the state. These large collections, each of which contains the verses of 100 poets from China, became an event in the literary life of Belarus. Presentations were made and the reviews appeared in the press. The winner of the State Prize of the Republic of Belarus, Nikolay Metlitsky, is still continuing to translate Chinese poetry. By the way, the book of poems by Liu Yuxi, the classic of Chinese poetry, “Autumn Wind” in the series “Bright Symbols: Poets of China” has just been published. The translators are Naum Galperovich, Viktor Shnip, Tatyana Sivets, Yuliya Aleychenko. By the way, the beginning of this series was marked in 2014, and all in all fourteen poetry collections have been published, those by Wang Wei, Li Bo, Du Fu, Ai Qing, Meng Haazhan, Li Qingzhao, Wang Ghazhen, Xu Zhimo, Wen Ido, and by other classics and contemporary poets. The second component, or “traffic lane”, is a creative, writing initiative. A permanent team of Belarusian translators has been formed around the editorial offices of literary journals. Their names are well known to readers: Yuliya Aleychenko, Tatyana Sivets, Naum Galperovich, Mariya Kobets, Mikhail Pozdnyakov, Viktor Shnip, Inna Frolova, Svetlana Bykova… “The consistency with which Belarusian translators acquire the world artistic experience is surprising,” said Svetlana Ananyeva, the head of the department of international relations of the M. A. Auezov Institute of Literature and Art of the Ministry of Education and Science of Kazakhstan. — Belarusian writers are not afraid to look into new spaces. It is apparent from their attention to Kazakh literature. The book of the legendary Abai was translated into the Belarusian language by Nikolay Metlitsky. Among the translators of three books by Nemat Kelimbetov (“I do not want to lose hope”, “Envy”, “Letters to my son”) are Ales Badak, Gennady Avlasenko, Ales Karlyukevich. I know that in the children’s magazine “Domik” the story for teenagers of the Kazakh prose беларусь. belarus 2019

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writer Nurdaulet Akysh is printed…” According to Svetlana Ananyeva, Kazakh literary scholars have good links with the magazine “Neman”. The third issue of the magazine is already being prepared, which will represent the achievements of Kazakh literary and artistic criticism, Kazakh literature studies.. The undertaking is quite interesting. “Perhaps in time we will build such relations when the basis of our contacts will be strengthened by the pages of comparative literature stu dies, Svetlana Ananyeva said. — What do I mean? And why, for example, couldn’t Kazakh authors be reviewers of the most outstanding works of Belarusian prose? I have no doubt that my colleagues should be interested not only in the documentary stories by Nobel Prize winner Svetlana Aleksiyevich, but also in the prose of Andrey Fedorenko, Elena Bravo, the stories by Ales Badak, Valery Gapeev… I am just sure of it…” Together with Svetlana Ananyeva from the Kazakh side, other Kazakh guests also took part in the discussions: Deputy Director of the M. A. Auezov Institute of Literature and Art, Doctor of Philology Almira Kaliyeva, Professor of the Eurasian University named after L. N. Gumilev, Doctor of Philology Serik Takhan. From Uzbekistan, prose writer, translator, chief specialist of the International Literary Relations and Artistic Translation Department of the Writers’ Union of Uzbekistan Risolat Khaidarova and First Deputy Chairman of the Writers’ Union of Uzbekistan Minkhojiddin Khojimatov joined the round table. They came to Slonim for the Belarusian Written Language Day with a nice gift — a book of poems by contemporary Belarusian poets in Uzbek. In one book-cover there are works by Naum Galperovich, Nikolay Metlitsky, Viktor Shnip, Leonid Dranko-Maisyuk, Tatyana Belous, Yuliya Aleychenko. The book opens with the translations of two poems by the classic — the national poet of Belarus, Yakub Kolas. But this publication is also a tribute to the eternal respect for Kolas, who lived and worked in Tashkent during the Great Patriotic War. At present, the capital of Uzbekistan has a monument to the Belarusian classic, and one of the streets of the city bears his name. “We have already outlined the issues of creative relationships with Belarusian writers,” Uzbek writer Risolat Khaidarov said at the round table. — A well-known magazine “World Literature” is published in Tashkent. We once made a “Belarusian issue” on its pages. Now I will take new texts and new translations from Belarus. I think that in due course there will be a good group of translators in Uzbekistan.” The moderator of the round table, Alexander Karlyukevich, said that the translation of Erkin Vohidov’s poem “The Uprising of the Immortals” is being prepared for publication in “Mastats kaya lіtaratura.” This work was completed by Belarusian poet Naum Galperovich. Works of the People’s Poet of Uzbekistan, Hero of Uzbekistan Erkin Vohidov have already been transla ted into Belarusian in the almanac of “Braterstva” and “Dalya glyady”. In early 2020, on the eve of the traditional International Book Fair, the poem by the Uzbek artist, which is dedicated to the long-suffering Bangladeshi and Bengali poet Kazi Nazru-

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lo Islam, will be published in the translation into Belarusian. By the way, both Uzbek guests and Ales Karlyukevich mentioned the names of Yakub Kolas, Stepan Likhodiyevsky, Edi Ognetsvet, Arkady Mardvilka, Grigory Borodulin and Zulfiya, Hamid Alimdzhan and other Uzbek writers in their conversation about the basis of the Belarusian-Uzbek literary ties. New ties should be developed in the light of everything that has already been done. Previous examples, the facts of literary brotherhood should be studied, considered as sources, as a clue, as a way to move forward. Among the other participants of the round table one cannot but mention the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of India to the Republic of Belarus, the writer Sangeeta Bahadur. She chose the following topics as the theme of her speech: “Fantasy: a genre uniting the world literature”. As a prose writer, Sangeeta Bahadur writes fantasy novels. The Indian writer offers her works for translation into Belarusian with great pleasure. In her speech the ambassador from Delhi also outlined the following issue. Among the diplomats represen ting other countries in Belarus there are quite a few creative people. And it is wrong not to take it into account. Getting to know them will make it possible to build bridges of literary relations more properly, to conduct a wide artistic dialogue. The guest from Poland, writer and traveler Jacek Palkiewicz, also expressed a lot of interesting thoughts in his speech. He is the author of many books that tell about different parts of the world. Jacek Palkiewicz is just exploring Belarus. He spoke a lot about the fact that the first meetings with Belarus, its people convinced him of the advantages of the tourist potential of our country, which should be widely talked about by means of the artistic, journalistic word. Lithuania was represented at the round table in Zhirovichi by children’s writer Jeronimas Laucius, vice president of the International Association of Writers and Journalists Lev Mesengiser. Moldova — by prose writer, essayist, playwright Nikolai Rusu. Serbia — by writer Vladimir Ketsmanovich. Ukraine — by cultural expert, translator Gleb Kudryashov. Tajikistan — by prose writer Khatloni Sally. Azerbaijan — by publicist, historian Baldash Ganbarov. Italy — by publicist, professor of history at the University of Rome La Sapienza. Russia — by writer, archivist Alexander Karsky, by Chairman of the Council of the public organization “Uzdeni of Dagestan”, head of the public organization “Belarus-Dagestan” Kerimhan Umahanov. Each of them had something to tell their colleagues. And most importantly, everyone came to Belarus with quite specific initiatives. And this is the most important thing, because the implementation of these or those projects contributes to the expansion of know ledge about different countries, as well as of the Belarusian artistic word, and therefore Belarus itself in the multi-ethnic world. By Nikolay Ravnopolsky. Photo by Konstantin Drobov.

◄ The conversation of writers from different countries in the ancient Zhirovichi turned out to be open, sincere, friendly

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Now all the doors are open! On September 2, 115 thousand first-graders sat down at school desks. 8 new schools opened their doors for the first time: in Minsk, Grodno, Brest, Borisov, Ostrovets and Mogilev. In total, 1 million 30 thousand children are going to Belarusian schools this academic year. How to organize a large stream of children so that they could think and write, as well as instill important family values, reveal talents and make them choose the right path? The headmaster of Minsk school No.191 Yuliya Ilyinichna Pinchuk shares her big experience.

First Bell at school №191 in Minsk invites you to classes

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This year Day of Knowledge fell on Sunday. Therefore, the summer holidays for the students lasted a little longer. While children were still noisily having fun outside (the weather favored it), the work at schools was already in full swing: they posted lists of numerous first-gra ders, finished making timetables… Opening a new school is a special holiday. This year, schools No. 2 and No. 93 in Minsk opened their doors for the first time. The President was invited to the first solemn meeting at school No.93. With these words, Alexander Lukashenko addressed the present: “A new school year is beginning. It is the first year in the history of the school, which we are solemnly openning. Everything is here for the first time: the first schoolbell, the acquaintance of students and teachers. Here begins the chronicle of school everyday life for many decades to come, but you will always stay first in history.” A new school was built in the Veliky Les micro-district. The place is well known for the fact that a lot of servicemen live in this part of Minsk. In his welcoming speech, the Head of State noted: “Many of your parents, dear schoolchildren, have sworn allegiance to the Motherland and continue the glorious history of war heroes in peaceful life.” He advised students to do their best to finish school with decent marks and gain knowledge. Indeed, otherwise there is no future. “Today, life has become so complicated that it will be very difficult for you to even be a simple worker. Nowadays the equipment is very complicated. For example, back in the day, the ones who didn’t find another job, went to work on the farm (took forks, shovels in their hands and dug), today there is no need for such workers in agriculture. Therefore, my advice to you: take what is necessary to take at school. In every period of life, you will need what you acquired during this period. Take maximum knowledge of what you are capable of, and decide what you will do after school.” In general, there are a little more than three thousand secondary schools in the

K country. And how are things going in the rest schools, on which the public attention is not riveted? How does an “ordinary” secondary school, built in the last century, live? I decided to find it out and had a meeting with the headmaster of school № 191 nearest to my home. At the entrance, a security guard stopped me: “Who are you going to? Sign up in the register.” To the right and left along the walls I saw new locker room doors, painted in bright positive colors. Nice! Further down the corridor there is a dining room with white washbasins nearby, and opposite there are boxes where pupils can leave their schoolbags so as not to carry them into the dining room. Senior pupils with badges are on duty at each stairwell. Finally, I’m in the headmaster’s office. *** — Yuliya Ilyinichna, how many first-graders have come to you? How many students are there in your school? — We opened five first forms, each has about 30 pupils. So, about 150 children, and in total this year we have 1250 pupils. — Can you recognize “your” pupil on the street? — Yes, I know most of the children. I teach art in the fifth grade. In the sixth grade they go to another teacher. But all five-graders pass through my hands. So I get to know each student, follow them closely for a year. It turns out that I am familiar with all the pupils. — So, you are a teacher by training? — I’m an elementary school teacher. I graduated from Baranavichy State Higher Pedagogical College, Brest State University named after A. S. Pushkin, I passed retraining on the basis of the Belarusian State Pedagogical University named after Maxim Tank with a degree in educational management. I believe that this is the best option for a leader because an elementary school teacher knows teaching methods of all subjects, the structure of all lessons. I can teach a math lesson because I know the stages of work on the problem or a literature lesson and work on the text. I

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Headmaster congratulates everyone on the start of the school year

can teach physical training: I know how to plan a lesson, what kind of intensity is normal. An elementary school teacher can everything, including fine arts, labor training and so on. — Have you always worked in the field of education or were there any other plans for the future? — As I finished pedagogical school at the age of 18, I immediately went to work at school. There was a moment in my life when I was thinking about what to do next. My husband is a military man. When we moved from Baranavichy to Minsk in 2005, it was not so easy to find a job. Then I had an idea that, maybe it was necessary to change something in my life. I visited many educational institutions in search of work, although I was already a first category teacher. I remember coming into some school and feeling the smell of fresh paint: schools are usually renovated in summer, upgraded for the next school year. I felt so nostalgic! And беларусь. belarus 2019

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then I was scared that I would have no place to go to in September. Fortunately, Minsk gymnasium № 18 opened its doors for me. First, I worked there for 2 years as a teacher of an after school center, then as an elementary school teacher, then as a deputy headmaster. — But now you are the headmaster. Can you say how school № 191 differs from hundreds of other schools? — Of course, like any other. Each school has something of its own. We are focused on an in-depth study of physics and mathematics, and soon computer science will be added. According to the results of the last academic year, our school was included in the top five in the Pervomaisky district of Minsk according to the results of the СT. (CT — abbreviated Centralized testing — entrance exa mination organized in the form of tests. Based on the test results, CT participants gain points, which are then transferred to the rating scale. The maximum score is 100.) We cooperate with the Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radio Electronics: there is a city camp in robo tics and information technology on the basis of the school. There is also close contact with the Mechanics and Mathematics Faculty of the Belarusian State University, more precisely with their “Uni-Center — XXI”, which educates future mathematicians, physicists, and computer scientists: they can study there from the fifth grade. Well, and most importantly, of course, this is our pedagogical staff, our great teachers. For example, Elena Arnoldovna Lebetskaya teaches computer science. She raised many laureates of the President’s special fund (Special Fund of the President of the Republic of Belarus for Supporting Talented Youth — Auth.). Pupils who score 100 points for Cent ralized testing in English are trained by Larisa Anatolyevna Aksinevich. A very good teacher of the Russian language is Monich Irina Viktorovna. She runs training courses for Centralized testing. Children from other areas come to her. Irina Viktorovna often takes part in international conferences, gives lectures at St. Petersburg Academy of Postgraduate

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Education. She has such interesting lessons! It is always evident if a person loves his job. I am devoted to my occupation. My daughter often says to me: “Mom, can we talk about anything else except school № 191?” — What problems do you often encounter at work? — I can’t say that there are any problems, rather the peculiarities of the work. For example, I often have to combine incompatible things. On the one hand, I must understand everything in pedagogy, observe teachers’ lessons, give advice and help them in preparing for pedagogical competitions, and on the other hand, I am responsible for economic activities. I must understand, for

wait until they pours out soul and list all their problems. A team of women is another issue. This is a special group of people in which anything may happens. I hope you understand me. — Do you think that lack of male teachers is a problem? — The situation is ambiguous. On the one hand, I understand that children need male education, but on the other hand, our women are working so well! Just compare, a woman is more scrupulous and responsible, ready to work overtime. Men cherish their time more. — You mentioned “psychotherapy sessions” with adults. Has it ever happened that you had to talk heart to heart with a child, a teenager?

First day at school

example, how government procurement works. It happens that I start flying high: I’m planning a school leaving party, and then, let’s say, a supply manager comes to me and suggests thinking about how to put roofing felt. To work with people is always difficult, no one has canceled the human factor. Even now, you see, we are talking with you, and in the waiting room a visitor demands to sort out the issue of school meal though my reception hours start today in half an hour. I understand: if parents talked to the teacher, to other parents, to the deputy headmaster and then they come to me, they may be on the verge of a crises. I sometimes do not only have to solve their problem but patiently listen to them like a therapist,

— Yes, especially when I first came to school, there were many different situations. I remember a girl who refused to go to a school leaving party. Her parents, teachers could not talk her out of it, did not understand what the problem was. It turned out that she considered herself to be too fat to wear a party dress. She was convinced that nothing would suit her. As a result, together we searched the Internet for various options on how to dress beautifully for a school leaving party. — How do you deal with bad habits of the younger generation? — Of course, I am far from the idea that everyone has a healthy lifestyle, but at least in the school, there is no bullying and nobody smokes. We have video cameras,

K everyone knows about it. It’s very easy to figure out the person who misbehaves. Children are not allowed to go out during the school day — the school is closed. — What if someone left a book at home?.. — Now there are electronic textbooks. In the end, there is no problem to print a page or share it with someone… — Speaking of gadgets… They talk a lot about how harmful they are. And what is their benefit, in your opinion? — The first thing I did, when I became a headmaster, was a local area network. So we have the Internet in every office. Each teacher has their own computers. This is a big advantage because I know schools where the electronic diary was intro-

— Are you going to introduce a pass entry system? — A good idea, but in our small foyer… 1250 students in the morning at the school entrance — imagine what crowds there will be! But basically I like it. In Moscow, this system works well. For example, at 8 a. m. lessons begin, and at 8.15 parents already have information whose child did not come to the classroom. This simplifies counting the number of pupils for meals: every day we collect the information on how many people are going to come to the dining room. — Once I saw a story about your school in the news. It was about some experimental meals. Please, tell us more.

Traditional defile with the first teacher

duced, but in order to fill it out, teachers have to go to the library or somewhere else. We have electronic class registers, and any parent can look it through online any moment, in order to see at what level, compared to other children, their child is mastering the school curriculum. The same goes for the electronic diary. You know, I was surprised last year when, according to the results of a parental survey, it turned out that many were against this innovation. But we live in the 21st century, and to have up-to-date information, to know that your child was absent from school (because missed classes are marked in the register) is wonderful! Unfortunately, it’s very difficult for some to leave their comfort zone.

— Not certainly in that way. The school food production facility, which is situated in every district, together with the hygiene center develops on a regular basis recipes for new dishes. At first they are tested in some schools. We are one of such experimental sites. So, from time to time, we have “Solnyshko” cereal porridge, skewers and even kebabs. Everything is done to feed children. Today it is very difficult to do it. For example, some children refuse to even try an ordinary cutlet. Why? They don’t eat it at home. — What do they eat? — Fast food, pizza, sausages… Do you understand the scale of the problem? Very often, parents refuse to give money for school meals. As a result, a

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child goes to the nearest shop and buys chips. Therefore, our canteen manager Natalia Fedorovna Gorbatyuk invites parents, tells them what this or that dish is made from, invites them to taste it… After such tastings, the situation usually changes for the better. — How much time, in your opinion, should schooling take in a child’s life? — You know, I travel on business trips very often, I am a member of a city and republican headmasters’ clubs. Of course we all discuss it. In Russia, for example, a full-day school is widely promoted. They are proud that a child can find something to do all day in school. When I started thinking about it, I rea lized that we had been such a school for a long time. We have a huge number of free interest groups (formerly called circles): soft toys, various sports groups (basketball, tennis, freestyle wrestling, karate), theater, dance, vocal studios, fine arts… Children always have something to keep themselves busy. This is good both for them and for us, teachers. We can see their inclinations, interests and during the lessons we already know how to communicate with this or that child, how to develop their abilities. It’s also good for parents since their child is always under supervision. — Do you still have an Orthodox “circle”… — Yes. That’s why it was set up: once we conducted a survey to find out what kind of religion our children belong to, what traditions are observed in the fa mily, what holidays… It turned out that most of us are Christians, moreover Orthodox. They celebrate Christmas, Easter, Epiphany Day… And then I, the deputy for educational work and a pedagogical psychologist, filed for a grand of the Minsk City Executive Committee for a project “Implementing a model of interaction between the family and the school based on Orthodox traditions”. That was in 2015. We won the grand, and opened the Resource Center for Family and Gender Education. We invited gra duates of the Institute of Theology named after Saints Methodius and Cyril of беларусь. belarus 2019

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First graders received a gift from the President — the book "Belarus is my Motherland"

the Belarusian State University to teach there. By the way, this club went on TV screens, it was headed by Elizabeth Lipay. Then we decided to organize the International Family Festival as part of the Resource Center. It has already been held twice, its participants represented diffe rent countries: Russia, China, Uzbekis tan, Kazakhstan. They demonstrated their culture, national family traditions. A large family came from Fanipol, and another family came with a month-old baby. His mother promised to come every year, since the child equals the age of the festival, and will be its symbol. — Last year, you were asked to start Chinese language education. How did parents accept this proposal? Or will the Chinese language remain optional? — We found a native speaker and an altruist. He graduated from the philological faculty of BSU, lives in Belarus. He really wants to teach. It is clear that we already have enough Russian language teachers, but translation is not enough. Therefore, I decided to teach our children the Chinese language on a voluntary basis. By the way, even our teachers went to his classes. This year, he is also going on to teach Chinese to everyone. Well, the idea of replacing mandatory English with Chinese is not yet supported by the parents. Comfort zone, you understand… — Now all-round education of a child is trendy: acting classes, ceramic

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modeling, scrapbooking, wushu, dan cing, swimming… Some children have a very busy schedule. How do you feel about such an overload of a child? — If a child is given a full load to get rid of “bad” thoughts, they will still remain in the child’s head. If he or she wants to find out something, they will do it and try it. Therefore, additional classes will not solve the problems. But still it is necessary to keep the kids busy. It seems to me that at this age they should try everything to understand what is interesting for them. When my daughter was small, I also took her to all kinds of interest groups. Not to make her busy with something, but simply to reveal her inclinations. We went and looked… I am not a supporter of completing what was begun in the form of order. Rather to explain, to convince, without insisting. — Don’t you think that it is too early to make first-graders focus on physics and mathematics? — As I have already said, at our school children study mathematics, physics, computer science at an advanced level and our school cooperates with BSUIR. The exact sciences are complica ted. We thought a lot about how to raise a mathematician, a physicist. It is impossible to give an in-depth study within the framework of the school curriculum from the fifth grade — this is difficult for

a child. Children’s brains must be prepared for it, their thinking must be fresh and unconventional. To be able to solve problems in a different from other people’s ways. Such a way of thinking needs to be “tuned.” The most sensitive period for children is the elementary grades. At this time, it is necessary to lay the foundations of logical thinking through a game, simple tasks, tangram, which must be played with to fit it together. Little attention is paid to such activities at ordinary lessons in mathematics and physics. — What is the most important thing that the school should teach? — The school must teach to live in society, to socialize. Now individual training is trendy. Sometimes it seems that some parents live in a virtual world: on forums and chat rooms. Someone told them something there, advised something… You have not seen the person, you do not know who stands behind an assumed name. How can one be guided by such opinions? Well, the child was transferred to individual education. And then what? But in future this person will still have to go to work having no social skills.. A child must go through all the stages: when some of your classmates become a leader, and you failed to become the one, when you have to cooperate with someone you don’t like… This is what the school teaches. For example, there is an opinion among teachers that the most difficult period is the eighth grade, although now we are more inclined to think that it is the seventh one. At this age teenagers want to be leaders, it is psychologically difficult to build relationships. They are all nervous, tense, portion out thier place under the sun, form their small groups. How can a child experience all this staying at home? Unfortunately, such parents are enthralled by illusions, they deprive their child of the possibility of communication. Maybe in the future this child would choose to work with people?.. — And how much can and should the school affect the upbringing of the child? Is its role secondary to the “laws of the family” or does it share this mission?

K — School affects the child through the family. In the ideal case, the family should come to school: take part in school activities, be in contact with teachers, go to theaters, camps with the whole class. We constantly stimulate such activities. At school and at home there should be a common opinion on behaviour. But school can not replace a family. — I know parents who are negative about the so-called active participation of the school in family life. For example, they do not like it when a teacher comes to a child’s home… — How to get to know each other? It happens that talking to a child’s mother you get a certain impression and when you come to their home it changes completely. It has always been like that. I remember my first teacher coming to our house. We were waiting for her! I wanted to show her my room, tell her about myself and my family. — But now people look at it from a different perspective. They say that teachers poke their way into other people’s business, they are looking for defects, so that later they can report to the social services… — If a child is in a socially dangerous situation, for example, his parents are seen drunk or intoxicated, of course, the question will arise, is there anything for a child to eat? I repeat, now everything is the same as it used to be before. Just before there was no Internet. In order to discuss something, it was necessary to go downstairs to the neighbor. Now everything is talked about on the Internet. — Yuliya Ilyinichna, you have been working for 18 years in the field of education. In general, have children changed during this time? Modern children are still children. They make mistakes and are sure that adults do not understand them. But when in 1994 I came to my first class, I was 18 years old, but the children looked upon me as an indisputable authority. If I said that black was white, they would believe me. Now children have great access to information, they know a lot, and are not afraid to enter into a discussion with

the teacher, to check the teacher’s knowledge. I had such a case. At the Art lesson, the conversation turned to the tragedy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I talked about a girl who made paper cranes. I had been teaching this subject for several years. Children always accepted new information in a calm way, but last year there was a boy who began to emotionally tell me that he and dad had already discussed this topic, and Japan was ready to sign a truce, anyway, America dropped a bomb on it… That means, that the information the teacher gives is no longer enough for them. Children have so many opportunities to read, watch, discuss… And the teacher’s task is not so much to tell but to teach how to filter out information, not to take someone’s possibly mistaken point of view as dogma. Children do not know how to do it. — Would you like to change something in your school, in the education system? — I am not a supporter of superreforms. I want the people who come to school not to be indifferent. I want them to want to do work. In this regard, I love young professionals: they have ideas, they are eager to work. I will always support them because everyone can make a mistake. I sometimes hear criticism about our education system. But it performs the most important function: it is available to everyone! I do not know a person who wanted to study, but was not given such an opportunity. If you want, you can go to university, if you fail to study free of charge, you can study for

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a fee. If you fail to get fee-paying education, you can do distance education. If you got a degree, you can go for retraining, upgrading, study for another degree. Now all the doors are open! And those who say that our education is bad, should know that it is valued abroad! I have many friends who have left for other countries, and they are in demand as teachers. If you want, you will find the way fulfill yourself. They say that our program is bad… But, you see, the personality of a teacher is very important. For example, for me the teacher’s explanation at the lesson was enough. I didn’t even have to open the textbook at home. They say textbooks are bad. Well, if teachers know their subjects within the limit of the textbook — it is bad, of course. But if the teacher can get children interested, then a few notes in the book will be enough and the material will be digested. — Teachers who explain their subject in a very clear way, so that children don’t have to do their homework, it’s more of a utopia… — This is not the case, you just have to work anyway. And then it appears: give us a kind, gentle teacher, the one, who, through playing games, can put knowledge into our heads without any learning. But, my dears, you will never learn, for example, a foreign language like this. Anyway, you have to learn words every day. Therefore, I wish all my students, as well as colleagues and tea chers, hard work, diligence and patience! By Alice Gungor

The meeting with the place of knowledge has taken place! беларусь. belarus 2019

elarus — China: ties

Monument to Yanka Kupala

has been erected at Xi'an University of Foreign Languages

Students have been studying the Belarusian language there since 2018. They also study our history, traditions and customs. The city itself is known as a major educational center of China. It takes the third place after Beijing and Shanghai by the number of universities.

Kopach created the bust. This is not his first work: ten sculptures of the master have been erected in the Chinese provinces, including the composition "Ba lance" at Tsinghua University. The opening of the monument was taking place during a visit to the uniMinsknews.by

he monument to Yanka Kupala is made of bronze. On a granite stele it is written in Belarusian and Chinese: “People's poet of Belarus Yanka Kupala”, the dates of life are indicated. The sculptor from Minsk Viktor

versity of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to China Kirill Rudy. The diplomat met with the rector of the university, Wang Junzhe. The issues, which were discussed include interaction with Belarusian institutions of higher education and the implementation of projects of the Year of Education of Belarus in China, the expansion of exchange among the faculty, the creation of a common Master’s degree course. During the monument’s opening ceremony, Cyril Rudy emphasized the important role of Yanka Kupala in the development of Belarusian and world literature. University students who major in the Belarusian language prepared a creative program where they read the works of the national poet in Belarusian and Chinese. In conclusion, the participants of the event visited the exhibition dedicated to Yanka Kupala, prepared with the assistance of the State Literary Museum of Yanka Kupala. By Victoria Askera

беларусь. belarus 2019

elarus — China: ties

Action roadmap National Historical Museum of Belarus develops ties with Chinese partners

In turn, in the Chongqing area there will be a village in Belarusian stile. It will also be created by Chinese investors. It will be a unique and the only Belarusian tourist complex in China. Architectural objects of the Minsk region are used as analogues of the development and landscape models. Tourism, trade and cultural exchanges will take place there. The Chinese party assured that the Belarusian village in Chongqing will appear in a year and a half, and expressed hope that there will be no delays with the Chinese settlement in Minsk. After the official part, foreign guests visited the China-Belarus industrial park Great Stone, the Sula Park Museum of Interactive History, and the Snov Agricultural Complex.

Recently, for example, the National Historical Museum of Belarus has signed an agreement on cooperation with the Guangdong Union for International Scientific and Technical Cooperation with the CIS Countries. The document was signed by the director of the museum Pavel Sapotko and the manager of the Guangdong Union for International Scientific and Technical Cooperation with the CIS Countries Lu Wei. “A very good friendship is developing between China and Belarus. We really like the Belarusian culture and history, that's why we have signed such an agreement on cooperation. We are planning to implement joint projects in future,” — said Lu Wei. In addition, a presentation of the Chinese traditional black brick tea was held at the National Historical Museum. Its production technologies are China's national intangible cultural heritage. At present, the Chinese side is organizing many events around the world in the framework of the initiative "One belt, one road" related to tea ceremonies and presentations of tea collections as an instrument of cultural and public diplomacy. In Minsk, the presentation was crowned by signing a cooperation agreement between the National Historical Museum and the Yantong trading company. “We have found common ground where we could work within the framework of such a cultural and scientific exchange,” — said Pavel Sapotko. “There are some interesting ideas. In particular, regarding the issues of representation and popularization of our historical and cultural values. It is very interesting for us to study the approaches and mechanisms, which do not only help preserve the heritage of the PRC, but also popularize it in the context of national memory.

By Tatyana Lazovskaya

By Alexander Pimenov

ural housing of the Baiyu culture of the city of Chongqing and the architectural features of eastern Sichuan will serve as prototypes of the housing development. The settlement, which will become a unique platform for mutual exchanges, will be built by a Chinese investor. A place for construction has not been selected yet. Now the investors are being shown the possible inoccupied sites to choose from. As the deputy chairman of the Minsk Region Executive Committee Nikolai Rogashchuk noted, this is approximately one hundred hectares in Minsk or Smolevichi district. The main condition is that the object is located near the Minsk National Airport and the Great Stone Industrial Park.

беларусь. belarus 2019

ays of Chinese culture in Belarus

From surprise — to delight The opening of the Days of Chinese Culture in Belarus took place at the Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theatre on the eve of the new theatrical season. The ceremony was attended by Minister of Culture of Belarus Yuri Bondar, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China Tsui Tsimin and other VIPs. And after the official part, which, by the way, sounded in a friendly key-note, the spectacle began, though unusual for most of the Belarusian audience, focused on the style of the European opera. It was the performance “Female Generals of The Yang Family”.

MiKhail Nesterov

In his welcoming speech, Minister of Culture Yuri Bondar, as BelTA reported, noted: humanitarian ties between Belarus and China are developing dynamically. First of all, it is due to the absence of fundamental contradictions, common principles of domestic and foreign policy. “The effective development of bilateral relations is undoubtedly facilitated by personal trustful contacts between the leaders of our countries,” said the Mi nister. Yuri Bondar also reminded that China and Belarus had long historical and cultural traditions. “Friendship between peoples, — he said, — is the basis

of interstate relations, and the basis of friendship between peoples is spiritual closeness.” He expressed confidence that the Days of Chinese Culture in Belarus would serve to strengthen mutual understanding, traditional friendship and kind-hearted relations between the two countries By the way, the agreement on cultural cooperation between the governments of Belarus and China was signed in November 1992, in September 2014 — an agreement on the establishment of the Belarusian-Chinese intergovernmental committee on cooperation, in May 2015 — on the mutual establishment of cultural centers. The Ministry of Culture of Belarus and the

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China’s State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television signed an agreement in May 2017. One of the important areas of international cooperation is days of culture on the exchange basis. They were held between Belarus and China in 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2017. For his part, Ambassador Tsui Tsimin drew attention to the fact that cooperation between the two countries in the field of culture and tou rism was becoming increasingly active. “On the eve of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, as well as the traditional mid-autumn holiday, I am pleased to meet with Belarusian friends again, to bolshoibelarus.by

Officially

D take part in the opening ceremony of the Days of Chinese Culture, to enjoy together the famous classical Beijing opera “Female Generals of The Yang Family”, — said Tsui Tsimin. And he added: the acting skills will be demonstrated to the Belarusian audience by the performers of the Chinese National Beijing Opera Company.

Bright, spectacular, interesting

Pavel

S u shchenok

All in all, according to the report of the Bolshoi Theatre, 79 actors of the Chinese National Beijing Opera Company, the founder of which is a famous actor of the genre Mei Lanfang, arrived in Minsk. It is well known that this is one of the largest statefunded music companies. In fact, it is a theater consortium, which includes three companies at a time. One is performing on the Beijing stage and the other two are touring over the world. The guest actors who have come to Belarus have brought a truck full of costumes, props and technical equipment. By the way, there is also an orchestra that always accompanies the performances. The plot of the play “Female Generals of The Yang Family” takes us to China of the twelfth century. In the Tianbo Palace, full of joy and happiness, the century-old She Taijun is celebrating the 50th anniversary of her grandson Yang Zunbaa, who became a border guard marshal. But bad news comes: Prince of the state of Western Xia took to arms, violated the border, and Zunbaa perished for his Native land. All the officials are shocked and want to reconcile with the state of the Western Xia. But overcoming their grief, She Taizun together with her widowed daughter-in-law, her grandson’s wife and her great-grandson Yang Wenguang, refuting the ideas on reconciliation, took command and marched off with the whole family. Having overcome numerous difficulties, they finally defeated the

ays of Chinese culture in Belarus

army of the Western Xia state and returned home with a victory. My colleague and I learned about it before the opera from a booklet and tried to remember the names of the main characters. By the way, before the performance we talked about the peculiarities of the Chinese opera with a good acquaintance, who used to listen to it in Beijing more than once. He

laughed and said: “It will be interesting to know if you will be receptive to such a specific kind of art…” When we heard about it, we didn’t turn to the Internet and decided that we would see everything with our own eyes. We heard and saw — words fail me to express the mood I was overtaken by during the action. I must confess that at first I was stunned by the intonations given out by the artists. The first to “sound” was the actor Guo Fanjiang performing the role of Mu Guiying. And then the others. It was something! Indeed, our ears are not used to such specific sounds. The artists of the Beijing Opera sing extremely high. But as the action was going on, we got used to them. And this kind of singing, folk music, as well as acrobatics, choreography, pantomime and, of course, martial arts were perceived as something artistically integral, consolidated in content and form. The performance was incredibly spectacular! I did not noticed when my surprise and embarrassment were replaced by admiration of the vocal and acting skills of the performers. That’s what our friend meant when he spoke about the Beijing Opera, which is vocally unusual for a European listener. As it turned out later, such sounds are a linguistic feature of the Chinese language. By the way, the performers were wearing massive hats weighing 10 kilograms each. And it takes about three hours to do the stage makeup, which is visible even from the end of the audience hall. The action was accompanied by the musicians who were sitting at the side of the stage. All the musitians of the orchestra looked beautiful. The opera “Female Generals of The Yang Family” was performed twice at the Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus in Minsk. By Mikhalina Cherkashina

◄ Guo Fanjiang as Mu Guiying

беларусь. belarus 2019

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Monument to Yakub Kolas in Tashkent

Culture unites everyone

During the 1st Forum of the Regions of Belarus and Uzbekistan held in Minsk, a monument to Alisher Navoi, a great poet, statesman and thinker who lived in the 15th century, was unveiled in the park on Sverdlova Street within the boundaries of Kirova and Ulyanovskaya Streets. Deputy Chairman of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus Marianna Shchetkina, First Deputy Chairman of the Senate of Oliy Majlis Sadiq Safaev and Deputy Chairman of the Minsk City Executive Committee Alexander Krepak took part in the ceremony.

sian State Academic Honored Choreographic Ensemble “Khoroshki” and the Uzbek group under the accompaniment of folk instruments. The alley from Kirova Street leading to the monument is decorated with flag compositions of the state flags of Belarus and Uzbekistan. On both sides of the alley there are girls in Belarusian and Uzbek cossb.by

he weather was lovely: warm and sunny. The invited representatives of the official delegation of Uzbekistan, Minsk citizens, which is about 300 people, occupy the alleys and green zone adjacent to the venue of the event. Belarusian and Uzbek melodies are performed by soloists of the “Belaru-

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tumes — 6 people on each side. Flowers are in the hands of those who are closer to the monument. The monument, a bust to the Uzbek poet Alisher Navoi, is covered with white cloth. On the perimeter of the monument there are four young men in Belarusian national costumes. As we shall learn later, these are the soloists of the ensemble “Khoroshki”. On the one

who gained international recognition under the name of Alisher Navoi. All those present will learn that Alisher Navoi left a trace in the history as a poet, thinker, wise and just statesman who made the ancient city of Herat a prosperous cultural center. He was a patron of sciences and arts, and a man who helped the poor and disadvantaged. The enlightened world knows and honors him as the author of a collection of five “Hamsa” poems and more than 3,000 ghazals. The presenters also remind us that the Belarusian and Uzbek peoples have a reverent and respectful attitude to words, poetry and the native language. And as a tribute to Belarusian culture, a bust of Yakub Kolas, whose work is inextricably linked to the Uzbek land, was erected in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, in 2018. And now the day has come to open the monument-bust of the outstanding poet of the East, the founder of the Uzbek language and literature Alisher Navoi, as a visible evidence of spiritual kinship and inextricable friendship of the Belarusian and Uzbek peoples. As a sign of a symbolic meeting of the two geniuses, the works to the poems of Yakub Kolas and Alisher Navoi are performed. The orchestra and soloists of the “Khoroshki” ensemble perform a song by composer Igor Luchenok to the poem of Yakub Kolas “Moy

Monument to Alisher Navoi in Minsk

rodny kut”. And after that, a piece of music is played to the poems of Alisher Navoi by an ensemble from Uzbekistan. After the performance the Belarusian and Uzbek soloists remain on the podiums until the end of the ceremony. The hosts thank them and invite to the microphone Deputy Chairman of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus Marianna Shchetkina and the First Deputy Chairman of the Senate of the Republic of Uzbekistan Sadiq Salihovich Safaev to welcome the participants of the ceremony Speaking at the ceremony, Marianna Shchetkina noticed that Navoi’s works do not lose significance in our time:

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side of the monument, on low podiums, there are also artists of the ensemble “Khoroshki” in Belarusian national costumes, while on the other side there are artists of the Uzbek ensemble in national Uzbek costumes. The honorary guests arrive at the venue and space out among the participants of the ceremony. And finally, comes a sound of the solemn fanfare. The hosts of the ceremonies are Marina Gritsuk, the hostess of the Second National TV Channel and the host is a representative of Uzbekistan. He reads an excerpt from a poem by Alisher Navoi in Uzbek. Marina Gritsuk stresses that the verses and poems of Alisher Navoi have been translated into many languages of the world, she reads an excerpt from Navoi’s work translated into Belarusian by poet and translator Vladimir Dubovka: Bottomless sea of words! None of us Can’t exhaust its supply, And even I, a helpless catcher, Having dived into this sea, finally, Managed to collect such a precious cargo, That I am rightly proud of it now… The host and hostess in turns tell about Alisher Navoi and why the monument-bust is erected in honor of Nizomiddin Mir Alisher, outstanding Uzbek poet, thinker, enlightener, statesman,

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At the opening ceremony of the bust monument to Alisher Navoi

беларусь. belarus 2019

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Alisher Navoi’s aphorisms What drives the one who does not know what friendship is like? He is like an bare pearlshell. Words can prevent death, words can revive the dead. A person can make a mistake, confession ennobles him. But he is twice ennobled if he corrects it. The veracity of speech is good and smooth, but how beautiful is the truthful brevity of words! You cannot clap with one hand. When greed sounds in words, do not believe either flattery of women, or the machinations of men. Who has studied science, and did not apply it, is like the one who dug a canal and did not sow the field, or sew the field but did not use the harvest. Those that have patience can make silk from leaves and honey from rose petals. Among people the best one who brings more benefits to the people. If you are a man, do not call a human the one who does not care about the fate of his people. Cheeky language itself reproaches, generates hundreds of misfortunes, unhappiness and resentment.

беларусь. belarus 2019

Nasirjan Yusupov, Ambassador of Uzbekistan to Belarus (on the left) congratulates Adham Ikramov, Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Uzbekistan

— The unveiling of the monument to the outstanding son of Uzbekistan, thinker Alisher Navoi, is a bright and solemn event. He was not only a poet, but also a great humanist. His works have been translated into many languages. With his deep philosophy and diverse images, he still attracts many people to his works. In addition, she stressed: — It can be said with certainty that this is the heritage of humanity as a whole. Alisher Navoi’s wise words are a guide to action for us living in the modern world. Culture unites everybody and is the basis of peace, it has no borders. We love the culture of Belarus and honor the culture of Uzbekistan. And we are sure that the spiritual basis, culture, has been, is and will be uniting all peoples. Sadiq Safaev said it was a great ho nor for him to participate in the opening of a bust to the great son of the Uzbek people in the capital of brotherly Belarus. On behalf of the people of Uzbekistan, he expressed sincere gratitude to the President of Belarus, the Mayor’s Office and the public of Minsk for the respect shown for the memory of his great ancestor.

— Alisher Navoi occupies a special place in the heart of every Uzbek. His work has left an indelible mark in the culture of our people. With unsurpassed poetic power, he sang of the best human qualities, feelings, love to his homeland and people, native language. Alisher Navoi was the first outstanding poet to open up to the world a colorful and unusually imaginative world of the Uzbek language, he added. — But he was also a brilliant educator, a prominent statesman of his era, he supported scientists, thinkers, ar tists, built grandiose buildings and 380 public buildings with his own funds. His heritage organically fits into the world culture. According to Sadiq Safaev, Uzbekistan views Belarus as a reliable and time-tested partner, the relations with which are one of the main priorities of its foreign policy, and the opening of the Navoi monument is a confirmation of the growing ties between the two peoples. The honorary right to open the Alisher Navoi monument-bust is granted to Marianna Shchetkina and Sadiq Safaev, Ministers of Culture of Belarus and Uzbekistan Yury Bondar

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A real person’s lover must be a real person, too. I’ve seen so much grief from friends and so much misery and suffering washed with tears that at my final hour I would better die than survive and live again with friends. There is no better friend in the world than a book.

and Bakhtiyor Saifullayev, First Deputy Chairman of Minsk City Executive Committee Fedor Rimashevsky and the author of the monument-bust, young sculptor Maxim Makarevich. I must admit, it was an exciting moment. The participants of the ceremony approached the monument-bust. The young men in the Belarusian national costumes gave them the ropes fixed on the piece of cloth that covered the monument-bust. And after that, to the sounds of music, the cloth was pulled down from the monument-bust, which was immediately taken away by the

Alisher Navoi is a poet, thinker and statesman who lived in the 15th century. He created his literary works in Chagatai, Persian, Turkic, Uzbek and Uighur languages. His creative heritage includes about 30 major works: collections of verses, poems, philosophical and scientific essays.

young men. And the assistant girls in the Belarusian and Uzbek national costumes gave flowers to the guests of honor. The hosts offered the guests to lay flowers at the foot of the monumentbust as a sign of memory and respect for the outstanding poet. During the laying ceremony, instrumental music was performed by the artists of the “Khoroshki” ensemble. After it the guests of honour moved to the right and left of the monument. They were followed by a young man in a Belarusian national costume and a girl in an Uzbek national costume who put a basket of flowers from the Embassy of Uzbekistan in Belarus at the foot of the monument. The basket was followed by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Uzbekistan to Belarus Nasirdzhan Yusupov. Laying the basket, Nasirdzhan Sabirovich took his place next to the guests of honour. The hosts declared the ceremony closed, thanked all those who took part in it and wished happiness and prospe rity to the brotherly peoples of Belarus and Uzbekistan. After the guests of honor left the venue of the event, the presenters suggested that all the guests could lay flo wers at the foot of the monument.

The book is a teacher without charge and thanks. Every moment it gives you a revelation of wisdom. This is an interlocutor who speaks of secret matters silently. People can not always be alive, but the one is happy whose name will be remembered. Going through the world and staying imperfect is like coming out of the bathhouse unwashed. There’s no fame in wealth and prosperity, And greed is the cause of a lot of trouble. When your friend is cunning, with a sweet smile, It is better to have an enemy with an open mind. You call someone a man, And he only looks like the one. Until the words are ripe, don’t rush to say them. And don’t trust your soul with a word at once.

By Ivan and Valentina Zhdanovich

беларусь. belarus 2019

ellow countrymen

Son of his father

Uzbek professor with Belarusian roots tells about the ties of two peoples and literatures, his father’s heritage, a close classic, genuine internationalism In the 30s of the last century, the Belarusian poet Stepan Likhodzievsky, a native of Borok village in the Slutsk region, was accused of “counter-revolutionary social activities” and was expelled from Belarus to Kazakhstan. The further fate of the poet is connected with Uzbekistan. There he continued to write poetry, study and translate literature — Belarusian, Russian, Uzbek, French. During the Great Patriotic War, he made friends with the national poet of Belarus Yakub Kolas, who was evacuated with his family to Tashkent, and did a lot to popularize Belarusian poetry…Later, his son inherited interest in literature. Anatoly Likhodzievsky is a professor at the Uzbekistan University of World Languages, a doctor of philological sciences, who has been continuing the family philological tradition for almost 50 years. He had been doing it so successfully that last year he was awarded a high state award — the Order of Friendship — for strengthening friendship, fraternity and mutual consent between representatives of all nations and nationalities. This year, the professor visited Belarus during the Days of Culture of Uzbekistan in our country to discuss with his fellow countrymen the possibilities of creative and scientific cooperation. He also fulfilled his old dream to visit his father’s homeland. More precisely, his dream to visit the Slutsk Museum of Local Lore, where the wife of Stepan Likhodzievsky once sent memorable photographs, correspondence with Kolas, drafts of poems, personal items, etc. “I definitely need to photograph everything there and then show it to my relatives, otherwise they won’t understand me — to be in Belarus and not to go to the father’s small motherland?" — When a student, I visited Minsk in 1972, — recalls Anatoly Stepanovich. — then my father and I stayed at his friend’s, poet Stanislav Shushkevich, on Tsnyanskaya Street… Does it still exist? — It does, and in the same place. How do you find Minsk after more than 40 years?- There was not much time to walk, but in my free time I managed to. You know, I have the impression that this is the very Minsk. In Tashkent, if you arrive after five years, you are unlikely to recognize the city, the streets are changing so much, and now there is no old Tashkent at all. And here, on the contrary, you are walking in the center and feel nostalgic, such familiar places. I was surprised that the Soviet names remained: Lenin Street, Engels Street — you will not find this in Uzbekistan.

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"Ten kilos of Kolas flesh" — They say that childhood impressions are the strongest. But you were a very young boy when Yakub Kolas died, and apparently you don’t remember him at all? — But I heard a lot about him from my father, I asked him, read publications (for example, my father published a collection of journalistic works “Joy of Meetings”, and there are two articles dedicated to the life of Yakub Kolas in Tashkent) and formed my personal portrait of this great poet, not from textbooks. My father spoke about Kolas as a very cheerful person, in spite of any trials. He had a sense of humor even in difficult times of the war. For example, he joked that in Tashkent the temperature is always, like in a bottle of vodka, 40 degrees. The father would tell: Kolas worried very much for his native country, his friends and relatives, he had to endure personal tragedies more than once — and therefore he lost a lot of weight. However, he did not lose his presence of mind, wittily noting, that “ten kilos of Kolas flesh has gone”… By the way, taking this opportunity, I want to correct the inaccuracy that I saw in both the Belarusian and the Uzbek press. Some people call my father and Yakub Kolas fellow students, but this is not true, because the age gap between them is almost 15 years. As a 16‑year-old boy, my father stood in awe of the great poet They became friends much later.

Read and listen — Uzbek colleagues say that your students listen with great interest to your special course on literature of the Slavic countries. Which Belarusian authors were included in lectures and seminars? — I built the course as a microhistory. The fact is that there are only four hours of lectures devoted to Belarus, including a review of the history of Belarusian literature — through “Taras on Parnassus”, Maxim Bogdanovich and Tsiotka I gradually reached the middle of the twentieth century, then, of course, I told about Yakub Kolas and Yanka Kupal, and finally spoke a little about modern writers — at least those I know of: Vasil Bykov, Ivan Shemyakin and others. At the same time, while talking about the Soviet period, I tried to present the authors no as glorifiers of Soviet reality, but to focus on the original part of their work, to rely on folklore. So, in the case of Yanka Kupala, I

Konstantin Drobov

Professor Anatoly Likhodzievsky

chose the poem “Kurgan” — an undisputed masterpiece, in addition, in class we usually spent 15 minutes on listening to some pieces of the Pesniary rock opera “Guslyar” based on this work. The effect of the combination of incredible music, ingenious text and performance was one hundred percent, the students listened with their mouths open.. — During the Days of Culture of Uzbekistan, they talked a lot about mutual translations of Belarusian authors into Uzbek and vice versa. Personally, what writers and poets would you be interested in reading in translation? — All Belarussian contemporary popular authors, because I hardly know them. As for Uzbek literature, there are also a number of names worthy of attention and translation: classical poets of the twentieth century Abdullah Arip, Erkin Wahid, the beautiful prose of Askad Mukhtar. Of course, it is difficult to translate poetry. Not without reason even in Soviet times there was an epigram “For all that, for all that, for all that, Marshak remained Marshak, and Robert Burns remained a poet.” Nevertheless, mutual translations are a promising business that will help to know each other better. In general, Uzbekistan has a great interest in literature: we have a whole Literary Alley in the National Park, there are many interesting monuments, and in the Tashkent metro almost half of the stations have literary names… Such a promotion of culture is very important, and, in my opinion, to be a truly civilized person, one needs to know the literature of different nations, and not to ignore them for political or other reasons.

ellow countrymen

About self determination and friendship of peoples — Your father is known not only as a Belarusian poet, but also as a researcher and translator of German and French literature. You devoted many years to the study of American literature, while you live and work in the Uzbek language and literature environment. Summarizing all this literary experience, what features, in your opinion, determine the nature of Belarusian literature? — I had to participate in discussions on this subject and, in particular, hear such comments: many years have passed, but Belarusians still write about the partisans, the war — why? I answered as follows: “This is a wound that does not heal for a very long time. You will not understand this if you did not live there or do not have relatives among Belarusians. As far as I know, in the villages they still remember which of the relatives was a partisan and whose relatives served in the police, although the fourth generation has already changed. All the world wars passed through Belarus, so many different people set foot on this land…” Therefore, a certain sadness and nostalgia typical of Belarusian literature is understandable, because it is a reflection of national grief. And there is nothing wrong with that, on the contrary, it is veneration of all those who died and suffered in past wars, which can not be replaced by jingoism. Remember the works of Vasil Bykov — there is no humor in them, except for a couple of “black” front-line smiles, since the war for him, a front-line writer, is an inhumane phenomenon, wild and absurd…So Bykov is really great literature, like Yanka Kupala and Yakub Kolas. I said at the recent opening of the Alisher Navoi monument in Minsk: it is wonderful that people have gathered at the monument to the great poet and read poetry, here they will read Navoi, in Tashkent they will read Kolas. When people read poetry, they will not fight, since the war is caused by dullness and lack of spirituality, unwillingness to understand others. However, Belarusians have no problems of this kind, and many people should learn from you to be friendly and open to others. You have such a mentality — restrained, calm, in many respects close to Uzbek, and therefore our peoples easily mix and understand each other. — In one of the poems by Stepan Likhodzievsky there are such lines: “He has been living in Tashkent for a quarter of a century, does not know where he will end his life. He is a Belarusian among Uzbeks, among Belarusians he is a Uzbek ”… And how do you feel — an Uzbek Belarusian or a Belarusian Uzbek? — I feel as the son of my father, — the professor laughs. — By the way, do you know that exactly these words only in Russian are carved out on the grave of the father? It was the decision of the family, since my father was a convinced internationalist, he respected all nations. In Belarus, he was jokingly nicknamed the “Uzbek,” which he really liked. And in Tashkent, everyone, both Uzbek poets, and Russian-speaking people, they all used to sit at our table — this is the way I understand friendship of peoples. By Victoria Teleshuk

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There are no losers

The chords of the 2nd European Games again sounded in the press center of the Belarus Segodnya Publishing House: the results of the marketing activities of the multi-sports forum, as well as several more interesting facts, were voiced by the representatives of the Competition Directorate. The competitions held in the major rhythm of the Bach fugue, continue to remain in the information mainstream, making us relive them once again: fans and participants recall pleasant moments, and specialists continue to draw encouraging conclusions. Today we decided to bring all the figures of the Games together to see the final picture as a whole.

Watched and enjoyed The television audience of the Games in Europe exceeded 320 million people! Outside the Old World it reached 111 million people. In total, the competition was broadcast to 195 countries and territories. The volume of general broadcasting by copyright holders companies on the European continent alone exceeded 3,000 hours! In the rest of the world, this number overcame the value of 1000 hours, which is also a result that causes respect. In general, the coverage of the audience of the 2nd European Games amounted to more than 1.5 billion people! All these facts were published by the Directorate of the 2nd European Games. The top three countries in terms of the number of broadcast hours were also identified. According to the official website of the Games www.minsk2019.by, the Polish media holding PolsatSport turned out to be the champion here. It spent 286 hours (!) in the program grid of its four channels to show the 2nd European Games. Our Belteleradiocompany is in second place with a broadcasting volume of 284 hours. The final figure of the Belarusian media holding has accumulated statistics from three television channels — “Belarus 1”,

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“Belarus 2” and “Belarus 5”. The Portuguese television channel Sport TV rounds out the top three. Five channels of this media showed 264 hours of broadcasts from Minsk. The organizers also noted a record number of subscribers to the Viber Games community — 500 thousand. And the total audience coverage on relevant topics in social networks amounted to 812 million people!

Good visit About 37.5 thousand tourists visited Belarus in the last decade of June. According to the State Border Committee,8167 foreign citizens entered our country by the tickets of the 2nd European Games, which replaced visas. However, these statistics do not include tourists from Russia, Ukraine and those countries with which we have introduced visa-free entry. These data do not include those who entered the country through the airport, either (we will talk about them a little later). Let’s recall that visa-free entry to Belarus for fans opened on June 10, and for accredited persons on May 20. The border guards recorded 766,183 border crossings from the introduction of a visa-free

E regime until July 10. The largest number of tourists came from Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and the most common transport was automobile. The gross revenue of hotels for accredited guests only, according to Anatoly Kotov, deputy director of the Directorate of the 2nd European Games, was approximately $ 1 million. It will be possible to finally determine how much Belarus earned for ten days of the European Games by the end of the year, when all the necessary statistics of business entities and government agencies have been collected. Now about the aircraft. The press service of the Minsk National Airport reported that in June the Minsk airport served 2,703 departing flights (by 8.9 % more than a year earlier) and 507,646 passengers (an increase by 9.6 %). As for the period of the 2nd European Games, the passenger flow increased by almost 80 %. From June 19 to July 1, the airport served 390101 passengers, which is by 78 % more than the same period last year. The number of flights served during this period increased by 11 % to 2458 (a year ago it was 2.214). The record for the aircraft enterprise figures for per day departing flights and passengers were also set during the 2nd European Games. So, on June 21, 208 flights were served, and on July 1–20,276 passengers.

Tickets A total of 232 thousand tickets were sold for the 2nd European Games. These figures were announced by the Director General of the official ticket operator — Tiketpro LLC Kirill Suschinsky. Occupancy at the sporting events stands was 88 %. For 62 competitive sessions out of 102 all the tickets were sold out. The opening ceremony of the 2nd European Games was attended ticket-based by 17.5 thousand spectators, and the closing ceremony by 18.7 thousand. The stadium occupancy rate during the ceremonies was 97.5 %. The most popular with the audience competitions were track and field athletics (within several days, 56.3 thousand people watched the progress of the competition in the stands of the Dynamo stadium), gymnastics (24.5 thousand), rhythmic gymnastics and acrobatics (16 thousand). Top 5 also included boxing (14.7 thousand) and wrestling (13 thousand).

Souvenirs and food Souvenir products were sold for more than a million rubles during the 2nd European Games. According to the SUE of the Minsk City Executive Committee, the average purchase receipt ranged from 20 to 50 Brb, and at the shopping facilities located in the athletes' villages it was on average about100

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Brb. Some fans made purchases even for 600–1000 Brb. It involves usually two or three types of souvenirs, but in large quantities. In total, the turnover during the European Games amounted to 2.6 million Brb. Minsk residents and guests spent this amount in 15 sports arenas and fan zones. The fan zone near the Sports Palace turned out to be the most visited and profitable, over 550 thousand Brb was earned there. During the Games about 30 tons of Belarusian potato pancakes, pansky burgers and dranburgers were sold. The guests also ate up over 23 tons of barbecue, 36 tons of sausages and grilled chicken wings.

Heritage The games passed and left for us not only memories, but also quite material benefits. An upgraded sports facilities, numerous modern equipment that was purchased for the competition, as well as involved in other fields of economic activity. All this is a considerable investment for many years to come. In addition, more than 300 air-conditioned buses and electric buses, public transport lanes appeared in the city, and the fleet of vehicles in the regions was significantly updated. Young people will get the renovated Student Village with two new hostels, a stadium, a policlinic and two modern gyms. Of course, we must not forget about the human resource and experience that you can’t buy for any money. Well, for example, volunteers showed their worth. Most of them were students of Belarusian universities. Their contribution to the Games was noted by the President, and he also recommended to create a database of volunteers and use their potential in other major events. A total of 8700 volunteers were involved in the 2nd European Games, who were selected from more than 24 thousand people.

Medals At the 2nd European Games, more than 4 thousand athletes from 50 countries competed for 200 sets of awards in 15 sports. The national team of Belarus was beyond praise. Our athletes managed to win 69 awards, 24 of which were gold, 16 — silver and 29 — bronze, which resulted in the second place in the overall standings. We would like to recall that we won 43 awards at the 1st European Games in Baku. The progress is evident! And a nice bonus was receiving two direct Olympic licenses for the Games in Tokyo 2020: they were obtained by Yury Shcherbatsevich, who became the silver medalist in rifle and pistol shooting, and the winner of the javelin throwing Tatsiana Khaladovich, who completed the Olympic qualification standard. Bravo! By Sergey Kanashits

беларусь. belarus 2019

eroes of the 2nd European Games

You can`t take your eyes off The beautiful Maria Makharinskaya from Vitebsk has more than enough achievements in synchronized jumping. From the recent ones — together with Anna Goncharova she won gold at the 2nd European Games. Makharinskaya speaks of her highly awarded countrywoman as of her personal sports standard. Masha herself is also worth admiring as a talented trampoline, charming and smart 22‑year-old girl.

In her account in social networks there are bright and sometimes just fiery photos. In one photo Maria is a fatal beauty in retro style, in another she looks into the offing or fools around in the winter forest. — What do you think of it? — I start right off the bat. Masha smiles and gets a little embarrassed: — You know, I treat it in a different way. Each person has his own view of beauty. Yes, if I manage to make time, I’m Instagraming, but the photos that appear there are more about femininity, romance. Professional sport requires endurance, strength, concentration. No matter how graceful you are, you still run the risk of looking tougher, sharper. Outside the trampoline, I want tenderness, softness. Hence, there are these pictures in social networks, the love of original images, dresses, hats, etc. Creative photographer and designer Bozena Ryazanova-Boginsk helps to realize ideas. By the way, it is Bozena who often comes up with a new role I will appear in next time. Now for lack of time it is difficult to find time for a photo shoot. — Looking at you, I ask myself: what is such beauty worth? I mean, how much effort does it take? — For the appearance and figure I am thankful to my parents and an active lifestyle! My mother used to do folk dances for a long time, and my father did gymnastics. I am also proud of my grandfather, Honored Worker of Culture, choreogra-

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pher Leonid Borodulko. Unfortunately, he passed away early, but managed to give Vitebsk his creation — the Lyavonikha dance ensemble, an honored amateur group of Belarus. So you can't fool genes: the thirst for movement is in my blood. Constant physical activity also helps to be in shape. Training several times a week (morning and evening), a gym to build muscle corset, swimming, sauna, massage… — Can you probably forget about diets with this schedule? — If I start eating too much sweet and fat, the scales indicator will go up. I try to tereat proper food, without “getting heavy”. I drink a glass of water in the morning, a little later comes the standard set: coffee or tea with a sandwich or porridge. At lunch I usually have a side dish with a portion of lean meat. For dinner I usually have what is left after lunch. As a snack I take some fruit, for example, an apple. I will never refuse the first dish. Soup is obligatory! Even my favorite dish is borsch. — What do you cook yourself? — If I have time I cook. My specialty is meat a la Francaise and potato pancakes. I can also cook borsch quite well, everyone who has tried likes it. Maria is not one of those who are used to living according to the same pattern. The champion admits that she is interested in new horizons.

Belta

— Now we are talking about the selection for the Olympics. Winning a gold medal is not a goal in itself. It's cool for me to enjoy the process itself: training, competitions, atmosphere. But this does not mean that I will not do all my best. Of course I will! It’s a pity my favorite “synchron” is not included in the Games program. One thing remains — to improve the “individual”. I’m not going to give up. I’m true to the motto: “Do not hesitate, just do it!” By the way, being a school graduate, Masha had a tattoo with this inscription made on her shoulder. — Can you recall the victory at home European games? — Emotions were overflowing. Anya (Anna Goncharova) and I dedicated our victory to our coach Olga Vlasova. She is an amazing person who always supports, correctly motivates — in general, for athletes she is a coach, a psychologist, and a second mother. — Is it true that people write to you on social networks that they began watching trampoline competitions when they saw you on air? — It happens. But mostly people thank for the performance, and wish me to reach new heights. — Can you give hope to male fans: is your heart free? — Let's skip this question (laughs). I will say one thing: my choice will be a kind, strong and decent man. — If we talk about Vitebsk, do you miss your hometown when you live in “Stayki”? — You bet! My first steps in big sport were made in Vitebsk. I was brought to the trampoline sports class for my older brother’s company when I was 4. Being a small “energizer”, I was delighted with new acquaintances, communication, and also with the fact that there was room to give way to my energy. In this regard, Vitebsk will forever remain the first, and therefore special. Before going home I pack my suitcase at lightspeed. And when leaving, on the contrary, it takes me four days — long, carefully, and with a promise to my beloved city: “Wait, I'll be back.” By Anna Naumova Belta

— It's great when dreams come true. It doesn’t matter whether it is sport or, say, art. For example, since I went to kindergarten I’ve wanted to draw like my friend, but I thought I lacked talent. However, in the city of Chagall and Malevich, creativity is probably in the air. A few years ago, I was lucky to meet an artist who proved that anything is possible if desired. Now I paint landscapes, the sea with great pleasure. Most often I take other people's works as a basis. I have recently painted a dandelion in pastel. In addition, I love to read. I used to devour books on psychology and motivation. Now — detective novels. I also like knitting to air my head. Socks, caps, gloves. I’m just knitting socks for our Olympic couple of the Goncharovs. Thousands of subscribers follow the personal and sporting life of the native of Vitebsk. What else do we expect? She is both a beauty and champion! — So many hobbies for a high-class athlete… — Even if you're a pro, why limit yourself to a gym, a stadium, or something else? However, this is a personal choice for everyone. In my opinion, it is more interesting to try a hobby, as they say, in test mode. Search for your own. I am impressed by people who are developing in all directions. For example, like Daria Domracheva. — She is a worthy example to emulate. Are you already preparing for Tokyo 2020?

eroes of the 2nd European Games

беларусь. belarus 2019

Street art

Colorful event Vulica Brasil, Belarusian-Brazilian street art festival, was bustling in Minsk

ast year, the organi zers of the festival decided to take a short pause, but this season they returned with new ideas and a list of places that had been decorated by Belarusian artists and their colleagues from sunny Brazil.

Mood color is yellow Let's start with the headliners. Gustav and Otavio Pandolfo again included Minsk in their world art tour — visually practically indistinguishable twin brothers, better known under the creative pseudonym OSGEMEOS. Today, the 45‑year-old natives of Sao Paulo are some of the most famous street art art-

The festival has a lot of fans

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ists in the world, whose yellow men live on the walls of buildings in Chile, the USA, Italy, Germany, Lithuania, on the island of Cuba and in their native Brazil. In 2015, one of the walls of the Brazi lian embassy in Minsk was wrapped in the warm embrace of the OSGEMEOS yellow man. Artists simply explain their commitment to the bright sunny colour: — Sao Paulo is a very gray city, and we always wanted to color it. From the very beginning of our work (and we started drawing back in the 1980s) we tried to find our color. Once we spotted the wanted in yellow. Since then, we have been constantly adding this brightness to our life and work. The work of the Brazilian Bruno Big is probably familiar to all football fans. A few years ago, a 39‑year-old native of Rio de Janeiro became the author of a series of symbols of Brazilian culture that were printed on the sports shirts of players of the national football team during the World Cup in 2014. The four previous Vulica Brasil festivals were dedicated to the development

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treet art

Bruno Big:

“To be a happy person and find true love, you must first learn to take care of yourself and your “own garden.” The secret is not to chase the moths, but to carefully look after your garden so that the moths fly into it themselves.” The secret is not to chase the moths, but to carefully look after your garden so that the moths fly into it themselves.

Merge and acquisition

“Take care of your garden.” This is the name of Bruno Big mural.

of culture and art. This year the theme of the fest was urbanism and architecture, as well as ecology and sustainable development. The artist came to Minsk for the first time. He told us that he did not expect to see the whole area with murals and street art (we are talking about Oktyabrskaya street. — Auth.). It took him five days to see them all: there

were so many works. However, he left his mark in the artistic history of Minsk in another place — on the facade of the former premises of the Horizont plant (Kuybysheva street, 45). The name of the work is philosophical — “Take care of your garden”: — To be a happy person and find true love, you must first learn to take care of yourself and your "own garden."

Karolina Polyakova is an old friend of Vulica Brasil

Belarus was represented by Gomel artist Vladislav Khvostov (also known as Khvooostov) took part in Vulica Brasil for the first time. He is a graduate of the Belarusian State Academy of Arts, graphic designer and illustrator. Five years ago, Vlad became the winner of the design of the entry ticket to the National Museum of Arts competition but this time the artist’s style was appreciated not only by museum lovers, but also by all the residents and guests of the city. Khvostov’s work entitled “Sealing Strip” appeared under the bridge at the intersection of Bobruiskaya Street and Independence Avenue, not far from the Minsk railway station. Another participant in the current festival is a photo artist Karolina Polyakova (also known as Poliakowa) from Lida city. She works with video, animation and collage techniques. Karolina did not draw on the walls of buildings, but presented at Vulica Brasil photo collages with the scenes of urban life. Ten Polyakova's billboards with natural horizons and futuristic landscapes of the capital, made from dozens of different details and characters of the city can be found all over Minsk. By Juliana Leonovich

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ortrait of the Fatherland

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With old postcards — to Grodno Vladimir Likhodedov, a famous Belarusian collector-deltiologist, is well known outside Belarus. He presented his collection more than once, participated in exhibitions and conferences in Russia, Ukraine, Poland and other countries of the world. Vladimir Alekseyevich was awarded the medal “For great contribution to the practice of collecting of Russia”, the Golden Pen prize of the Belarusian Union of Journalists.

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n the eve of the Belarusian Written Language Day, which is held in our country for the twentysixth time in a row, the publishing house “Zviazda” presented the reader with photo albums of old postcards “Grodno. Time travel”. This year the holiday is hosted by Grodno land, or more precisely — by the ancient Slonim. The book, through which the author and publishers are going to tell about the past of Grodno, is inclu ded in the book program of the Belarusian Written Language Day. However, this year Grodno Region has enough other important dates. Vladimir Kravtsov, Chairman of the Grodno Regional Executive Committee, writes in his preface to the edition: “Grodno Region is a land of rich history and deep cultural traditions. Hardworking people of different nationalities live here, and old times neighbor with the present”. In September 2019, Grodno Region celebrates its 75th anniversary, and several editions dedicated to the past

and present of the Neman region, its towns and villages, have been published. Among them is “Grodno. Time travel”, the work of Vladimir Likhodedov, famous Belarusian collector, writer, winner of the President of the Republic of Belarus award “For Spiritual Revival”. Collected by the author postcards and photographs of the towns of different times and epochs give an idea of how Grodno was changing during almost a century and a half. Looking at the old photographs, we can see what time has not spared, and what has been preserved. An image or photograph taken in the distant past is even more valuable if we want to recreate an architectural monument or restore its original appearance. We can imagine what the city was like in the century before last thanks to the works of Napoleon Orda. He depicted the beauty of Grodno cast les, temples, palaces, suburban royal estates. It is no coincidence that Grodno residents named one of the streets of their city after this artist. While developing the project of reconstruction of the Old Castle in Grod-

P no, the authors were largely guided by the engraving of Tomasz Makowski. The famous printer, artist, cartographer, author of the map of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1600 created an engraving depicting the city of Grodno, in which he painted in detail the royal castle of the time close to the reign of Stefan Batory. The abundance of historical and cultural monuments is one of the features of Grodno. The last and most destructive war — the Great Patriotic War — caused considerable damage to our city, but its historical core is preserved. It comprises 200 hectares of buildings: houses, castles, palaces and temples. The layout of the streets has not changed. It is the same in the centre as it used to be centuries ago, and it can show the way the city was developing from the castle mountain… We flip through the pages of the photo album and get acquainted with specific addresses. Old postcards give us a chance to look at the city from a bird’s eye view. And here is a view of the Neman River. A railway bridge over the Neman, Stanislavskaya alley, a wooden bridge over the river, Zamkovaya street, Summer theatre, a women’s gymnasium… So many addresses, where it would be nice to spend time, look around, get acquainted with the citizens of that time. Many postcards are with the images of the citizens. Here are some Grodno residents on Cathedral Street. Not far from the Kalozhskaya Church on the bank of the Neman River there are officers of the Russian army. There are impressive postcards in which photographers of the past recorded places of worship. Many of them are with the Farnaya Church. St. Francis Xavier Cathedral — this is the full name of the Farnaya Church, a Catholic cathedral. It is one of the three temples of Belarus, which have the honorary title of a small basilica. The height of the temple is 65 meters. On one of the towers there is an ancient clock, one of the oldest operating clocks in Eastern Europe. The fate of the famous Polish writer Eliza Ozheshko is connected with the city on the Neman. Four old postcards

ortrait of the Fatherland

are dedicated to her house, which was located on Muravyevskaya Street. And each of the postcards has its own look, its own details… This “Ozheshko” broadside of the photo book “Grodno. Time travel” is a kind of contribution to the Grodno literary study of local lore. By the way, Vladimir Likhodedov’s new albums consist of the following units: “Grodno. End of 19th — beginning of 20th century”; “Grodno. 1905– 1915”; “Grodno. 1915–1918”; “Grodno. 1920–1930s”; “Grodno. 1941–1945”; “Grodno. 1946–1970s”. Postcards that reflect the period of the First Imperialist War are extremely interesting. A funeral prayer service of German servicemen, a cemetery of German soldiers, a blown up Japanese cannon, captured machine guns (the whole arsenal!), a blown up bastille of the Grodno fortress, ruins of fortifications of the Grodno fortress, a trophy cannon… The pictures seem to be clear storylines. One can follow the photographer of the beginning of the last century and figure out, supplement the events of the previous century… The photo book “Grodno. Time travel” can be used at school lessons in the history of Belarus. Why not? And I would also advise to have this edition of reproductions of old postcards to every Grodno citizen. And also to all those who are going on a trip to Grodno. Actually, the books by the collector Vladimir Likhodedov (and today 25 of them have already been published in the series “In Search of the Lost”!) can make up a real native library of illustrations. And for the last fifteen years photo albums have been published by the publishing houses “Riftur”, “Technology”, in the publishing house “Zviazda”… Let’s remember the names of at least some of them: “In Search of the Lost”, “Fatherland’s Falling Star”, “The Holy Great Prince Vladimir, Equal of the Apostles”, “Synagogues”, “Tadeusz Kosciuszko in Old Postcards and Drawings”, “Minsk. Time travel”. Reproductions from V. Likhodedov’s book “Grodno. Time travel”.

Grodno. Swiss valley.

Steamship dock

General view of the city

Zamkovaya street

By Ales Karlyukevich

беларусь. belarus 2019

raditions

Residents of a village in the Luban region made kvass their specialty

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he specialty, thanks to which the residents and visitors of our country can learn about the seemingly ordinary Plastok village in the Lyuban district, can be kvass. Mind you, we are not talking about a refreshing summer drink. We are talking about the firstcourse dish with a touch of sourness, the recipe of which dates back to ancient times. Recently, by the way, everyone in the village was treated to it. Photojournalist Aleksey Stolyarov also visited a tasting held at the Plastok Kvass International festival of folk cuisine. The basis of the soup is sauerkraut juice which is kept in barrels. In addition, oven-dried mushrooms. The hostesses reveal a secret: kvass with them is much tastier than with fresh ones. Edible

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Kvass in village is very good

boletus are usually used. Moss-flies and chanterelles also will do. Next is complete improvisation. Someone puts sauerkraut into a cast iron (and this soup is traditionally cooked in the oven). Someone adds meat, chicken, fish. A handful of pearl barley is recommended in the dish. It, they say, makes it more nutritious and the taste is much richer. They also whiten it with sour cream. But potatoes in such a traditional stew, on the contrary, are out of place. Though, kvass is often served together with potatoes, and often with potato cakes. — Almost any housewife of an older age, and perhaps not just an older one, can cook such kvass in Plastka, — tells us ethno-choreographer Sergei Vyskvarka, head of the local folk ensemble “Verabeyki”.

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Our compatriots did not know what vitamin deficiency is, but they fully felt its effects — fatigue, apathy, drowsiness. Kvass was just one of those miracle remedies that helped remove symptoms.

— Moreover, the recipes are different from one another. The village itself, by the way, is not very large. Not an agro-town, but not dying out either. About 300 people are now living there: there are elderly people, people of working age, young families, and schoolchildren. In general, there are people to pass on the torch to, which, in fact, is being done. In Plastka, this first-course dish was also an indispensable component of all commemorations. However, it does not mean that this soup can be tasted only in limited area. An expert and a historian of Belarusian cuisine Elena Mikulchik says: sour kvass is characteristic of many regions of our country. And cabbage juice (as well as pickle) as its basis is not the only one, although the most

affordable, low-budget option for poor people. — In our area kvass was made of everything,” — notes Mikulchik. — Fermented mushrooms, cereals — rye, oats. In a similar way, for example, jour soup and raugen drink were made. In the Pinsk region I tried soup based on highly fermented birch-tree kvass. Its taste is vigorous. Kvass was even made from fruits. As a rule, from pears. The best kvass was made from rotten ones with the addition of rye flour. Wild apples were also used. People drank it and made first-course dishes from it. The classics is fermented beets. At the same time, ordinary borsch was cooked not so often. The thing, says Elena, is this: in the process of fermentation, a huge amount of vitamins and minerals is produced.

Our compatriots did not know what vitamin deficiency is, but they fully felt its effects — fatigue, apathy, drowsiness. Kvass was just one of those miracle remedies that helped remove symptoms. — These soups were a very popular and common dish in old Belarusian cuisine, — concludes Elena. — The question is practical. I will remind you that there were no refrigerators in ancient times. The cooked had to be somehow kept. They could not cook every day! Acidic environment contributed to this. Look, jour — oatmeal soup — does not go off for at least five days. Sauerkraut soup stays good for a week. However, soups with mild flavor, like grated cream, could be poured out after a day or two. By Dmitry Umpirovich

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What is being prepared for theater-goers? September is a good time for fans of theatrical art: theaters of Belarus after their summer vacations open their doors to them Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theater Prior to the opening of a new theater season, 165 people returned home inspired (these are performers of the choir, orchestra, soloists, technical and production groups). They took part in the 21st annual Aphrodite opera festival in Paphos with the genius Giuseppe Verdi’s Macbeth opera directed by Mikhail Panjavidze. The Belarusian team was performing on the coast of Cyprus on August 30, 31 and September 1. On September 2 and 3, at the Bolshoi Theater, within the framework of the Days of Culture of the People’s Republic of China in Belarus, the Peking Opera showed the play “The Generals of the Yang Family”. It was an unusual spectacular performance in which several genres converge — traditional Chinese opera, acroba tics, choreography, pantomime and martial arts. The new 87th season opened at the Bolshoi Theater of Belarus with the premiere of Alexander Borodin’s opera “Prince Igor” directed by Galina Galkovskaya. The current performance was the sixth for the theater, but the first for the director Galina Galkovskaya. The opera was conducted by Alexander Anisimov, set design was made by Vyacheslav Okunev. By the way, the rehearsals already began in the last week of August. At the same time, choreographer Olga Costel started arrangements for the first ballet premiere of this season, the life and love story of Leo

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Tolstoy’s female character Anna Karenina — now “Anna Karenina” ballet is being rehearsed, we will see it in November. On September 17 and 18, the theater-goers were able to see the performance of Vyacheslav Kuznetsov “Anastasia”, a ballet about the Belarusian Jeanne d’Ark, Princess Slutskaya, directed by Yuri Troyan. Not all Minsk residents could see this premiere of the previous season, so the performances were sold out, which is typical of the Bolshoi Thea ter. Another premiere of the previous season was also in demand — Johann Strauss’s operetta “The Bat”. Maestro Ivan Kostyakhin was conducting it. The Chamber Hall named after Larisa Aleksandrovskaya opened its season on September 18 with a program “Masterpieces of the World Opera”, in which our beloved performers took part. The 90th anniversary of the outstanding composer Yevgeny Glebov (1929–2000) was timed to coincide with the performance of The Little Prince ballet directed by Alexandra Tikhomirova. In December we will traditionally enjoy listening to the stars of the Minsk International Christmas Opera Forum. This year, as we were informed, there will be changes in its program: no competition of young vocalists will be held. But I believe, it is not objectionable. Let the young vocalists gain experience and strength. As they say in the theater: we, as always, have something to surprise our beloved audience by.

Yanka Kupala Theater And what about the Yanka Kupala National Academic Drama Theater? In the 2019/2020 season, the

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Scene layout for the opera “Prince Igor”

theatergoers’ interest will be arrested to our well-regarded theater. Its 100th anniversary started in September! On the occasion of this magnificent date, Nikolai Pinigin focuses on the classics. In July, before the summer holidays of the Kupala Theater staff, we could watch the premiere of the play “Shlyakhtich Zavalnya” by Jan Barszczewski. And the first premiere of the season will be “King Lear” — the iconic work by William Shakespeare, known as his best tragedy, which tells about the consequences of the struggle for power. How Nikolai Nikolayevich will interpret this blockbuster of literature, whether the actors’ attention will be directed to the study of the spiritual torments of the characters and the search for their causes, we will learn on December 26. Of course, we are looking forward to see Victor Manaev, People’s Artist of Belarus, in the role of King Lear, since we know what this talented actor is capable of. The chamber stage will also invite viewers. Here, a production with the prerelease title “1” (“First”) will have been presented by the end of the year by actor Roman Podolyako, who, as we know, has already successfully proved to be good at directing in the iconic play “Radziva “Prudok” by Andrey Horvat. Let us remind to the reader: in 2017, his book received the Debut Prize named after Maxim Bogdanovich and entered the short list of the Jerzy Gedroitz Prize. It became a bestseller of modern Belarusian literature. A little later, at the end of March 2020, the Russian choreographer Sergei Zemlyansky, whose directorial style is characterized by artistic expression, grotesque presentation of cha

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racters, and the use of various visual and musical effects, will stage the plastic play “My Chagall” on the main stage. It is interesting whether the characters of the play as well as Chagall’s figures on his canvases, will fly in the air or sit on the clouds… As they say, we will wait and see. By the way, we are already familiar with one of Zemlyansky’s directorial works by the play “Maternal Field”. It was shown in Minsk in 2014. This play can be called the first (according to Wikipedia) in the direction of a new plastic drama that appeared at the interface of three theatrical genres: drama, dancing and pantomime. By the end of 2020, Nikolai Pinigin will again show us the updated “Idyll” by Vincent Dunin-Martsinkevich, which he used to stage at Kupalovsky theater in the past, even before his work at the Tovstonogov Bolshoi Drama Theater in St. Petersburg. We are promised to see this work, a masterpiece of national drama, on December 23. In addition, at a press-conference, Nikolai Pinigin talked about other plans for the anniversary year, about the intention to release a documentary dedicated to the anniversary and to publish a book.

Theater named after Maxim Gorky

Ballet "Anastasia"

The theatrical season at the Russian Theater (Maxim Gorky National Academic Drama Theater) will be taking place outside its native walls on Volodarskogo Street. Since May, the theater has been closed for major capital works which include modernization of the stage. They promise that by November (the deadline is by the New Year) the repair works will have been completed.

“Shlyakhtich Zavalnya”

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This inconvenience in autumn will not stop the performances. Sergey Kovalchik, artistic director of the theater, announced at a press conference at the National Press Center: — I hope that soon we will work on the repaired, modernized stage. In this way we can, I hope that we can at least a little bit get to the level of the Bolshoi and first theaters of the country, which have high-tech equipment. During the repair works, the theater will be showing performances on the stage of the Palace of Culture of Trade Unions. The artistic managing director did not talk about the plans, but we know something: in October, the theater will visit Kemerovo, Tomsk and Barnaul with two performances — “Sultry Moms” and “Pan Kohanku”. Since the beginning of September People’s Artist of Belarus Olga Klebanovich, as a production director, has started rehearsing the play “The Brothers Karamazov” by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Still another premiere of the season is expected. It is the performance “Summer residents” based on the play by Maxim Gorky. Valentina Erenkova took an attempt to philosophize “about life”, and we will see Sergey Chekeres in one of the main roles. I hope they will please us in early November. If the stage is not be ready by the deadline, the premiere will be performed at some other venue.

“Sultry Moms”

the season and the decade dedicated to the 60th anniversary of Alexander Gartsuev. He staged the play, defining the genre as “life in two epochs”. The first one shows the year 1980, and the second one reflects the events of the year 2012. This story is about the need for forgiveness. The premiere of the performance took place in July. On September 27, the audience was presented with the performance “Var’yatka” directed by Tatyana Troyanovich. An experimental production is also expected from Ekaterina Averkova and Evgeniy Kornyag. The premiere of their joint performance is scheduled for December. Musical comedy (this is the out“Money is Like Rain” dated name for the State Academic Musical Theater) will open later. On October 12, the сompany will show to its faithful audience the first present of the new season — Victor Lebedev’s musical “Oh, dear friend!” Based on the novel by Guy de Maupassant. Let me remind you that a play with the same name was first shown 36 years ago. Today’s prima donna Natalia Gaida then stared in the role of Madeleine, and Dyurua was sung by the People’s Artist of Belarus Pyotr Ridiger. According to tradition the theater will delight its small spectators. In December — January, closer to the Christmas holidays, two tales will be shown: “New Adventures of Emelya” by Russian director Anastasia Silaeva and “New Adventures of Domovenok Kuzya” by Valeria Chigileychik. afisha.tut.by

The theater season at the RTBD — Republican Theater of Belarusian Drama was announced as the “Season of Friends”. Already on September 11, lovers of domestic drama were shown a new play “Sirozha”, which opened both

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Theater of Belarusian Drama

“Oh, dear friend!”

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Youth Theater An honored company of Belarus — the Youth Theater — in the new season, will present a play “Dear Pamela” based on the

play by Pulitzer Prize winner John Patrick. In theatrical circles, the play is known as “How to kill an old woman.” The name of the director is also known, he is Algirdas Latenas from Lithuania. He will reveal his vision of the story about the nobleness of the soul and human vices. On September 12, Molodezhka opened with the premiere of the mystical comedy “Trickster Club” by Vlada Olkhovskaya, a young Belarusian writer. The performance was staged by director Andrei Guzy. By the way, in 2018 this play became the winner of the International Contest of Contemporary Drama in Russia — “Drama Time”.

Young Spectator Theater The 99th season opened at the Theater of the Young Spectator on September 16 with the festive fantasy “Blue Bird”. The theater poster tells about the rest of the repertoire.

Regions Theaters in the regions live according to their usual schedule. They also open in September. The Yakub Kolas National Academic Drama Theater in Vitebsk is preparing three premieres at once. The first — on the main stage — at the end of November will be presented by the artistic director Mikhail Krasnobaev. It is an eccentric comedy “My wife is a liar”, popular in theater circles. In the same month, director Irina Tishkevich will turn to Belarusian classics and show on the small stage the play “Shlyakhtich Zavalnya” by Jan Borschevsky. A little later, by the New Year, a remake of “Puss in Boots” for children is expected. Three new plays will be presented at the Brest Academic Drama Theater. In September Igor Kazakov, the director of the Mogilev Puppet Theater, came to the city on the Bug to present there a bright and grotesque “Petty Bourgeois Wedding” by Bertolt Brecht. The play, the working title of which is Oblomov, was also accepted for production. Director Timothy Ilyevsky promised an original interpretation of the novel by Ivan Goncharov: the main character will appear in different time periods. By the beginning of the New Year holidays, another premiere is expected — a children’s fairy tale. The repertoire of the Mogilev Regional Drama Theater will not do without premieres either. The first novelty (in October) is “Two Maples” based on the play by Eugene Schwartz. The director is Mikhail Loshitsky. After that, the production of Andrei Guzy under the intriguing title “Seven Women on the Neck” is expected, based on the play of Claude Magnier. As my fellow journalists reported, the Gomel Regional Drama Theater will take a break. The spring-summer days were very busy for the company: 4 premieres within 2 months! “Nine white chrysanthemums”, “Fish of my dreams”, “To Forget Herostratus…” and the children’s “Save Migai Svetoforych” — the company will show all this in the new theater

season. But the theater will not do wit hout ne w products. Theater artistic director Sergei Lagutenko promises a lot of surprises: from invited directors from Russia and Ukraine to a performance dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Belarus. What about Grodno? There, at the regional drama theater, performances are already in full swing, since the 73rd season opened on August 25 with the premiere “Money is Like Rain”. The director is the Honored Artist of the Republic of Belarus Sergey Kurylenko. He staged the performance based on the play of the French playwright Sebastian Thierry. Another premiere took place on September 1 — “Time and Family” by John Priestley. This performance is about the transience of life, about relationships with the loved ones, about family values, as well as about the time that we value so little. The September repertoire also included performances that had been in the repertoire before, but which caused a constant interest. This is the tragicomedy “A Very Simple Story” by Maria Lado, the comedy “Birth” by Alexei Slapovsky, the comedy “Elegant Wedding” by Robin Houdon and others. As you have already noticed, there are enough premieres at the theater, and performances that will not only entertain the audience, but will also offer them to think about serious things. By Mikhalina Cherkashina

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Love and fate

of Aleksander Kostyuchenko

It’s hard to talk about him, the chief artist of the Bolshoi Theater of Belarus: he was a...

t is strange that when a person dies, you cannot realize for a long time that he really is gone. Why is it so? What happens? I want to believe that we are actually moving to another world, another dimension. Maybe that’s why you get used to the idea: you can’t see or meet a person close to you on earth anymore. And your yearning passes with time. And while your memory is alive, you remember them, you think about their strong sides, what attracted you I them. Aleksander Kostyuchenko came to the Bolshoi Theatre in 2009. And created about 15 opera and ballet performances. Among them there are the operas “The Tsar’s Bride” by RimskyKorsakov, “Tosca” by Puccini, “Nabucco”, “Aida”, “Macbeth” by Verdi, “The Grey Legend” by Smolsky, “The Seville Barber” by Rossini, “The Rural Honor” by Mascagni, as well as the ballets “Cinderella” by Prokofiev, “The Seven Beauties” by Karayev, “Tristan and Isolde” to the music by Wagner and others. In 2011, Kostyuchenko reconstructed the scenography of the outstanding artist Evgeny Chemodurov, his teacher, in a new production of the opera “Aida”, which is successfully performed in the Bolshoi Theatre. Aleksander Kostyuchenko is one of those exceptional people who are talked about: a person with charisma. It is common for people like him to achieve everything they want. He told me how, once being in the Bolshoi Theatre with

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his wife Natalia at the “Swan Lake”, he said to himself: “I will work here…”. That’s what he said about it: — I think this theater is like love and destiny to me. The first art school, where I started to study in 1970, was situated on the 4th floor of the opera house. And, of course, I absorbed something: the atmosphere itself influenced me. When, after having served in the army, I studied at the art school, I also went there to see the ballet with my future minor wife, whom I fell in love with finally and irrevocably, she was 17 and I was 21. And at “Swan Lake”, an incredible thing happened to me, some breakthrough into the future: I felt it very sharp: here it is, my theater. — And repeated. — It is like love and destiny to me. For his high creative achievements, professional skills and merits in the development of national culture and art, Aleksander Kostyuchenko was awarded Francisk Skorina Medal. For the staging of “The Tsar’s Bride,” he was awarded a special prize of the President of Belarus. In 2017 he was awarded the State Prize of Belarus for creative achievements in the development of musical art, promotion of spiritual values and a significant personal contribution to the staging of the opera performance to music by Dmitry Smolsky “The Grey Legend” based on the work of Vladimir Korotkevich. He used to be a guest of the magazine’s editorial office and the central figure of publications. And our mature friendship began with an interview dur-

ing his 55th anniversary (“Беларусь.Belarus”, No. 2–2013). And in our youth we saw each other not only at the premieres. I must confess: once my niece, she was a friend of Sasha’s wife Natalia, suggested: let’s go to Kostyuchenko’s, to see the house, to see how people live in Minsk in private houses. And the thing is, I grew up in a private house, too. Therefore, any reason to visit people who do not live in an apartment building either encouraged me. That’s what it is, nostalgia for my yard, garden, childhood in general — this is nostalgia. And it is forever. I remember us drinking tea with jam together with Natasha, and their sons, Kostya and the father’s namesake — younger, were running about the yard with Sasha. And I saw Sasha, when we, saying goodbye, went out on the porch. He had a checked shirt on and was arranging… wood boards. They were fresh and even smelled. I don’t know why he was doing it. Maybe he wanted to build something in the yard… I can’t delete his number from Viber. I see: he was online on August 18. Quite recently. I also learned recently: before the vacation he came to the theater. He felt worse, but was still, they say, cheerful and optimistic. The last time I congratulated him on the Victory Day was on May 9. Sasha answered immediately. As always, he sincerely thanked for congratulations. And when my husband and I went to the Bolshoi to see premieres, we used to be waiting for the first call on the

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couch, talking jokingly: well, soon we will see not only the general director of the Bolshoi Theatre in a tuxedo, who always walks about the lobby to meet VIP guests, but also Sasha. He would have a black bow tie and a dazzling white shirt on. For all the years he used to work at the Bolshoi, we never saw him in any other, not holiday clothes at the premieres. The dress code was strictly observed by him. And he always came to us. When he saw us, he came up, welcomed us heartily, smiling charmingly. And he always used to joke. Like this: well, a married couple of journalists, you’ve come to have a look… Well, do have a look… And after the performances, he never asked us if us we liked the stage scenery. His modesty, shyness was natural. His elder brother Sergey Kostyuchenko spoke about it at the funeral service, which took place at the Bolshoi Theatre on August 28. He explained: Sasha disguised his shyness with humor and jokes. And as for the opinions of others about his scenography, it seems to me that Aleksander knew himself how he managed to do it — well or badly. And it was based not on self-esteem, but on confidence in his profession. He died at the age of 62 in his creative prime. Aleksander Kostyuchenko’s last work was a scenography for Olga Kostel’s ballet “Anna Karenina”. On November 14 we expect the premiere. Now the scenery settings are being made. As for the model for the “The Queen of Spades” for the Sofia National Opera, Bulgaria, he was working at it at home. I don’t know if the model has been finished. Kostyuchenko’s junior assistants, the so-called team of the chief artist, told me about it. San Sanych had five of them. Young, talented… They addressed him that way — San Sanych. These are Ekaterina Bulgakova, the production designer; Ekaterina Shimanovich, the artist; Nataliya Shipuk, the artist; Nelli Lipina, the designer; and Sergey Belov, the modelist. All of them have already created their own stories about contacts with the team leader. As Katya Shimanovich told me, they loved and respected San беларусь. belarus 2019

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Sanych very much. And so much so that, although everybody wanted to say a lot, it was extremely difficult to say anything but these words at the funeral table: because of tears. After all, he always protected them, supported them, helped them. And even if he reproached them for blunders, they were not offended, as they realized: this is the Master, Teacher, a kind-hearted person. By the way, more and more people kept on coming to bid farewell to him, there were more than a hundred people, I thought that most of them also had their own stories of creative and personal contacts, short and long in time, in the depth of the relationship, in the spiritual content. As a theatrical artist, he had a great sense of stage space. And that’s how he explained why it is so important for a scenographer to learn to feel it: — If there is no feeling of inner space, the artist is doomed to failure. The scenes are treacherous. I start my work on the performance by getting acquainted with the stage, I can stand on it for fifteen to twenty minutes with my face turned to the audience space. I should feel the volume of the hall, too. That was the case in Ufa, where Panjavidze and I were staging “Tosca”. I stood there and felt nothing. At some moment something clicks inside me: that’s it, I’ve grabbed the space!

— The musicians have such an instrument — a tonometer, — said at the mourning ceremony Nikolay Kolyadko, Honored Art Worker of Belarus, conductor of the Bolshoi Theatre. — Aleksander Aleksandrovich was and still is such a tonometer for us. The way he treated his work, the way he loved this theater — I have met few people like that. Here he left a part of his heart, a part of his soul. And his soul was like a fresh spring, which many people touched and took courage, strength and optimism from. That’s what Boris Lutsenko, People’s Artist of Belarus recollected: He was the artistic director of the National Academic Drama Theatre named after Maxim Gorky at the time when Kostyuchenko was working there as the chief artist, getting professional skills of a scenographer. He and Lutsenko worked together for five consecutive years. — Of course, we were jealous of his ambition to work at the opera house, but we blessed him. At the opera house, his talent burst open to the full. When I was watching “The Grey Legend”, not only music and actors sounded there — there sounded a quick rearrangement of the scenery. Sasha learned all this. That’s why he said to me: “Come on, I’ll show you how it all moves! And this movement against the background of music

was amazing. I think he’s a composer of the stage! He was also invited to stage performances at the Youth Theatre, Kupala Theatre in Minsk, Kolosovsky Theatre in Vitebsk, Sofia Opera House and many theatres in Russia. By the way, in the Gorky Theater his performances are still on… I remember Aleksander telling me that it was in this theatre, the so-called Russian theatre, that he seemed to spread his wings. In addition to Lutsenko, he collaborated with many famous directors, including Modest Abramov, Vitaly Borkovsky, Alexander Gartsuev, Valentina Erenkova, Vitas Grigalunas and Mikhail Krasnobaev. He has staged more than 50 dramas in Belarus and abroad. He staged the best opera performances with the chief director of the Bolshoi Theatre Mikhail Panjavidze. — Up to his last minute, Aleksander Aleksandrovich held plasticine in his hands and was modelling, because he couldn’t give up his beloved profession, said First Deputy General Director of the Bolshoi Theatre Vladimir Rylatko with tears in his eyes. On the site of the theater you can read about Kostyuchenko the following: he was born in a family of teachers on February 9, 1958 in the village of Vishnevo, but it was Minsk that became his

After the premiere of the play "Anastasia"

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M "Country Honor"

"The Seville Barber"

"The Grey Legend"

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native city. Here he graduated from the art school, then from college named after Alexey Glebov, which, as Aleksander repeatedly admitted, became a springboard to his profession. And his profession became his life… His teachers Evgeny Kemodurov, May Danzig and Pyotr Krokhalev encouraged his desire to create, compose and work. After graduating from the Belarusian State Theatre and Art Institute, Kostyuchenko worked at the Musical Theatre…In his work he was very critical. Some directors may say that it was difficult to cooperate with Kostyuchenko, but definitely — it was incredibly interesting. His creative work combined large architectural forms, and delicate painting, he was an excellent inventor with an exceptionally rich artistic imagination. He loved Belarus and his native Minsk. He was a wonderful friend and comrade-in-arms — both in joy and sorrow. He loved life infinitely and was an incredible optimist. And the most important thing is that he really loved the theater and was devoted to it… I remember very well how he explained why he loved pastels in paints: — I am going to work — it is dawn, I’m going back home — it is sunset… Probably, it was half true, and half a joke, because in his works there are not only pastel colors. There is enough saturation and brightness. And the main thing that is present even in subdued tones is purity of color. The strange thing is that a person is gone, and you can’t believe it. And you think of him as alive. Moreover, as before, the other day, while waiting for the start of the performance “Female Generals of The Yang Family” of the Beijing Opera, which was performed at the Bolshoi Theatre during the days of Chinese culture in Belarus, we looked at the door of the staff entrance by habit. It seemed: it will open and our Sasha will come out… But he did not come out. He is in different space now. What does he feel? Nobody knows. I want to believe that where he is, there is a lot of purity and light. And creativity does not end. By Valentina Zhdanovich

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szeged2019.com

Forward, only forward! The Belarusian national team won the world championship in rowing and canoeing in Szeged, Hungary. The President sent greetings to the national rowing and canoeing team. — I congratulate you on your worthy results at the Canoe Sprint World Championships in Szeged, where you won 14 medals, inclu ding 6 gold medals. The Belarusian team is one of the world leaders in this sport. This has become possible thanks to the high professionalism and hard work of athletes, coaches and specialists,” the Head of State stressed.

lga Klimova, Oleg Yure nya, Stanislav Dayneko, Dmitry Natynchik, Yelena Nozdreva rose to the highest level. Olga Khudenko and Marina Litvinchuk each have two championship titles. Such “a harvest” is

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the reason to shower compliments on athletes and their coaches. In fact, one can find at least five reasons why the championship, which ended in Hungary, became a landmark tournament for the Belarusian national team.

Belarus

The best result in history

Germany

Hungary

China

Russia

We are already used to the fact that Belarusian rowing is a world brand. Even, we have to admit, we sometimes forget that every award of this kind is based on years of hard work on ri vers and rowing canals. Our guys and girls look very confident at top tournaments. But even against this background, the current result is unique. Belarusian rowers have never brought so many medals from the World Cup.

Medal ranking of Canoe Sprint World Championships In total

Country

6 6 5 4 2

4 4 4 0 3

4 1 3 1 1

14 11 12 5 6

Before that, the record was set in 2015. On the eve of the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, the Belarusians brought 10 medals from Milan, half of which were gold medals. Before that, our guys had not made it to the podium more than eight times, and so the current success is a real breakthrough

and a strong bid for the upcoming Olympics!

The Hungarian national team is behind

port

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The Belarusians have long-standing and principal relations with the Hungarian team. First of all, these athletes are among the leaders on any rowing canal. Great traditions (since 1954, this national team has rarely lost the first line of the medal ranking at the world championships), support of the most active fans and, finally, the authority in the International Canoe Federation. The Hungarians take any loss badly. After the 2015 World Cup, many people Elena Nozdreva won a gold medal at women’s 500m final and a bronze medal at women’s 200m final

Dmitry Natynchik and Stanislav Daineko were the first to finish in the 500m kayak pairs class Olga Khudenko and Marina Litvinchuk won the 200m kayak pairs race and the Olympic distance

associated the pressure on the Belarusian team with the failure of the Hungarian national team and fears of being left without awards at the Olympics. Those passions quelled, but the rivalry became even more acute. And here is the triumph of the Belarusians at the World Cup in Szeged, where the water hosts were the third in the medal ran king. A worthy response to all the pre vious accusations!

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of 500 meters

Olympic prospects There are 30 kinds of kayaks and canoes in the World Championship беларусь. belarus 2019

port canoeicf.com

who participated in the race, can easily squeeze out the Chinese and the Hungarians in the competition for the victory. And the rest of the guys and girls on the related distances will not be marginal participants.

Youth of hopes

Belta

Canoeist Olga Klimova won gold in the 5000m race

Oleg Yurenya was the first to beat his rivals in the 5000m kayak singles race

program. But 12 of them stand apart. They are Olympic. That’s where the athletes will have to compete for medals in Tokyo. It is there that one can already try to predict the outcome of this competition as the Belarusian rowers have 5 medals, including gold ones won by Marina Litvinchuk and Olga Khudenko. After the emotions have settled down, there will probably be a lot of topics for discussion. The world championship in Szeged clearly showed the Olympic prospects of our two kayak women, who are also able to drag the crew of the four (with Nadezhda Lepeshko and Margarita Makhneva) to the podium in Tokyo. In Hungary, our crew was in a second away from the victory. We don’t

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have any more gold medals in Olympic events of the program. But, from what we saw in Szeged, the Belarusian national team has much in reserve. Thus, for example, Elena Nozdreva was only 0.29 seconds behind the American canoeist Nevin Harrison, who won the 200 meters race. The canoe-pair of Olga Klimova and Nadezhda Makarchenko,

Finally, the most interesting thing. A lot has already been said about the experience and sports feeling of head coach Vladimir Shantarovich. This year’s World Cup has once again confirmed our captain’s sagacity. Among 14 awards won by the Belarusians, four were won by canoeists. This sport was included in the Olympic program only a couple of years ago, while in Tokyo it was the debut, and those who had taken the development of this kind of program seriously before the announcement of the IOC’s decision will play the leading roles there. Belarus is just one of them. There were a lot of young people in our national team at the World Championships in Szeged. Nikita Borikov, who won silver in the kayak race, is 26 years old. Stanislav Dayneko, who became the champion together with Dmitry Natynchik, is 21years old. Vitaly Osetsky, who together with Andrey Bogdanovich, Evgeny Tengel and Maxim Krysko won the third place in the fourcanoe race, is only 18 years old. The canoeists in Szeged are also young. Elena Nozdreva and Nadezhda Makarchenko are 20 years old each, Olga Klimova is 23 years old. By the standards of rowing it is youth. But the girls have already confidently taken their place in the elite, having stepped onto the podium of the World Championship from the podium of the 2nd European games. By Dmitry Komashko

The most successful world championships in the history of the Belarusian national team are:

14 medals — 2019, Szeged (Hungary) 10 medals — 2015, Milan, Italy 8 medals — 2018, Montemor-o‑Velho (Portugal), 2014, Moscow (Russia), 2011, Szeged (Hungary); 7 medals — 2009, Dartmouth (Canada), 2010, Poznań, Poland; 6 medals — 2017, Račice (the Czech Republic).

Liubov Malysheva

Slonim remembers: the Statute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was created thanks to the famous statesman of the past Lew Sapieha

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