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No. 3 (1050), 2021 Беларусь. Belarus

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ISSN 2415-394X

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ГОЛАС РАДЗІМЫ

Голасрадзімы пятніца, 26 лютага, 2021

ГОЛ АС ЖыЫ выя га лі ны бе ла рус ка га дрэ ва РАД М І Уа З дз ЗІМ Д інс А т ! ве Р Ы ню ВЫДАЕЦЦА З КРАСАВІКА 1955 ГОДА ●

● № 2 (3638) ●

● ПЯТНІЦА, 26 ЛЮТАГА, 2021

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Х тычн кай п ст ма даў, ы едьрміупску к альк ла ас раў рны я іхад ііся такулрі слюсцэн аго якія раа ы рім ет кай юць ым вым анн атлік дэпу ымі прарБе у лкца і я дн нйая. есуэм ал ў,пер Бе ла на,Арменіі,Бе і,Венне раў пра дгхозен рус е аўдасбты н ко Кв ларуса нса наад та іба ыя рац вар юць ка ццё ць н ўме ыха інш ры раду ыкія кні цезавйва ю га СнНік ы ко алші ыена с майас пір на докзіўа Ад схо У ямі. імі та . ні лыстмкес авга ел актаокі л д У р п р ы Э , ы га р п эт та п м а ы ы ж сп ы ал а, р і ы м р а го п се э ста А ы зілдолэн , я сімтдэн б тйаМак ат на, гра у, ста о вы ж няю кія ёрд , у і у, шы , іфіа русі сты анту пас вар ннаікам ена,Іра н лы,Германіі,Касзках ь ымніст этдаўцы рш літаіцўладдаль Б аз яррацЧыіПрэ ны спісе яспа адст дзе бел лав атрмі я ы кшічры тый эбу.Г кМнаа танвай д паб х от. мацн ацькаборк уцяг ац на можцяікву аяччы унў, нкды е — тваўнзяыхна тх роі,я у,цв ароб інах мізм ін рж лом ія ія Мнаацей гіі логі . Я ка ру ля пргас ы довсіы, к ы лан ца м у кан ры, аўні паў арус ты Кітая, Кыргаыз тікаю омаўуроз люста ы коў, п жфан а ві сп ➔ ейш ўш і. А нМал зіку н ўпнарп164хдып —на, ці ці,Ры атра казч піе дзе кім і ге ымк хв тав апты і ды ь. Бела о пеіркаў,ска сар ліц су . З уні і ды ю й на в ІМЭ па озн явз ты Ста аю чы ў п Па х а на ад та ды 24 вя рэдак дыд замежкі атн хто адліц целестры ўн Расіі, Пакістанака, ы, аў:“Сім х,зіх—10цідып л ер фал ф ык Ф дзе ўдзель стр нікін айл ла кая р’ёз усілмомваў т ае члыкіч ыд х, зэн тр арам абс ць сам юц ца, агод — аўвюа сцэ і пцаы,янта р. ? Х на т ўрэш нікі рацо па Лат яспа дом цы атур ны бела ьні сп н ец ьк альк ла ь д,в ўсіаль то леп ў члаарусьза нцасіт 2 ыаяз — ме катана,штоцэнт ж Та Сірта ыі, патнэн ут п на, тв ных ляю цю амага ніц Нав ольш , І джы зід няымэкс яго валю рай Гранпры,іБе агаТурк шы се ф явае сыта эчен таўкіссута Эс віі, ры ыя асю з М , пе я го рус кол пія чы ррэ да е ам эта лор лор со ўнас Мі у! 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CONTENTS

Беларусь. Belarus

BELTA

Social and political magazine No. 3 (1050), March, 2021 Published since 1930 Founders: Zviazda Publishing House editorialand-publishing establishment Editor-in-Chief: Viktor Kharkov Executive Secretary: Valentina Zhdanovich Editorial office address: 220013 Minsk, Belarus, 10a Bogdan Khmelnitsky Street Tel.: +375 (17) 287-19-19, +375 (17) 292-66-92 Тel./fax: +375 (17) 287-15-26.

DISCUSSED THE RELEVANT ISSUES

Three vectors of success

The Belarusian Government reviewed the results of the economy over the past year and analyzed the beginning of the current one

What kind of jewelry do Belarusian women like

BREATH OF SPRING Convenient, and above all — environmentally friendly Electric transport is becoming ingrained in our everyday life. In some countries, it already occupies more than half of the new car market. Belarus is not going to lag behind global trends

Convenient, beautiful, rational What was the basis of the wardrobe of our distant ancestors? What colors were most often used for embroidery on clothes and in what technique was it done? What do designers need to remember today in order to create modern collections that at the same time carry a powerful ethnic message?

“Expensive and rich” principle becomes a thing of the past

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 Olga Razinkevich 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.

Overturned sentence, or the holiday that is always in you

The editorial office does not bear responsibility for contents of advertisements.

“Fashion is like eating, you shouldn’t stick with the same menu,” — said Japanese fashion designer Kenzo Takada. Do Belarusians manage not to stick with Chinese mass market goods?

Signed for printing on 22.03.2021 Offset printing. Coated paper. Format 60х84 1⁄8. Conventional printed sheets 5,58 Accounting published sheets 0,00 Total circulation — 820

copies (290 — in English)

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

Insightful look into tomorrow Strong regions, intellectual environment, focus on mutually beneficial partnertnership and a strong family are the priorities in the draft program of the socio-economic development of Belarus until 2025

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

POTTERY OF WOMAN’S SOUL

On the front page of the cover Photo by sb.by

БЕЛАРУСЬ. BELARUS 2021

MORE IN THE ISSUE 1

31 ANATOLY REZANOVICH: “RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW I WANT TO LIVE, CREATE, LOVE”

City Hall over the Dvina Ask a native or an avid tourist what Vitebsk can surprise you with. Along with the Summer Amphitheater, Chagall’s house and Repin’s estate, the City Hall will be named among the top must-see places. The 40–meter high architectural monument rises above the Dvina. This is the best observation deck of the city and its brand, as well as the regional museum of local lore, located in the City Hall since 1924

26 HIKING IN FANTASY STYLE

БЕЛАРУСЬ. BELARUS 2021

Ekaterina Khodasevich-Lisovaya: A Happy Book Ekaterina Khodasevich-Lisovaya, a member of the Union of Writers of Belarus since April 2006, a committee member of the children’s literature subpanel. Member of the editorial boards of the magazines “Vyaselka” and “Maladosts”. Started writing at the age of 10. Her printing debut took place in 1996 in the magazine “Pershatsvet”

Together to the Theater Why spend time in the theater when you can turn on video on your computer and relax comfortably on the couch? We are discussing it with art critic Natalia Volontsevich, the author of the “Together to the Theater” project

Feelings and thoughts in a beautiful form 83 years is a lifespan of Elizaveta Fen. She was born in 1900. She went to a better world in 1983. A writer whose roots through ancestors are connected with Belarus

WHOLE ERA HAS GONE WITH HIM

CONTEXT SLUTSK24.BY

Three vectors of success The Belarusian Government reviewed the results of the economy over the past year and analyzed the beginning of the current one The first and the main conclusion: despite the unprecedented pressure of external and internal factors, in 2020 it became possible to ensure the smooth operation of the economy. The facts speak for themselves. For example, last year the foreign trade surplus amounted to more than $1.9 billion. This is a record figure in the entire history of sovereign Belarus in absolute terms. The second positive fact is that the stable operation of the economy made it possible, even in such a difficult period, to ensure the outstripping growth of revenues in the public sector, primarily for doctors and teachers. — We have preserved labor collectives, the state has fulfilled all its social guarantees, — noted the Minister of Economy Aleksandr Chervyakov. — Since July, most industries have started to recover. In the 4th quarter of 2020, we almost reached the level of the 4th quarter of 2019 in terms of GDP. In October, we regained our exports, and in December got a 4 percent growth. As for the current year, the Ministry of Economy predicts that in the first quarter, GDP will increase by 0.3-0.5 percent. In January,

Convenient, and above all — environmentally friendly Electric transport is becoming ingrained in our everyday life. In some countries, it already occupies more than half of the new car market. Belarus is not going to lag behind global trends.

BELTA

The National Academy of Sciences, together with the interested ministries and departments, has prepared a draft comprehensive program for the development of electric transport for 2021–2025. — As a result, a well-coordinated, balanced document was developed that solves a whole range of issues not only in the field

At the heavy equipment production in Slutsk

a good result was achieved in industry — 108.5 percent. Agriculture also worked well — 100.2 percent. — The development of the domestic market, the launch of the investment cycle and export strategy — today our attention is focused on these three vectors, — explained Aleksandr Chervyakov. — We will put emphasis on the maximum use of our own resources. It also deals with the potential of our industries. This is our reserve, which we can further develop on a new technological basis, on a digital basis, which will increase labor productivity and product competitiveness. Vladimir Velikhov

of various types of electric transport, but also in that of infrastructure, i. e. charging stations, scientific support, creation of a component base for the location of electric transport production, as well as standardization and certification of vehicles and their components, — said Vladimir Gusakov, Chairman of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences. The draft comprehensive program for the development of electric transport for 2021–2025 stipulates a whole system of incentive measures. These are the further implementation of scientific developments, state support, tax benefits. An ambitious goal is to increase the share of public electric transport in the country to 30 percent by 2025. The number of light electric vehicles on Belarusian roads is also planned to be significantly increased. — Today we have only 1600 light electric vehicles. We believe that in the coming years there will be not thousands, but tens of thousands of them, — added the head of the NAS. The development of electric transport in Belarus should be largely facilitated by the developments of domestic scientists. According to Vladimir Gusakov, today the country is ready to produce its own electric vehicle. In particular, several options for the use of our own batteries — lithium ion, graphene and others — are currently being tested. The head of the National Academy of Sciences also drew attention to the fact that the program is already being partially implemented — charging stations are being set up, and BelGee enterprise has accepted the task of producing a thousand electric vehicles for personal use. Alexander Pimenov

БЕЛАРУСЬ. BELARUS 2021

POST SCRIPTUM

DISCUSSED THE RELEVANT ISSUES The February meeting of Alexander Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin in Sochi was of great interest to the media representatives. Official information about its content was rather scarce, which gave rise to all sorts of journalistic assumptions and groundless comments of various political scientists and experts. It is not for nothing that the question of what was discussed in Sochi remained relevant for a long time. Probably, this circumstance also contributed to the fact that the President of Belarus also raised this topic in Minsk at the meeting on the issue of Belarusian-Russian cooperation in the military sphere.

Krasnaya Polyana, Sochi

ccording to Alexander Lukashenko, interaction in the format of the Union State, issues of cooperation, military and military-technical cooperation, implementation of joint projects, and confronting various challenges, including external ones were discussed at the meeting in Sochi. At the same time, the topic of granting the Russian loan to Belarus was not raised — it was not initially included in the agenda. The issue of the so-called transfer of power was not touched upon, although some media resources wrote about it. — All our negotiations were based on the creation of a unified system in all directions, so that it would be even closer than cooperation between districts and republics in the Russian Federation itself, — said Alexander Lukashenko. — We have a firm understanding that this is our common Fatherland from Brest to Vladivostok, where today there are two independent states. Besides, the President of Belarus noted that at the meeting with Vladimir Putin, the following topics were discussed in more detail and more thoroughly:

INTEGRATION —  After the negotiations in Sochi and the issues that were raised thereat with the President of Russia, we agreed that we will discuss a number of issues at the level of the leaders of the Government and the security cabinet. First of all, the Minister of Defense, the Secretary of State. A lot was written about this meeting. Unfortunately, seventy percent is complete nonsense and fiction.

БЕЛАРУСЬ. BELARUS 2021

I’m not even going to list now everything that was discussed. There were dozens of issues. Moreover, literally all points of the Belarusian-Russian relations were revised and discussed. The context of these negotiations, so to speak, was limited by the framework of the Union State. Initially — how it was created, what was agreed on, what level we are now at and what we are capable of achieving. Belarusians live in their own “apartment”, although it is small in comparison with vast Russia. And we are a sovereign, independent state. Today the world has changed so much that all the talks about Belarus becoming a part of Russia, or Russia becoming a part of Belarus, or our possible merger by creating unified governing bodies… The world has changed so much that it would just be silly even to work in this direction. And secondly, it is absolutely unnecessary. Because, existing as a sovereign, independent state, we can build such a system of relations that this system will be more powerful than relations between individual territories in the Russian Federation itself. Belarus and Russia have practically the same level of development in various areas, and if the countries want, they will be able to build such a system of relations. And we have done a lot for this. We just don’t talk about it. After all, our people have equal opportunities. No matter how difficult it may be, business entities understand each other in negotiations and have achieved a lot.

FOREIGN POLICY — Ministries for defense and foreign-policy of Belarus and Russia are an example of cooperation for other government agencies. Therefore, we will coordinate our defense policy in accordance with the topic of the day, foreign policy. And we are full of determination (this was our common opinion) to create such a union of Belarus and Russia in the Union State that there is not a weak spot anywhere. Nobody will reproach us that someone has encroached on someone’s independence, sovereignty. Everything will be nice and dignified.

INTERACTION — The parties paid great attention to cooperation in the military sphere. Belarus and Russia intend to continue to act within the joint group of forces. The Russian army is one of the

POST SCRIPTUM BELTA

strongest in the world, it was good for the Belarusian servicemen to adopt the advanced warfighting methods, to master the latest weapons together with the Russian military. This direction was enthusiastically supported by the President of Russia.

ROCKING OF A SITUATION FROM THE OUTSIDE — Naturally, we were rocked, they are being rocked. It is no longer a confrontation but a war in the media. We understand that they will try not just to sink their tooth, but all their teeth into us. We exchanged confidential information, secret documents that are received by our State Security Committee, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff and other bodies. Destructive forces will now try to maintain protest activity with the help of all sorts of fakes and falsehoods. This is the most important thing for them now: to throw more dirty tricks into the media space in order to keep the fire up at least until April. They need to whip up people in Belarus, shake them up, so that, as they say, I quote: “the wave of activity does not subside”. Therefore, there will be any fakes. We are ready for this.

RESISTANCE TO SANCTIONS — We want to build such relationships so that we are not afraid of and affected by any sanctions. Yesterday they imposed sanctions against Russia, the day before yesterday — against Belarus. And it is already some kind of a hubbub. Look here, can we feed 150 million people on such a territory? Easily! In this vein, we analyzed the situation in all sectors. And came to the conclusion that we need to start doing it. We just need to plan the way the Chinese, the Japanese are doing. As far as possible, to plan our further actions in the economy.

COOPERATION — The issue of our cooperation was analyzed very seriously. At the EAEU summit, the Russian side raised the topic of possible cooperation in the aviation industry, taking into account the fact that a medium-range aircraft had been created in Russia. We can talk about outsourcing of some parts, components, services by foreign partners in the EAEU. And in Sochi, I, continuing the conversation, expressed gratitude and told him that we had moved such plant from the center of Minsk, had built it. And we are ready not only to service these aircraft, which are manufactured in Russia, but also to produce some units and components. That is, to carry out closer cooperation. It is beneficial for us. The same is true of cooperation between enterprises of the military-industrial complex, including “Integral”, aviation, armored vehicles. Such our plants are in demand there. I say, let’s cooperate. The Russian President said that they are very interested in this. Therefore, in this direction, both the Government and the State Secretariat, the Ministry of Defense should be more active.

The presidents of Belarus and Russia spent more than six hours at the meeting in Sochi. They only had just a short break for skiing on the slopes of Krasnaya Polyana.

CREDITS — A lot of nonsense has been written and said about loans. There was no question of any loans. And I did not have this topic on the agenda. Nobody asked for additional loans. We don’t need this. The only proposal of the Belarusian side in the financial sphere concerned the possible participation of Gazprom in modernization of Grodno Azot. It may be interested in it. If it isn’t — we will develop this plant ourselves. We need it: the demand for nitrogen fertilizers in the world is quite high. If Gazprom is interested in nitrogen from natural gas, we can cooperate with it on the plant construction. That’s it, there was no talk of any money during these negotiations. Therefore, if they want to reproach us with holding out a tin cup, it is a complete nonsense. Thank God, we can manage with our own money despite all the difficulties with pandemics and border closures.

ELECTIONS — There can be no transfer of power in Belarus. I have already said: none of my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren can apply for this position after President Lukashenko. Everything will be according to the Constitution and the law. We will adopt the Constitution, as I said, in January-February of the next year. That’s the whole transfer of power. Everyone, even the four of you (participants of the meeting — Auth.), can participate in these elections after the Constitution adoption — both in parliamentary and presidential. The internal policy of Belarus is exclusively a matter of Belarus itself. Therefore, we did not speak about any transfer of power. It would have been even indecent on the part of the host of that meeting. How we are going to develop our country internally is our business. As for the foreign policy, according to our agreement, we will coordinate, the way we are doing now. Aleksey Fedosov

БЕЛАРУСЬ. BELARUS 2021

PRIORITIES

INSIGHTFUL LOOK INTO TOMORROW

STRONG REGIONS, INTELLECTUAL ENVIRONMENT, FOCUS ON MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL PARTNERSHIP AND A STRONG FAMILY ARE THE PRIORITIES IN THE DRAFT PROGRAM OF THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF BELARUS UNTIL 2025

The main directions of the draft Program of the socioeconomic development of the Republic of Belarus for 2021–2025 have already been presented by the main developers of this large-scale document. By the way, not only government agencies, but also business unions, public associations, the scientific and expert community actively participated in its preparation — more than 35 different dialogue platforms and round tables were held in total. Yes, the developers have identified four program priorities — strong regions, intellectual focus of the development, openness to partnership, and a strong family. At the same time, presenting a detailed description of the main directions of the draft program of the socio-economic development, Minister of Economy Aleksandr Chervyakov stressed that the state would continue to maintain its social focus and the growth of people’s well-being would remain the main point: “The main attention will be paid to incomes of the population, employment, prices, housing affordability and high-tech services in healthcare and education. The GDP growth for the five-year period is planned to reach 21.5 percent. Real disposable income of the population will increase by 20 percent, investments — by 22 percent. Exports of goods and services in 2025 will reach more than $50 billion”. The minister outlined another feature of the main program profile as follows: “In the economy, we will continue to develop industrial potential in traditional sectors, i. e. industry and agriculture, but only on a new technological base and digital basis. New high-tech industries and enterprises will be formed”. Speaking about the development priorities, Aleksandr Chervyakov explained that Minsk and regional centers would focus on attracting investments in high-tech production, for which they have both production and research potential. Private business will also join this direction, which, for the implementation of such goals, will be offered unused production sites of state-owned enterprises, participation in import substitution programs and cooperation chains with large industrial enterprises.

БЕЛАРУСЬ. BELARUS 2021

Meanwhile, a new organizational structure, i. e. state corporations, is planned to be created in Belarus on the basis of amalgamation of production chains. At the initial stage, the creation of seven such corporations in the industrial sector is being considered. The prospects for the first pilot state corporation for agricultural machine building have already been worked out, it will unite about thirty enterprises with a total revenue of more than 3 billion rubles. It is planned to become a significant player in the global agricultural machinery market. In the new five-year plan, Belarus will undergo clustering, i. e. an innovation that brings together science, private business and large companies with the purpose of developing an innovative product. In total, 13 clusters are planned to be created. At the same time, family capital is growing. The focus is on a person, the standard and quality of his/her life, emphasizes the Minister of Labor and Social Protection Irina Kostevich. In other words, the priority is a happy family. According to Irina Kostevich, the family capital program, which has already proved its effectiveness, will continue to develop. Besides, there will be additional incentives for the birth of second and subsequent children in families. Among them is the solution of a housing problem, reintegration of mothers into the labor market, flexible patterns of employment. The possibility of extending the program to the birth of second children is also being considered.

PRIORITIES

— If we stimulate the birth of second children, thereby we’ll create a good start for the transition to the level of a large family, — said the Minister of Labor and Social Protection. — Therefore, we plan to consider the economic possibility of extending family capital to second children in the current five-year period. The minister said that in order to ensure a balance between family and work, it is planned to develop early childcare services. It involves not only state kindergartens, but also minor types of employment, mini kindergartens. Women are supposed to be provided with flexible employment, especially if they have large families. So, during this year, an amendment to the Labor Code will be prepared, which envisages an option at the woman’s discretion, i. e. an additional paid day-off or reduction of the working day by one hour. The program developers are confident that the real incomes of the population in nominal terms in the new five-year period should increase at least 1.2 times. Wages and pension benefits are the ways of this objective implementation. As Irina Kostevich clarifies, today it is worth discussing an increase in the salaries of not only doctors and teachers, but the whole teaching staff, such low-paid categories as workers in physical culture and sports, social services, and the sphere of culture. In general, pension provision will develop in two directions, i. e. formation of an effective multi-level pension system and an increase in the attractiveness of financial market instruments for the population, in particular, the financial literacy of citizens. Irina Kostevich emphasizes that the state does not disengage itself from its obligation to further develop PAYG pension system, providing state pensions of citizens in conjunction with the salary work experience of each particular person. At the same time, it is planned to make the diversification in the amount of pensions of people who had high- or low-paid jobs more prominent. Analyzing the draft Program of the socio-economic development of the Republic of Belarus for 2021–2025, one cannot fail to notice that in the new five-year plan more attention will be paid to the construction of individual housing. According to Ruslan Parkhamovich, Minister of Architecture and Construction, complex individual residential construction is planned to be carried out by one and the same developer, which includes streamlining and improving the architectural appearance of settlements. One

of the directions of the housing policy will be the development of satellite cities to support return migration of the population to small and medium-sized cities. All new housing will be energy efficient. Commissioning of apartment buildings making use of electric energy for water and heat supply, cooking will amount to at least 30 percent of the total volume of housing built by the end of the five-year period. It is planned to expand housing affordability through rent, stimulating its volume via market mechanisms, including private capital raising. The minister also stresses that close attention will be paid to housing prices. According to Ruslan Parkhamovich, in the planned period the average cost of one square meter, built with state support, will still not exceed the average wage in the country. By the way, this ratio has been retained for the last 4 years. As a result, the level of housing per capita by 2025 will be at least 28.5 square meters. And the Minister of Housing and Communal Services Andrey Khmel, in turn, emphasizes the fact that Belarus has managed to maintain the affordability of housing and communal services. On average, citizens spend less than five percent of their income thereon. For comparison: in Russia it is about 11 percent, in Baltic countries — 20–35 percent, in Ukraine — up to 40 percent. At the same time, the level of reimbursement of utility costs by the population at the end of last year is estimated at 83 percent. Only hot water supply and heating are subsidized. At the same time, Andrey Khmel notes: there is still great potential for improvement of housing and communal services quality. One of the key services is water supply. Iron removal stations are being actively put into operation. In 2019, 269 stations were built, in 2020–277. Over the next five years, 800 more such facilities are planned to be built, 300 water wells will be created and more than a hundred settlements will be reconnected to them. There is an important task to make Minsk water supply entirely from underground sources.

Experts agree that the five-year program is really focused on human interests, and all tasks set are realistic. For example, with regard to the social sphere, the deputy of the House of Representatives, the chairperson of the Standing Commission on Labor and Social Issues Lyudmila Kananovich is sure: the priorities are clearly set — this is an increase in the well-being of citizens. This year, the deputies will work on the Labor Code norms adjustment, they

БЕЛАРУСЬ. BELARUS 2021

PRIORITIES plan to determine such concept as “remote work”. The pandemic played its role in this case. Employers had to arrange work on a rotational basis, on-line, as well as teleworking. The parliamentarians believe that such forms of employment should be developed. Indeed, there are quite a few jobs that can be done remotely: sales managers, translators, tutors, programmers, accountants, lawyers… Those who, in general, can fulfill their official duties, functional duties, as well as those who can easily present the results of their work to the employer remotely. When working on the Labor Code, the deputies will have to regulate the legal mechanisms of

remote work by law: what kind of contract should be concluded between the employee and the employer, specify the reporting system, the mode of work and rest of the employee. It is important to strike a balance between the labor market and education. — We should know what kind of specialists will be in demand tomorrow and train them — reflects Lyudmila Kananovich. — Today we are working on the Education Code adjustment. It envisages expansion of employer-sponsored training and education. The employer knows what kind of specialist is needed, sends a person to study, and after it employs him/her. As for senior citizens, one of the tasks in this area is to stimulate the duration of working life. This is also indicated in the draft Development Program for the five-year plan. Today, 24 percent of pensioners in the country work. Despite their age, professionals should be in demand as long as possible. Therefore, we are developing various programs for retraining senior citizens to master new specialties. Be that as it may, a lot will still depend on the economy. Meanwhile, the Belarusian economy is in many ways unique in its structure and principles of development. On the one hand, it is small in terms of the domestic market scale, which predetermines the vital necessity of its integration into global chains. On the other hand, it has the features of larger players, i. e. the ability to produce goods that compete with the products of the world’s leading companies in a wide range of areas, such as mechanical engineering, including machine- tool industry, industrial and consumer electronics, robotics, oil and gas chemistry, agriculture and food industry, complex optical systems and complexes, pharmaceutical

БЕЛАРУСЬ. BELARUS 2021

production. Created on the fragments of the Soviet economy “assembly shop”, separated by the national borders, nevertheless, with the state support it quickly adapted to new conditions and accumulated potential for further development. Despite the fact that “experts” predicted a collapse of most of the leaders of the domestic industry in market realities. But time has shown the viability of the implemented strategy, i. e. the ability to preserve what has been achieved and develop, relying on intellectual capital, local resources and industrial cooperation. The effectiveness of the socio-economic model of development is especially clearly manifested in difficult periods. These include last year to the full, during which Belarus had to face serious challenges. In January-February, disputes over the terms of supply of hydrocarbons had a significant impact on the stability of the economy. In March-April, the global economy started to show signs of disarray as a result of covid restrictions, the so-called lockdowns and border closures. This provoked turbulence in the Belarusian financial and foreign exchange market, and required the mobilization of resources to support the affected industries and counteract the spread of infection. And even in such conditions, the country’s GDP sank by only less than one percent, which is better than the indicators of all neighboring countries. At the same time, many industries and specific business entities used the situation to expand their market niche, increase production and sales. Among them there are, for example, Gomselmash, JSC, Atlant and Horizont, enterprises of Amkodor holding. It should not go unspoken that a distinctive feature of the socio-economic model implemented in the country is preservation of the planning system, on the basis of which the coordination of the activities of the Belarusian state with global trends is ensured, directions of future development are set. It goes without saying that the main role belongs to five-year planning. It links the strategy and tactics of the state’s actions, ensures mobilization of resources for the achievement of the most important development tasks. The program priorities are clear targets. Yes, four priorities have been proposed for the current five-year period: a happy family, strong regions, intellectual country, and a partner state. Their implementation will contribute to the continuation of the policy pursued to form a strong economy aimed at the growth of the population well-being. “Happy Family” priority. Each person strives for happiness, associating it primarily with family well-being. This includes wellness of all members of the “main social unit”, which allows them to have children, raise them in prosperity, and maintain active longevity. This is an opportunity to get a decent education and an indemand job. These are clear life guidelines, as a rule, based on traditional values shared by all family members, education in the

PRIORITIES obvious that the work on the improvement of the education system will continue. The task is to improve opportunities both for the acquisition of knowledge and for its implementation in the national innovation system. Taking into account the accumulated competencies, electrical industry and electric transport, bio-industry and pharmaceuticals, robotics and instrumentation will be breakthrough points of growth. And this is far non-exhaustive list of areas to be specified. “Partner State” priority. In the upcoming five-year period, a qualitative leap will be made in building interaction between the state and the society, creating a favorable and transparent business environment. This will become possible, among other things, thanks to the implementation of an ID-card and a personal digital cabinet of a citizen. Services of administrative procedures will be built on this basis, it will be possible to increase the efficiency of the discussion of public and legislative initiatives. There is a good chance that with the proper level of personal data protection, using these resources, it will be possible to organize electoral campaigns of republican and local significance. Country development on the basis of these priorities will reduce dependence on external factors. Already now Belarus is able to promptly establish the production of many components to replace supplies from the EU countries. And during the five-year plan, it is planned to master the production of more than 260 new types of import-substituting products. Most importantly, the five-year program is structured as a “real BELTA

atmosphere of mutual respect, dedication and responsibility. The draft program envisages the state policy focus on the support of large families, protection of mothers and children, and introduction of additional incentives for the birth of second and subsequent children in families. The system of state benefits will be improved, the family capital program will be expanded. Each large family registered for the improvement of housing conditions will be provided the opportunity to build housing within one year since the date of registration. Actually, it can be stated without exaggeration that most of the program provisions are, to one degree or another, aimed at implementation of the “Happy Family” priority. Referring to the “Strong Regions” priority, first of all, it is worth noting that the balanced development of territories through the creation of industrial and social infrastructure in the lagging regions is designed to provide comfortable and safe living and working conditions. A person should get a decent job and have comfortable social environment everywhere. This priority involves strengthening of measures on support of rural areas, small urban settlements, and lagging regions. Undoubtedly, “Intellectual country” priority envisages the formation of a competitive active human capital through education and training, the development of science, and personal creative fulfillment. The focus on science and education, by the way, has already proved its effectiveness. It is a high educational level of the personnel that led to the successful development of the economy spheres based on knowledge and high technologies. The HTP has become a recognizable brand of the country, along with BELAZ, tractor “Belarus”, large food companies, the number of its residents approaches a thousand, and the number of its employees is about seventy thousand. The country produces unmanned aerial vehicles and cars, creates competitive Earth remote sensing satellites, high-tech medical equipment, and unique pharmaceutical substances. The share of science-intensive and high-tech exports of goods and services is growing. For example, in 2019, medical services were delivered to more than 120 thousand foreign citizens. Including transplantation care, the level of which corresponds to the level achieved in the European Union. This would have been impossible without the systematic training of national personnel. Certainly, the education system is a key link in the formation of the country’s human capital. Its work is based on the principle of “education and learning throughout life.” From an early age, the development of intelligence, the formation of a child’s personality is ensured on the basis of preschool child-care institutions. One of the key achievements is the availability of higher education, its quality, which is confirmed by the data of international ratings. The educational level of the population largely determines the high place of Belarus in the Human Development Index. It is

life document” — everyone can find in it the answers to the question about the measures to be taken to meet his/her needs, be it social guarantees, business conditions, wages or pensions. The program is ambitious and realistic. It combines tradition and innovation. Corresponds to global trends and answers the most pressing needs of its citizens. This means that its implementation will accelerate the dynamics and increase the sustainability of economic development, and improve the quality of life. Vasily Kharitonov

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HOLIDAY

BREATH OF SPRING Traditionally, Belarus has celebrated Women’s Day and International Women’s Day. And officially it is celebrated in 31 countries of the world.

t so happened that the arrival of spring for most of us is associated with the holiday on March 8. With a day-off, flowers and gifts for the fair gender of all age-groups. If we turn to history, it testifies to the struggle of women for their rights, that the holiday was originally invented with the aim of drawing attention to emancipation, as well as promotion of respect for women. If necessary, it is enough to google this date on the Internet to get acquainted with its political, social, and other pleasant meanings. This holiday in Belarus is considered to be a day of spring, female beauty, tenderness, warmth and attention to a woman, regardless of her status and, once again, age. On the eve of the weekend in offices, factories, schools and even kindergartens, the stronger gender congratulates and says the words of gratitude to the beautiful half of humanity for their beauty, ability to work, love and spiritual generosity. President Alexander Lukashenko also congratulated Belarusian women. “It is symbolic that the most important words for every person — mother, family, Motherland — are feminine. It is you who preserve and pass on to new generations the most important values and traditions. At the same time, you can conquer any professional, sports, and creative heights,” — said the head of state.

БЕЛАРУСЬ. BELARUS 2021

Alexander Lukashenko also stressed that there had been different periods in the history of the country and the people, but Belarusian women had always been distinguished by exceptional wisdom and calm confidence in a happy future. Each historical epoch is marked by the uniqueness of female characters and destinies. Today, women are not only hearth and home keepers, but they also make a huge contribution to the development of industry, healthcare, science, education, culture, sports, and the service sector. Many of our compatriots wrote brilliant pages in history of the country, became an example of patriotism, hard work and loyalty to civic duty and their family. Throughout the history of mankind, women create harmony in family relationships, raise children, inspire men to feats and labor achievements. But the most sacred woman for each of us is, of course, mother. She gives a person life, health, beauty, teaches irreplaceable lessons of kindness, morality, thereby helping to become a personality and find his/her own place in a society. Let us remind the reader: the decision on the annual celebration of the International Women’s Day was made at the second International Conference of Socialists in Copenhagen in 1910. The initiator was Clara Zetkin. The original name sounded like this — the Day of interna-

tional solidarity of women in the struggle for economic, social and political equality. It was first celebrated in 1911 in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Denmark. Moreover, in different countries, the celebrations took place on different dates in March. The tradition of celebrating the holiday on March 8 appeared after 1914. In the USSR, it was a workday for quite a long time, and only on the eve of the 20th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, in 1965, it was declared a day-off. Officially, the United Nations began celebrating March 8 in 1975, the year proclaimed by the United Nations as the International Women’s Year. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, some states abandoned this holiday. It remained in Belarus, only the name was changed — now it is the Women’s Day. In the world, March 8 is not considered a public holiday, but every year it is gaining more and more popularity, while maintaining a feminist bias. Interestingly, the UN is actively promoting March 8 as a universal date, however there are several other major holidays. One of them is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. It is celebrated on November 25 to honor the memory of the Mirabal sisters who were killed in the Dominican Republic. Violence against women is still an incredibly

HOLIDAY common problem that is often not brought to court. On this day, countries are encouraged to conduct events that increase the publicity of the problem and talk about ways of its solution. October 15 is the International Day of Rural Women, whose rights have received little attention. In South Africa, celebration of Women’s Day is held on August 9, and which is notable — at the state level. The date is supposed to remind about the struggle of local activists against the tyranny of the government of the apartheid era. Thus, on August 9, 1956, they prevented the introduction of compulsory passports for women in South Africa. The countries that have supported the UN, primarily use the holiday as a reason for raising important for women social issues. From year to year, the UN chooses a priority topic on which efforts will be focused. In 2013, it was combating violence against women, last year — “Equality for women — progress for all”. In 2015 — “Inspiring Women — Inspiring Humanity”. A purple ribbon is considered to be a symbol of the holiday. This year’s theme comes with the hashtag #MakeItHappen. In Afghanistan, men put on burqas and protested to support women’s rights. In India, March 8 this year marks the date on which women continue to demand justice for victims of violence

who are not protected by law or society. Many publications focus on remembering the origins of the date, and suggest marking it not with flowers, but with a call to action and drawing attention, for example, to key health problems and brave feminists in the world history. Forbes magazine explains the real difference in wages of men and women and gives advice on how the situation can be improved. Among other things, on March 8, it was promised to launch the #UpForSchool petition, the goal of which is to get world leaders to educate 31 million boys and girls around the world. Today, the Internet is playing a key role in making International Women’s Day a part of the global pop culture. By the way, it is interesting to remember some facts. Women’s holiday was celebrated in ancient Rome, however, on another day, when men gave gifts to their wives, and women-slaves could rest throughout the day. Quite a day of women’s solidarity! And on March 8, 1910, the French pilot Elise de Laroche became the owner of the title of the world’s first female pilot to be licensed to fly an airplane. The symbolic assignment of such status was a simple coincidence, at that time the Women’s Day was not celebrated yet, although the holiday was established in the same year. Japan, for example, although it does not celebrate

the International Women’s Day, gives its women in March as many as two holidays: March 3 — the Girls’ Day, and March 14 — the White Day, when women receive gifts from their lovers, whom they gave presents to on Valentine’s Day. And some statistics. According to various polls held in the world, 44 % of women name flowers as the most anticipated gifts on March 8, and about 55 % of men are going to give them annually. With jewelry, the opposite is true — 15–16 % of women want to get it, but only 9 % of the stronger gender plan to give it. In Belarus, the most popular flowers for March 8 are tulips, because this day is associated with the arrival of spring. And they are grown “on a large scale” in many regions of Belarus. And, of course, roses, crocuses, and hyacinths are also popular… Mimosa also does not give up positions. Although the life of this so-called Silver Acacia is very short, it is still among the favorites of Belarusian women. A native of Australia, which settled down in Sochi and on the southern coast of Crimea, pleases us with its bright yellow color and delicate, sweet aroma on March 8. Mikhalina Cherkashina Materials from BelTa, wonderzine.com, https://el.kz/ru/ were used

БЕЛАРУСЬ. BELARUS 2021

ADORNMENTS

“EXPENSIVE AND RICH” PRINCIPLE BECOMES A THING OF THE PAST

What kind of jewelry do Belarusian women like

Nowadays, it is quite difficult to get an idea of a personal income level judging by what a person is wearing. And this is especially noticeable when it comes to jewelry: today, bijouterie is in fashion — inexpensive items made of base metals. Both high school girls and successful ladies over forty wear them readily. Jewelry seems to have become less relevant — modern women can easily do without it. But jewelry store sellers argue that this is not the case. — It is clear that jewelry is far from being an essential item. But people continue to get married, which means they will buy wedding and engagement rings. An engagement ring is a ring that is given to a girl being proposed, and only she wears it, while wedding rings are for both partners. Recently, engagement rings have become part of the wedding tradition in Belarus. And small girls who have just had their ears pierced are usually given their first earrings made of gold. Well, jewelry is still an excellent gift for a beloved woman on any occasion, — says Marina Kudritskaya, a shop

БЕЛАРУСЬ. BELARUS 2021

assistant of a jewelry department in one of the capital’s shopping centers.

What do Belarusian women like

— Rubies have been in fashion for several seasons, but these gemstones can, if misused, make an “old-fashioned” look — says Marina. — To look stylish, a young girl should think through her image.

Despite the upheavals and cataclysms, which, apparently, our history is rich in, many families have preserved “grandmother’s jewel-boxes” with gold earrings and rings. Usually granddaughters keep such relics as a memory and rarely wear them. Well, they may give it to a jewelry workshop to have something more modern out of a grandmother’s ring. It is believed that gold and precious stones are a kind of “constant”, “eternal jewels”. Indeed, there is “timeless” jewelry, which is distinguished by simple forms and democratic design, not loaded with additional decor. Such jewelry looks good both in day time and evening look. But there is fashion in the jewelry industry, albeit not as changeable as in the bijouterie industry. Its trend-setters today are the jewelry capitals of the world — Hong Kong and Thailand. Once a year the World Jewelry Exhibition is held in Hong Kong ,

ideas are born there, which later go around the world, and adapt to local tastes in each country. — On the Belarusian market the preference is given to calm, tender and discreet jewelry: medium-sized products, small stones. Jewelry collections for evening wear are not widely represented in Belarusian jewelry stores, because they are not in great demand, notes the interlocutress. Although, as I was told, there are exceptions to the rule: about four years ago, a five-thousand-dollar diamond necklace was sold in one of Minsk jewelry stores — for evening wear. But in general, our women usually buy evening accessories in bijouterie departments, and not in jewelry stores. An interesting nuance: Belarusian women, like Russian, love the so-called “English clasp” earrings. In collections for Western Europe, stud-type clasp prevails, as European women like it more. — Our women want to look beautiful all the time. And when they clean the room or wash the dishes, dig potatoes or do baking, very often they do not take the rings off their fingers. And jewelry is supposed to be worn when out visiting, and taken off at home and put into a jewelry box. If you wear it all the time, gemstones can crack

ADORNMENTS

The most delicate of precious stones — emerald — is also liked by our women, but as it turns out, problems may arise with it. The fact is that emerald rings and earrings should be treated with care — they may easily crack, chip, be scratched. (especially emeralds), or it can change color — it gets dirty too… As for the color our women prefer, I was told that, for example, in silver jewelry collection with Swarovski crystals, jewelry in blue and green colors was sold well, which cannot be said about orange crystals, despite the fact that there are a lot of red or brown-haired girls and women with brown eyes.

How do people choose jewelry Do people buy diamonds in Belarus? This also happens. — The cost of diamond jewelry is not always incredibly high. For example, a diamond engagement ring can cost as much as 400 rubles. Yes, there will be a very small gemstone. But not “shards”, as buyers sometimes say. Jewelers don’t have such a thing as “diamond shards”. Jewelers evaluate a diamond according to four criteria that determine the value of a gemstone: size, color, clarity and cut group. It seems to non-specialists that all diamonds are white, but in fact, jewelers evaluate the color of this stone on a scale from 1 to 9, where 1 is an absolutely white stone, but the closer to 9, the more yellowness it has. Yellow diamonds are traditionally combined with red gold — then the yellow tint is not so noticeable. White and yellow gold usually goes with a white stone, which means that the product is more expensive. The clarity of a gemstone means absence of defects, cracks, gas bubbles. The classic cut of a diamond is 57 facets, the simplified cut is 17 facets.

How do buyers choose jewelery? It is clear that it takes time and thought as the purchase is not cheap. People try it on, leave and return several times. But, just imagine, there are spontaneous purchases in this area. — Several years ago on New Year’s Day in Serebryanka in the jewelry department of a hypermarket, a man bought earrings for almost one and a half thousand dollars as a gift (in Rubles equivalent, of course). It is strange, i.e if people are going to choose an expensive piece of jewelry, they usually go to the city center, to an expensive store on Nemiga or Karl Marx Street. And he came on December 31 in the morning, bought food and earrings for his wife. By the way, one of the hottest new trends in jewelry, which has been in fashion for quite a long time, is gold and silver items in unusual, non-standard forms, combined with enamel, similar to bijouterie. In Europe, such products are in demand. Experts say that our customers do not show much interest in them: if, for example, a gold piece of jewelry with enamel does not look like gold, but the price is the same as for a gold item, there is no great interest in such a thing.

And if cheaper Jewelers have some tricks to significantly reduce the price of a piece of jewelry. For example, the so-called hollow chains (these are often brought home from resorts). The chain link inside is not filled with gold, but is a hollow tube. Such chains are less practical

to wear, they break, and the “links” of the chain can be deformed. As for rings, the manufacturer can save metal on the “shank”, i. e. the reverse side of the ring, as jewelers call it. This reverse side is thinned and the bulk of the metal is used on the good part of the ring, which is seen when it is on the finger. But the problem is that such an unreliable “shank” can burst or bend — it is unlikely that such a piece of jewelry will last long and you will be able to hand it down to your daughter or granddaughter. In earrings, to make the product cheaper, the manufacturer can lighten the earwire, i. e. the part of a clasp that is hidden behind the ear. And in this case, the clasp may also break. Thus, the purchase of uncertified jewelry, for example, in small shops in seaside resorts, is always risky. How to have an eye for jewelry? How to learn to see the difference between beautiful and vulgar jewelry? Only through practice, the jewelers say. This skill is developed in the same way as the ability to be an expert in good wines or, for example, elite cheeses. The fact that today women often give preference to democratic bijouterie, rather than jewelry made of precious metals, is positively assessed by experts. The “expensive and rich” principle is becoming a thing of the past, and that’s good. First, top-quality designer jewelry can actually cost more than low-grade gold jewelry with cubic zirconias instead of precious stones. And secondly, even high-quality gold jewelry today is not an investment — unless, of course, it is a heirloom or an exclusive jewelry masterpiece from a famous designer. So we should choose what we can afford and what we like — and feel like queens! Aleksandra Antselevich

As for gemstones, according to jewelry sellers, our women love topaz — blue, transparent and not very expensive. In the Slavic countries, of all colored gemstones, topaz is generally best sold as it matches the most common “summer” color type in Eastern Europe and suits almost all Slavic women, without exception. Golden-age women like to try on rings and earrings with rubies. They most often buy large rings. БЕЛАРУСЬ. BELARUS 2021

TRADITIONS

CONVENIENT, BEAUTIFUL, RATIONAL What was the basis of the wardrobe of our distant ancestors? What colors were most often used for embroidery on clothes and in what technique was it done? What do designers need to remember today in order to create modern collections that at the same time carry a powerful ethnic message? We are talking about this with Maria Vinnikova, senior researcher at the Department of Ancient Belarusian Culture of the Center for Research of Belarusian Culture, Language and Literature of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, candidate of art history. — Maria Nikolaevna, why do experts think that it is wrong to use the word “vyshyvanka” for embroidered national clothes, even though it is deeply seated in the lexicon of Belarusians? — In the Belarusian folk culture, traditional clothes have never been called vyshyvanka. This word is identical to such definitions as malyavanka, pysanka and is probably borrowed from the Ukrainian language. When it is used, it often means clothes with cross stitching. But this technique appeared in our country only in the middle of the 19th century. By that time, the embroidery on the national clothes, if

БЕЛАРУСЬ. BELARUS 2021

any, was completely different. For example, in Kobrin district a local woman showed me old shirts that had been passed on her from her grandmother, and called them “pulled”, that is, embroidered with “pull”, i. e. back-stitching according to the number of threads of the cloth, which forms strips of geometric ornament. In my opinion, in relation to modernity, it is correct to talk about a costume with national color. Because there is a certain difference between traditional and national costume. Traditional is a rural costume that meets the requirements of life in a given territory: it was created and developed by indigenous people, it corresponds to our natural and geographical conditions. And “national” is a broader concept, it refers to the clothes of different social groups. Wealthy citizens ordered wardrobe items from abroad or had them made according to generally accepted European patterns, so their costume was more influenced by fashion. — How to determine which clothes correspond to the folk tradition and which don’t? — First of all, by the compositional design. For Belarusians embroidery served as a protective charm and was located in the places that opened access to the body: along the collar, cuffs, along the bottom of skirts. For women of childbearing age, the ornament on the sleeves of a shirt and on the apron was rich: it was believed to protect them from the evil eye. — What were the main elements of the Belarusian traditional costume?

— The main component of a women’s, men’s, children’s costume is a shirt, which was supposed to cover the neck, elbows and knees. It was straight, without darts, loose; it was fitted on by gathering around the collar, bottom of the sleeves and belting around the waist. The wardrobe of Belarusian peasant women also included skirts, aprons, headwear, weskits. In summer time women wore a simple linen skirt, in winter they wore a thick one (sometimes striped, checkered) made of woolen fabric, which was called poneva (homespun woollen skirt). In Malorita district, a burka (a felt cloak), an analogue of andarak, was widespread. It was rich in woven rhombus geometric ornament. In spring and autumn time, women put on a peasant’s russet overcoat (svitka) — a long, unbuttoned cloth garment, which was belted with a woven or braided sash. An apron was a mandatory piece of a woman’s costume. It was worn not only on weekdays, but also on holidays. And not because of the wish to protect for the skirt from staining, but first of all as a protective charm for the female womb. It was considered indecent to go out without an apron on. In the south of Belarus, in some regions, skirts were not worn at all, but two aprons were tied together — in the front and in the back. In Vetka district of Gomel region,

TRADITIONS

girls wore kolyshka — an apron, which was tied on the back of a shirt. In the eastern regions of Belarus, such ceremonial dress down as poneva was wide-spread. It consisted of two pieces of woolen self-woven fabric, sewn only to the middle. Poneva was draped around the waist and hips and was fastened with a wide braided sash. — Did married women in traditional culture have to wear a headdress? — Yes. After marriage, women always covered their hair with namitka (wimple) or scarf, under which there was always a cap. Namitka was typical of all regions of Belarus, but each had its own peculiarities of wearing it around the head. Girls could stay bareheaded, or wear linen headbands, skindochki, ornamented at the ends, or chilka, a hoop covered with colored fabric and so on. In Neglyubka village, Vetka district, Gomel region, there was a girl’s headdress called kubok. Its basis was a strip of bast (or cardboard) 12–15 cm wide, to which multi-colored ribbons were fastened. This headdress was worn when the girl wanted to show that she was ready to get married. — And what did the men’s traditional costume consist of? — In addition to a shirt, men’s traditional peasant costume included trousers, sometimes a weskit made of homespun cloth or linen. A sash was an obligatory component. It was of practical importance (the shirt was close to the body and did not hamper work), at the same time it

was a bright decorative accent and was considered a strong protective charm. Bachelors tied it on the left side, and married men — in the middle. Special attention was given to the knot — it was believed to give strength and protect from the evil eye. Without a sash a man was not supposed to leave his house. Svitka (warm overcoat made of felted cloth) was worn by men for centuries, as well as sheepskin coats. In winter, the head was protected from cold by a ear-flapped hat made of sheepskin or hare, fox fur, covered with dark cloth on top. Men’s headdresses, mogerki, were felted from wool. In summer, straw hats were worn: in some regions they were called visors. — What colors were most popular in traditional Belarusian clothing? — Since clothes were made, as a rule, of linen or wool, white, gray, brown, black colors prevailed. The patterns were woven and embroidered mainly with red threads. In a men’s costume, the sash was always red, and on the skirts hem there was often an additional red edging. The circle is a protective charm. Red is the color of holiday, the sun. Sometimes blue color was also used in embroidery, personifying sadness, grief. In Brest region, black threads were also used for ornamentation. The festive attire was generally more abundantly decorated than the casual one. — What should designers remember today in order to properly update national motives in clothes? What, in your opinion, can become a brand in the wardrobe of a modern Belarusian?

— Modern clothing can have a pronounced national style that can convey the image of the people. It is important to be created with the knowledge of tradition. This does not preclude innovative design search. Modern fashion designers working in ethnic style can be inspired by characteristic motives of the traditional Belarusian ornament, the general silhouette and coloristic solution of a costume, a combination of industrial and hand-made fabrics with their unique texture and decor, features of folk cut and hand tailoring (for example, the use of shirrs, decorative joining seams, etc.). A modern ethnic style can also be created through the introduction of individual accessories into the costume, made in traditional techniques of hand weaving and embroidery. In my opinion, flax can become our brand. It is no coincidence that it was called “God’s candle”. It was associated with God’s light, grace. Peasants grew it, processed it, spun, weaved and made clothes from it, and decorated it with ornaments. Flax is environmentally friendly, does not cause allergies, it warms in winter, it is not hot in summer. But it needs a special approach: linen requires simple cut lines. Things from it should be comfortable and rational. The peasants grew, processed, spun, weaved it and sewed clothes from it, and decorated it with ornaments. Flax is environmentally friendly, does not cause allergies, it is warm in winter and it is comfortable for summer-wear. But it needs a special approach: linen requires simple cut lines. Linen clothes must be comfortable and rational. Olga Poklonskaya

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FASHION TRENDS

OVERTURNED SENTENCE,

OR THE HOLIDAY THAT IS ALWAYS IN YOU “Fashion is like eating, you shouldn’t stick with the same menu,” — said Japanese fashion designer Kenzo Takada. Do Belarusians manage not to stick with Chinese mass market goods? Do global trends or national traditions determine the work of domestic designers? Why should there be items of cheerful colors in the wardrobe of Belarusians? What do those who neglect fashion lose in life?

e are talking about this with Galina Meshkova, Candidate of Art Criticism, Associate Professor of the Department of Decorative and Applied Arts and Costume of the Belarusian State Academy of Arts. — Galina Yakovlevna, when you walk down the street, do you have a feeling that Belarusians follow fashion trends? Or are we still very unified, according to an expert? — In my opinion, Belarusians follow fashion trends. This is not always and not by everyone noticed, because modern fashion is democratic, it suggests, but does not dictate, does not demand. One can choose to wear a Chinese down parka or products of Belarusian designers or things of famous Western brands. Both practicality and elegance are relevant today. If you like unisex style — make your wardrobe of shirts, jeans, low-heeled shoes. If you prefer a feminine look, choose dresses and skirts. The current etiquette does not require, and the modern pace of life does not make it possible to change clothes three times a day. You can go to work, to the theater, to visit your friends having in the same things on, just changing accessories. By the way, the little black dress of Coco Chanel was the beginning of unification, but at the same time it made it possible to feel confident in any place, because you can complement and decorate it the way you like.

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FASHION TRENDS

— Do Belarusian designers create their collections today completely under the influence of world trends or take into account national traditions? — We are developing in the context of European fashion. The collections of our designers are created with regard to the trends set during Milan, Paris, London fashion weeks. The influence of Asian couturiers is also becoming more noticeable in the world. At the same time, it is very important not to forget about national fashion in order to enrich the world fashion in the era of globalization, to introduce ethnic motives and features into it. Modern domestic experts absorb the heritage of the past and update it. In Belarus, since 1993 the organization of national and international competitions and fashion festivals has been developing, which contributes to the unification and professional growth of young designers: Mila Plus, White Amphora, Belarus Supermodel, Belarusian Wreath, Best Model of the Year, Miss Belarus, Fashion Mill, Blue Snowdrop, Flax, Generation Next, Calico Ball and others. In 2010, New Names competition for young designers was held for the first time within Belarus Fashion Week (BFW). Under the influence of global trends, the younger generation of designers began to actively develop a very popular environmental theme. Created by them linen and wool collections were highly appreciated in the West. Kamvol, OJSC today produces a line of men’s suits, makes women’s coats and suits that meet all international criteria for quality and fashion. — Coco Chanel said: “I love when fashion goes out, but I don’t allow it to come from there.” But didn’t the ripped jeans come to the catwalk “from the street”, suddenly becoming incredibly popular? — The theme of negligence was declared in fashion in the late 80s of the last century by yuppies, i. e. wealthy youth

who, in order not to stand out in the crowd, created the effect of worn-out clothes. And ripped jeans correspond to the general trend of emancipation, permissiveness. I like a lot in youth fashion — it carries a charge of energy, innovation, drive. But I consider excessive nudity and slovenliness to be bad manners and I am glad that today there is an alternative to ripped jeans. — What explains the trend to loose, voluminous forms in clothes? — Various styles and trends coexist in modern fashion. But all designers work using four basic silhouettes — rectangular, trapezoidal, oval and x‑shaped (hourglass). There is a constant search for new forms to attract the attention of the consumer. Free silhouette allows you to hide figure flaws. Oversize clothing emerged from the desire to hide, wrap up, protect — not only from bad weather, but also from mental cold. Huge scarves, snoods, shawls are things of the same kind. — And what about a color palette, a combination of colors — how do favorites arise here? How much should they be reckoned with? — Seasonal color trends are determined by the French Pantone Color Іnstіtute. For spring-summer 2021, the favorites are sky blue, golden orange, bright crimson, the color of the sun’s rays. Besides, classic, universal shades remain in trend: milky, beige, deep dark blue, gray, green. Traditionally, black remains relevant and very popular, and red does not go out of fashion either. There are colors that are “on friendly terms” with each other, and those that do not really “get along” with each other. But on the tip from trendsetters, even not very compatible colors can be at the peak of popularity. Of course, individual characteristics should also be taken into account. There are, for example, women whom gray color does not suit at all, and there are those whom it suits perfectly. There are few sunny

БЕЛАРУСЬ. BELARUS 2021

FASHION TRENDS days in Belarus, and therefore, in my opinion, our wardrobe should have items of bright, saturated colors to cheer us up. The combination of green and lilac, blue and orange is bold, for some it is unusual, but try to combine them, and for sure such a set will bring joy. — For a long time, women cannot imagine their wardrobe without men’s things: trousers, shirts, caps, even ties. Men also, albeit less actively, borrow things from women’s wardrobe. According to your predictions, will this trend to unisex remain? — Predictions are a thankless job. But personally, I hope that fashion will brighten up the courage of men and the femininity of women. — What is, in your opinion, good and bad taste in clothes? — In my opinion, the main marker is a sense of moderation. Good taste implies a sense of form, style, color palette. There are people with an innate sense of taste. But most women and men try to develop it. It is so important! As Coco Chanel said: “Fashion comes and goes, but style remains.” — Which famous person do you consider style icons? — Marlene Dietrich, Audrey Hepburn, Jacqueline Kennedy, Coco Chanel. Margaret Thatcher seemed to be dressed in the same conservative way, but it looked very elegant. As for contemporaries, I like the way Melania Trump looks. The wife of French President Emmanuel Macron, Brigitte, is much older than her husband, but thanks to a well-chosen wardrobe, the age difference is blurred. In my opinion, the famous Russian actress and director Renata Litvinova has a wonderful sense of style. — Still, style is the prerogative of rich, wealthy people… — Not necessary. It’s important to choose the things that suit you. There shouldn’t be many of them. American fashion

БЕЛАРУСЬ. BELARUS 2021

designer Donna Karan became famous all over the world for creating a basic, “seven simple things” wardrobe which included a jacket, skirt, trousers, cashmere sweater, leather skirt, dress and bodysuit. These things, made in black, white and milky tones with a touch of red, are enough to feel elegant during the day and in the evening. — Galina Yakovlevna, why do you think fashion is needed? How do you react when you hear statements like “I’m not interested in fashion”, “I don’t care for trends”? — I react in a calm way. Although I do not really believe in the sincerity of such statements. Clothes are a person’s business card. You haven’t said anything yet, but you have already been judged by your appearance. Clothes are our protective shell, which helps to provide mental comfort, cheers up and inspires. Besides, fashion allows us to express ourselves, does not allow us to stay in the same image, encourages searching. See how the participants of the “Fashion Verdict” show change due to the right wardrobe. If there were no fashion, it would be worth inventing — at least in order to make life more interesting and festive. Of course, what haute couture offers cannot be worn in everyday life. But this is a magnificent show, and the beautiful is never useless! Experts are present at such shows. They select “museum pieces” to inspire followers. They are needed for the birth of new ideas, the discovery of new names. So many fantasies of Alexander McQueen still inspire his colleagues all over the world! And what great shows were arranged by Karl Lagerfeld! Couture things last a very long time. Many masterpieces of fashion designers of past centuries still delight the eye today. Olga Poklonskaya

CREATIVE WORK

POTTERY OF WOMAN’S SOUL Archaeologists believe that women were the first potters in history

Even in ancient times, observant women noticed that after a rainstorm, traces of animals or people left on the ground become solid and can retain liquid. Then they tried to use these molds as dishes in cave “kitchens”. But such “dishes” quickly broke. Once someone noticed that a “pot” accidentally thrown into the fire hardened after burning and served much longer. Thus, observation and imagination led to the appearance of pottery. Clay is earth, and a woman, like earth, is fertile. Therefore, pottery from the dawn of time is an art, plastic and at the same time solid, corresponding to the eternal femininity. It is not without reason that there are so many talented artists in Belarus who are engaged in pottery. The National Art Museum collection of decorative and applied arts, which began to be actively formed in the 1960s, contains about two hundred ceramic works by dozens of authors. But the majority, at least three quarters, are women. Among them there are such names as Evgenia Musinskaya, Viktoria Danchuk, Lilia Nischik, Zarina Bavtruk, Natalya Evglevskaya, Tamara Kurochitskaya, Nelly Yakovenko, Elena Kudryavtseva, Tamara Vasyuk, Faina Khominich, Elena Schastnaya, Alevtina Mosienko and others. For the current exhibition in the main museum of the country, works of only a few artists have been selected. These works correspond to a spring mood and emphasize such a feature of female talent as lyricism,

grace, tenderness. Special themes are specified — the inimitable plasticity of a female body, flowers, the poetry of natural motives. Many of these works are just sculpted out of clay, being, in fact, ceramic minor sculptures. Others — and they are in the majority — are made from fireclay with the use of salts and enamels. Fireclay (French — chamotte) has become a legend in the art pottery. This material appeared in our life not so long ago, but it has already become fashionable. Fireclay has a rough texture, very pleasant to the touch. It looks like “old” natural stone that has been exposed to the wind, with its cracks, flaws and chips. Fireclay is associated with stability, a sense of peace and security. Its decorative qualities, imitating archaism and antiquity in the broad sense of the word, are especially appreciated. Modesty and nobility of fireclay ceramics allow artists to approach the genuine, the nature, which humans lack so much in our era of globalization. And I would also like to note that the pottery works exhibited in the National Art Museum of Belarus are distinguished by their coziness and warmth. Such art works have always attracted and will continue to attract by their fantasy, handiwork and bright personal touch of their creators. Alexander Pimenov

Faina Khominich. Sleep. 2006. Chamotte, glaze.

Nelly Yakovenko. Rest. 1966. Majolica, black glaze.

БЕЛАРУСЬ. BELARUS 2021

ICONIC LOCATIONS

CITY HALL OVER THE DVINA

Ask a native or an avid tourist what Vitebsk can surprise you with. Along with the Summer Amphitheater, Chagall’s house and Repin’s estate, the City Hall will be named among the top must-see places. The 40–meter high architectural monument rises above the Dvina. This is the best observation deck of the city and its brand, as well as the regional museum of local lore, located in the City Hall since 1924. Will the clock start talking? The city received permission to build the City Hall in 1597, together with the Magdeburg Law granted to it by King Sigismund III. However, the first wooden building was destroyed. The drawings of 1664 have survived to this day, it was a rectangular two-story building with a high pitched roof, which ended with an observation tower with a dome and a spire. The basement and first floors were made of brick, the second floor and the roof with a tower were built of wood. The City Hall, destroyed by fires, rose from ruins and ashes more than once. And in 1775 it was all built of brick. 245 years have passed since then. And today the building is undergoing restoration again. Step by step approaching an even more significant date. — In March 2022, Vitebsk will celebrate the 425th anniversary since gaining the Magdeburg Law, — says Tatyana Starinskaya, director of the regional museum of local lore. — We decided to prepare for the holiday in advance. Of course, the museum did not stand aside. Since the summer we have been doing renovation. The

БЕЛАРУСЬ. BELARUS 2021

base of the tower was renewed, and for the convenience and safety of visitors a non-slip self-leveling floor was made. The railing of the balcony, which we use as an observation deck, was also partially restored. After renovation, sightseeing tours resumed. These days, one of the local colleges is busy fulfilling an unusual order: the manufacture of new City Hall balusters, i. e. figured pillars in the shape of columns that support the balustrade handrails. — The surviving drawings suggested the right direction, — Valery Shishanov, deputy director of the museum for science, joins in the conversation. — For our balusters, we need alder dried in a certain way. The whole technological process takes more than a month. The task is not an easy one, but the product warranty is a decade. From time to time, any material gets tired — both wood and metal, Tatyana Aleksandrovna notes: — Therefore, it takes a lot of effort and money to maintain such objects as the City Hall. For example, the replacement of the tower heart — the clockwork — is now being actively discussed.

ICONIC LOCATIONS

BTW If you visit the local history museum, be sure to linger in the foyer near the two-meter bronze coat of arms of Vitebsk with the image of Christ the Savior. The coat of arms was installed on the main facade of the building in July 1997, in the year of the 400th anniversary of the City Hall, but later it was removed. There is a beautiful legend: to make your cherished wish come true, you need to touch the bronze symbol and whisper the words “to God’s ears”.

Chagall and music

Tatyana Starinskaya, Local Lore Museum Director

Updating is essential for keeping the time on all four dials accurate. Besides, there is an idea to provide the clock with a beep or a melody. — Why shouldn’t the City Hall have its own colorful character? — Tatyana Starinskaya smiles. — Everyone knows Brest lamplighter. And we could have a clockmaker… This is also a contribution to the cultural and tourist treasury of the northern region. In Vitebsk, they are sure: the local City Hall is a tourist attraction of the whole country. The fact is that among the regional centers of Belarus, only the city above the Dvina can boast of having not a modern replica, but a building from the depths of the centuries. — We dream that it will stand in line with the most attractive places for tourists in our city, — continues Tatyana Aleksandrovna. — Such brands as Arts Festival Slavianski Bazaar, Vitebsk Art School and UNOVIS are well-known. Now it’s our City Hall’s turn to attract both Belarusians and foreign art lovers. For example, for neighboring Russia, such buildings are exotic, which means they arouse interest. The tower used to be a fire tower: balloons of different colors raised in the air served as fire-alarm signals for different parts of the city… The richest collection of the local history museum should also contribute thereto. By the way, one third of unique exhibits are displayed to the public today. And the famous Vitebsk birchbark letter of the XIII–XIV centuries is the tip of the iceberg. — We have a lot to attract visitors, — Tatyana Aleksandrovna believes. — Yes, the pandemic sets new rules, affects profits. But even now, there are our museum’s objects which attract visitors. We mean “Zdravnevo”, Estate-Museum of Ilya Repin, where there are enough visitors at any time of the year, family trips are popular. But it is worth taking care of additional infrastructure — convenient transport communication, catering, Wi-Fi support in museum halls.

Rising over the historical center of the city, where the Western Dvina meets the Vitba, and the Holy Resurrection Church is adjacent to the Monastery of the Holy Spirit, the City Hall has seen a lot: the formation of the Vitebsk province itself, the arrival of Napoleon’s troops, a large construction site in the historical center of the city… In the 19th century, the town council and the bank, court, police were located there, lists Tatyana Starinskaya. The windows of the City Hall once overlooked the Hotel Brozi, where Marc Chagall’s father-in-law had a jewelry store. By the way, in 1997, during the second Chagall plein air, the City Hall was creatively used to tell about the love of the artist and his wife Bella. Then for the first time live music was heard from the windows of the building. A couple of years ago, the story received an unexpected continuation in the art project “Above the City”. Violinists appeared on the balcony of the City Hall, and performed potpourri of French, Jewish and Belarusian melodies. Now, during “Slavianski Bazaar”, the violin and saxophone are played in the City Hall courtyard every year. It is possible to make the melodies loved by many sound all summer long — as long as there is additional funding. The City Hall has many secrets, Valery Shishanov is sure: — It is known that in 1775 it was rebuilt from brick by order of Empress Catherine II. But neither the order itself, nor the details of the construction work are known — an open field for the work of historians! Anna Naumova

Valery Shishanov, Museum Deputy Director for Science

БЕЛАРУСЬ. BELARUS 2021

COMPATRIOTS

FEELINGS AND THOUGHTS IN A BEAUTIFUL FORM 83 years is a lifespan of Elizaveta Fen. She was born in 1900. She went to a better world in 1983. A writer whose roots through ancestors are connected with Belarus.

he real name of Elizaveta Fen is Lydia ZhiburtZhiburtovich. In the preface to her book “Oncoming and seleted poems” (Germany, Munich, 1975), published in Russian, there is the following clarification: “...was born in the west of Russia, was educated at the Mariinsky girls’ gymnasium in Mogilev. She was a sophomore during the February Revolution of 1917, after which she left Petrograd and tried to continue her studies at the university in Odessa, where she spent the entire period of the Civil War, from 1918 to 1921...” Elizaveta Fen, and before that just Lida, had been engaged in literar y work since the age of eight. She wrote poetry, stories. She wrote her first major fiction novel “His Eyes” while she was at high school. The work was approved by all and accepted for publication in the Petrograd publishing house “Wolf ”. The October Revolution stopped the publishing house. It was certainly not the best time for the book. The novel wasn’t published. The manuscript was soon lost. In Odessa, Professor Ovsyanniko-Kulikovsky, after

БЕЛАРУСЬ. BELARUS 2021

reading one of Lydia’s early stories, immediately remarked: “...it can go to the printer right away.” As for the poems, he said the following: “They have everything that can be expected from poetry — feelings and thoughts in a beautiful form.” Here is the script of “Sonnet” written in Mogilev on February 17, 1915: It is worth a lot to get such a review from a famous professor — a literary critic. How did the f a m o u s s c i e nt i s t end up in Odessa?.. Apparently, for the

same reason why the young poetess herself ran from the Bolshevik wrath... Dmitry Ovsyanniko-Kulikovsky (1913-1918) was one of the editors of the Vestnik Evropy

magazine. The literary critic considered the language with its images and the act of production to be the main source of artistic thinking. He was convinced that the principle of least-effort common to thinking, was expressed in art. He divided art into figurative (sculpture, painting, poetry) and lyric (music, architecture, linguistic lyrics). The difference between them is psychological. In his opinion, the influence of figurative art is mainly intellectual (understanding), and the basis of lyric art is “lyrical emotion” created by rhythm, which is present in the linguistic text of the sound rhythm and the rhythm of thoughts, feelings... Apparently, Dmitry conveyed some of these beliefs to the young poetess... In 1924, when the young author tried to publish her poems, Gosizdat replied: “The tone of the poems is very pessimistic. We expect from a Soviet woman courage and faith in her male comrade. “The 1920s supported their poetry. Demyan Bedny, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Nikolai Tikhonov... Yes, there was still room for other poets. But this space was getting smaller and smaller... Judging by the story “The Oncoming” (it is considered autobiographical), in the early 1920s, Lydia returned to Mogilev. She didn’t find her mother there. Peasants from a neighboring village set fire to the estate in pursuit of “justice.” Their peolpe could not do this, because they lived in harmony with the locals. “...The night was damp, windless, rainy, a real March night. The fire did not spread. Only the outside walls, window frames, doors were on fire. But

COMPATRIOTS the catastrophe was so unexpected for her mother that her prudence, the delicate balance between animal stupidity and frivolity did not stand the test. In a nightgown and barefoot, my mother jumped out of the window and with disheveled hair ran

Apparently, since childhood, Lizaveta dreamed of poetry

six miles to the city on the snow and puddles. In the morning a doctor was found who took her to hospital, where she spent a month and a half. She also suffered from pneumonia in an extremely acute form. The disease left consequences as well as a huge stress. ...She died six months later in a hospital for those who lost their minds, and I was far in the south, cut off from my home by constant changes of power, did not receive any information, did not know either about her death or about other misfortunes that befell our family. When I found out about everything, there was no one to help. The fate of my brother is still unknown to me...” Returning to the Mogilev region, she, with the help of “her” peasants, had some repairs in her native estate. She found her own aunt and brought her to her place... She continued to write. The address of her stories “Winter Sketch” and “The Oncoming” is Mogilev-on-the Dneper (as in the

text of the story). The date: November 14, 1921 - January 25, 1922. In subsequent years, Lydia worked as a secretary and translator in the Moscow office of the English-American Mission for Famine Relief in the Soviet Union. She continued to write. In addition to the previously created novel “Diary of a Little Woman” (1917-1918), two more important works were added to her biography — “The Seventh Waltz of Chopin” and “First and Last”. They did not fit into the format of a new Soviet literature, which was decisively destroying the previous art concepts. Of course, they couldn’t be printed anywhere. In September 1925, the Soviet authorities allowed Lydia Zhiburt-Zhiburtovich to go to England for a short time, where the girl got a job as a translator at a Russian commercial enterprise. In 1929 she married an Englishman, so she stayed in England forever. In July 1923, in Mogilev, she wrote another poem, and after 1924 the writer no longer turned to poetry. But her literary activity didn’t end there. In the 1930s, Lydia was known as a translator of Russian prose under the pseudonym Elizaveta Fen Her name appeared first in periodicals, and then in books. Short stories by Mikhail Zoshchenko (1940 and 1942), translated by Elizaveta Fen, were published in two volumes in English. In 1943-1974 stories by A. Chekhov, the story “Silence” by Yuri Bondarev, an anthology of 20 stories by Soviet writers were published in her translation in England. A native of the Mogilev region, she is also the author of original books: the English-language novel “Rising tide” (1936), three-volume memoirs about life in Russia (books published in 1961, 1970 and 1973). Elizaveta Fen died in 1983. Both her creative and life destiny is little known in Russia and Belarus. Perhaps something else will be revealed in the biography of this interesting writer. It would be good to return her fictional, documentary, memoir texts to Belarus and Russia. First of all, of course, memoirs. Perhaps, in a sense, they will be a useful source of truth about the beginning of heard years of the twentieth century.

Elizaveta Fen

Sonnet

The color of heaven is brighter, the days are more pleasant! The snow softens and melts from the caress of the day, The earth is awakened... the trees are waiting for spring And are shedding light tears with joy. Spring brings flowers with it Spring love and happiness are arising... everything blooms again... only my dreams wither in the spring sun... fade... melt... Everything is full of joy... everything blooms again... But it’s sad to think that in joyful time I will remain alone, alone with my longing! Oh, if only in the glory of the day, with a shroud of snow, Without pain, without a trace, like the snow melts in the spring, My sad love would melt! February, 1915

By Nikolay Berlezh

БЕЛАРУСЬ. BELARUS 2021

FAIRY TALE Ekaterina Khodasevich-Lisovaya, a member of the Union of Writers of Belarus since April 2006, a committee member of the children’s literature subpanel. Member of the editorial boards of the magazines “Vyaselka” and “Maladosts”. Started writing at the age of 10. Her printing debut took place in 1996 in the magazine “Pershatsvet”. Mainly works in the field of children’s literature. She is the author of 18 books for children and adolescents. There are also works for adults. She was published in the magazines “Vyaselka”, “Byarozka”, “Kacheli”, “Maladosts”, “Neman”, “Rodnaya Pryroda”, newspapers “Literature and Arts”, “Minskaya Prauda”, “Nastaunitskaya Hazeta” and in other periodicals. Ekaterina’s works were also published in corporate collections. She was born and raised in the village of Zhdanovichi, Minsk region. She graduated from Zhdanovichi secondary school, Minsk State Pedagogical College, Maksim Tank Belarusian State Pedagogical University and returned as a primary school teacher to her native school in Zhdanovichi, where she is still working today. Writes in Belarusian. By the way, the fairy tale “A Happy Book” was translated into Chinese by Sun Fanqi, a 4th-year student of the Faculty of Radiophysics and Computer Technologies of the Belarusian State University. Besides, he also translated into Chinese the fairy tale by Lyudmila Rublevskaya “Pik-Pik and Pepita on a Hunt”.

EKATERINA KHODASEVICH-LISOVAYA

A HAPPY

BOOK

A girl Veronika came to visit her cousin Karina, whom she had not seen for two years. — Come on, hurry up! — Karina called impatiently. — I’ll show you how many new toys I have! The girls ran into her room. Indeed, there were a lot of toys. There were dolls on the shelves, teddy bears were seated on the armchair, mermaids in a transparent aquarium lived on the windowsill, in the corner there was a large dollhouse… — These are my treasures! — Karina smiled. — Well, what shall we play with? — I just don’t know where to look first! — admitted Veronika. Examining the shelves, the girl took her backpack off her shoulders and put it

БЕЛАРУСЬ. BELARUS 2021

on a chair, but it fell down. A book fell out of the open backpack. — And I have the same one! — said Karina, looking at the cover. — Yes, I gave it to you for your birthday, — confirmed Veronika. — But mine looks completely different! — Karina crinkled her cute snub-nose. She climbed onto a chair by the bookcase and took a similar book from the top shelf, in the corner of which some more new books huddled together. The girls put their identical books on the table side by side. — Look, how beautiful mine is! New, clean, shiny! — boasted Karina. — And yours is shabby, the cover is askew, the pages have become gray!

Veronika didn’t have time to answer, because their mothers invited them to dinner, and the girls ran away. — Ah! My poor sister! — sobbed the shiny new book. — How awful you look! How sorry I am for you! One day we were printed, we got on the bookshelf together, and we were bought together. Only after it we had such different destinies. I remained brand new! I am a lucky book! My mistress didn’t throw me, didn’t fold the sheets, didn’t stain the pages. I always stand high on the shelf and look around the room from there, watch my mistress who loves to play with her toys. And you, poor thing, have apparently experienced so many terrible things! I’m scared just to imagine!

FAIRY TALE — Come on, dear sister! — exclaimed the worn-out book. — I am also happy! — You? Happy? — the radiant beauty was surprised. — Yes, very happy! I am my mistress’ favorite book. — She has read me so many times that I can’t even count! I think Veronika knows all my text by heart, but she still reads it over and over again. We have been together for 2 years, I’ve traveled with her across Belarus many times and have even flown far, far away. — Did you fly? Oh God! Did she toss you?! — her sister got worried. — No! — she laughed. — Veronika just took me on vacation to the Mediterranean Sea. — Where is it? — asked the beauty. A globe, which was on the table nearby, creaked: — This is our Belarus, and the Mediterranean Sea is here! — it turned, showing the right side for the beauty to understand. — Holy moly! — in surprise, the shiny new cover rose and fell several times, as if it also wanted to fly to the sea.

—  Yes, we got on the plane and it took us high, high into the sky! — the book said. — Veronika was a little afraid, but as soon as she pulled me out and started reading, she instantly forgot about all her fears. We reached the place, it was great, because the time we spend together always flies by. — Tell us what it is like, the sea! — this was asked by the dolls from the shelves. — Very-very big, very blue and very salty, — the book replied. — How do you know it’s salty? Did you fall into it? — asked the teddy bears. — No! — the book smiled. — Veronika just took me to the beach and after swimming in the sea leafed through my pages with a little wet fingers. We lay under a large umbrella, basked in the sun, listened to the whisper of the sea waves, and for the umpteenth time I told my mistress interesting stories written on my pages. — How wonderful it must be there! — now mermaids from the aquarium on the windowsill joined the conversation. — We have never seen the sea, but you have been there. How lucky you are! — Where else have you been? — asked the book-beauty. — I st aye d wit h a ll Veroni ka’s friends, — the book continued. — How else? After all, she was so excited when she talked about me that everyone wanted to read me. She gave me to them, but asked

to treat carefully. I am always glad to return home, because Veronika gives me a warm welcome! I went to school with her when the teacher asked to bring her favorite book. We are always together, so I rarely stand on the shelf, and travel more in her backpack. That is why I am here now and I am very glad to see you again, sister. It became quiet. The toys and the shiny beauty book were lost in thought.. They probably wanted to say something else, but the girls returned. Karina took the doll off the shelf, and Veronika took her book and asked: — Which story from this book do you like most? Karina smiled shyly: — Well, for some reason I have never started reading… — It is not surprising! — Veronika said sincerely. — You put it on the top shelf and forgot. You just have no idea what an interesting book it is! It is about girl Vlada and her friend Vukhutik, who flew from the distant planet Vukhutia. — I promise I’ll start reading it tonight! — assured Karina. Veronika’s favorite book was happy for her beautiful sister, and the latter glistened with a glossy cover in response and whispered: — Every book wants to be happy! Let the readers remember this!

Fairy tale character — Vukhutik

БЕЛАРУСЬ. BELARUS 2021

PLANETABELARUS.BY

25 YEARS LATER

HIKING IN FANTASY STYLE Notes on a hiking adventure that no one has repeated yet

O Continuation

n the first day of our walk a strange feeling did not leave us both. Only now, years later, can we describe it. I remember that I couldn’t wrap my head around that: how are we going to cover such a long way?.. However, the question was rather rhetorical. We were hiking! With delight! And that was the main thing! Our idea actually began to come true without any hindrance. It was accompanied by awakening of nature. It was warm April. We looked at everything with a fresh eye and tried not to miss a single opportunity: to see life and feel it with all our being. And it seemed that the kite from our business card flew in front encouraging us to move at a fast pace. And in our hearts, each of us experienced that mystical feeling we had at the relics of Saint Euphrosyne in Polotsk on the festive day of Easter. We were sure: the guardian of the Belarusian land heard us and blessed us yesterday. Believe it or not, but, as it seemed to us, we had got into the energy field of high vibrations! Fantasy? Mystic? Rather,

БЕЛАРУСЬ. BELARUS 2021

high energy physics. In order to understand this, we refer the reader to the bestselling book of molecular microbiologist Bruce Lipton “The Biology of Faith”. This book explores how the power of belief can transform our body and mind. It completely changes the traditional view of reality, opens new connections between biology, psychology and spirituality. We observed these connections, covering kilometer by kilometer… However, more on this below.

Start! Smells of the earth freed from snow, roadside landscapes and birds’ singing make our heads dizzy. We greedily absorbed all this. And we couldn’t breathe up enough. Therefore, we slightly reduced the speed of movement, if a very beautiful view opened up. Now to the left of the road, now to the right. Druya was behind. The sun was rather hot. It was time to relax and have lunch. We stopped at the place identification sign of the village with a funny name “Yaya” and decided to rest right on the asphalt: the ground on both sides of the road was still wet. We laughed

for a long time as even the name was related to fantasy. Streams were ringing. We took out the remains of the “amateur” vegetarian Big Mac from the grocery bag. Now we do not remember why we called it like that. (McDonald’s opened in Minsk only in December 1996). The day before we had dinner, sitting in one of the courtyards right at the old school desk. And who had put it there, we did not understand. Who had scribbled Vanya + Masha, we did not know either — no one went out into the yard. It made us laugh. Valentina joked: you, Ivan, should have found Masha in order to travel through Belarus… We did not know then that day by day it would be more and more difficult to joke. And, sitting right on the warm asphalt, we also could not imagine that there would be days ahead with no time for fun. We didn’t feel that enormous fatigue, when you don’t even want to talk. And the first day of hiking was a day of celebration of our freedom — life in a new fairy-tale reality. We ate Big Mac with delicious bread, which we had bought in Druya. Sipping water from the spring, we talked about the triumph of early spring we observed in

25 YEARS LATER this place: ice plates were floating along the Dvina. It was an impressive sight. They seemed to be catching up with each other. A larger one, having caught up with a smaller one, inundated it, or even smashed it to smithereens. There was a beautiful bridge on the Druika River in front of the Dvina River. I wanted to stand there, but it was already in Lithuania. The Trinity Roman Catholic Church also delighted me. With ultra-blue sky as the background, its dome seemed to glow. At that time, we could not look up on the mobile Internet — there was no Internet yet, so only after a few years we learned: the Trinity Roman Catholic Church is an architectural monument of the Baroque style and the first cult stone building in Braslav district, which is part of the Bernardine monastery complex. And the complex was funded by Lev Sapega and built in 1643– 1646 The church had been destroyed more than once… Ivan looked into the restored church. It was fresh and sunny there, the doors of the church were wide open, it was being aired, but there was no one inside. There was not a single person on the asphalt, on which we even managed to lie down. Fortunately, neither we nor the storks, and there were as many as 10 of them, were disturbed by cars. Having had a rest, we got up and moved on — to Braslav. It was getting dark. In Gaveyki village we asked a woman to let us stay overnight. She refused explaining it by her children’s arrival. We felt thirsty and wanted to put on our windbreakers. We drank birch sap. Kind people had treated us to it. Encountered locals advised us to walk to Slobodka. That was a big village, they said, someone would let us stay overnight. The road went up. It was already completely dark. The carriage was moving well. Impulsively, one of us called it tenderly: our kewpie. Later on, keeping diary entries, we assigned this name to our vehicle and put it in the quotation marks — “Kewpie”. Without it, we would have had difficulties with the baggage which was necessary on our trip. There is a note in the diary. It was made by Ivan a couple of days later: “I compare Kewpie with someone third that exists between me and Valenti-

na. It carries our cargo, “ideology” (books, notebooks for diary entries, paper for writing articles), equipment, food, a tent, sleeping bags and other necessary items for our camping life. Kewpie loves balance. If it is wrong, it can turn over, chirps with wheel spokes and joints (today we had the opportunity to see this at a school in Kazyany). It requires delicacy and caution. Valya decorated it with pussy-willow branches, on which “pussies” blossomed. They smelled sweet. And the bees, which had already appeared, sat on them to collect honey from yellow pollen. So, “Kewpie” is our common thing. And if we had backpacks, each would have to carry his/her own cargo. The carriage as an image of the force that helps us to carry out our plans more easily.” In a word, “Kewpie” was a hard worker. And it withstood a steep rise of the road leading to Slobodka. Its slight crackling, by the way, did not frighten the moose either. He stood after the Gaveyki on the field like a statue. Thirty meters from the road. We walked by breathlessly, and he didn’t even make a move. It seems that he felt our energy of peacefulness. And the mirror-like surface of some lakes freed from the ice, whimsically darkening against the background of not melted snow, completely shocked us. In the dusk light, they looked like creatures of cosmic origin sprawled on the snow. Isn’t it fantasy?

Slobodka Hi Slobodka! We determined that that was it by a whitening roadside sign. It is as dark as pitch. Not a single lamp-post. And the silence, just like before a thunderstorm. Only in the distance the voices of young people are barely audible. But dancing music is not heard: it’s a weekday, even though the week is festive, Easter. Two lovers embracing one another came up to us. They showed us the way to the boarding school. Vladimir, the son of the boarding school headmaster, billeted us. And on the headmaster’s table we saw “Nastaunitskaya Hazeta” with the article about our journey. What a coincidence. There was a newspaper, and there we were. We were glad: they already know about us! At 10.50 pm, when we settled in for the night in Slobodka, Valentina made an entry in her diary, recalling what delight it was to see the landscapes of Braslav district, which she had never seen: “These landscapes are in the style of films directed

Behind the Dvina, which has already freed itself from ice, is Lithuania

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25 YEARS LATER by Bergman.” We went to bed without feeling tired, even though we had covered 26 km. In the morning we met Avgust Voitekhovich, teacher of the boarding school. He read about us in the newspaper. Therefore, he was not surprised. He invited us to walk around the neighborhood, to see the village. We made diary entries while getting acquainted with our guide. He said that he was a former officer, graduate from Minsk Institute of Foreign Languages, had been working as a teacher for 18 years. There were 212 pupils at school. He wrote articles, they had been published in “Nastaunitskaya Hazeta” and other periodicals. Avgust Pavlovich was the author of the Code of Pedagogical Ethics, which had also been published. He was fond of psychopedagogy, advised his pupils to observe their inner world. He said that it often happens like this: the students are sitting — the teacher is teaching them. And there is no feedback in this process. A teacher should know the types of students’ nervous system. If someone’s is weak, he/she shouldn’t be often called to the blackboard. The question: “why are you silent?” can cause mental trauma. For such puplis it is better to do written assignments. And if the psyche is strong, such a student needs a constant change of actions. And it is better to seat the children in the class in a semicircle. This creates a trusting atmosphere in

the team. It is wrong to make everyone sit with their hands on the table: not everyone feels comfortable in this position. But in schools, according to our interlocutor, regressive pedagogy still prevails, when everything is done under duress. Free atmosphere should be created, so as not to shackle the creative forces of students. Even to let them Unusual name of the village on the road from Druya to Braslav walk around the classroom. Avgust Pavlovich is convinced that We were heading to the unique Ozovsthe pedagogical reform will take place only kaya ridge in Slobodka. Slobodka residents when the psychology of a teacher changcall it the Horn. This local natural monues. A dead-end situation is when teachment is between beautiful lakes. And it is ers have no desire to change anything in protected by the state. Slobodka itself is themselves, in their work, if they have no surrounded by Potsekh, Nedrovo, Ilmecontact with the children. He would also nok, Vera, Vorozhdunets lakes. be very happy if future teachers in pedaToday this village with great tourist gogical universities were selected accordpotential in Braslav district of Vitebsk reing to the criteria of compassion, emotiongion is located nine kilometers northeast of the center of the district on Braslaval sensitivity, i. e. psychological compliance Druya highway. About a thousand people with the future profession. And also, he permanently live in it, and in summer time stressed, it is important to have no hatthe population increases several times due ers in the ranks of teachers. The golden to vacationers. And many vacationers, rule of psychology says: if you want to start especially from Russia, visit Ozovskaya with something, first change your attitude ridge. towards the pupil.

We go to Ozovskaya ridge of Slobodka

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25 YEARS LATER look from the boat.” Voitekhovich was an avid fisherman. And he had a boat. And in that lake we will swim 20 years after, when we buy a small farm near Slobodka, which is a part of the village of Gavrilovtsy. Although rarely, we go there today, admire open spaces, remember the first day of the trip and our excursion around Slobodka, admire the Folk master Mikhail Cherkas with his granddaughter “Heart of Jesus” Roman Catholic Church, a landmark of BraAccording to Voitekhovich, once there slav district. And from time to time we was a pagan temple on the ridge. The excameet August Pavlovich, which we didn’t vations were carried out there by the staff know when we were talking to him. of the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of Belarus. Gray ash was found — You must do good if asked. After all, there, which indicates sacrifices. how can you give something if someone We were standing right on Horn Hill. doesn’t want to accept it? It is necessary In the distance there were giant junipers to learn how to give and receive correctly. 4–5 meters high. It was splendid! Open Ingratitude often spoils relationships bespace! The sun was hot. “If the summer tween people. But you began to give what turns out to be hot, then you will need no one wanted to take! So don’t expect hats,” — said Avgust Pavlovich. And took gratitude, — Voitekhovich argued, acus to the local craftsmen. On the way he companying us to the local sculptor Petr said: “If you come here once again, swim in Zelyavsky. And then he asked: — Do you Lake Volos. There is North Volos and want to see his work? I didn’t ask you South Volos. It is the cleanest. There you about it. And enforced the hats. Maybe, can see the bottom 7 meters deep if you you don’t want to buy them…

— Oh, no, you didn’t enforce it, on the contrary. We want to buy hats and see sculptures… After all, when else will we visit this place. So show us the way. Petr Zelyavsky and Petr Karanik are folk craftsmen, besides, they are also good neighbors. Zelyavsky was especially successful in wooden sculptures on religious themes, and Karanik is a master crafsman of straw hats. Before visiting them, we went to another folk master Mikhail Cherkassky. He also lived nearby. In addition to hats, he made other interesting things out of straw. We saw a straw stork, headbands for girls, a sugar bowl, a large plate in the form of a fruit tree, a house on chicken legs, boxes and so on. The master taught folk art to his granddaughter Polinka, the skill which he himself had acquired from his father. We bought a straw hat for Ivan and took photos of Polinka and her grandfather. — You’ll definitely get a bryl (a straw hat) for Valentina from Karanik, I don’t have women’s ones, — Mikhail Boleslavovich said at parting. At Zelyavsky’s house we admired the cross carved by him, a tree with two sculptures of storks in a nest. And next to them there was an interesting inscription in Polish — “Soon there will be the end of sorcerers.” And the sculpture of a woman had an inscription — “Nova Eva”. And there was also fantasy! I wanted to ask

Avgust Voitekhovich — an experienced expert in his land

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25 YEARS LATER lively and frankly. He also spoke about his belief in the Highest meaning of life. He was taught by his grandmother. If there is danger in life, she said, one should read the following prayer: “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.” And he, applying this popular wisdom, always, as he admitted, got off with a whole skin. — And my mother also talked about the power of prayer “The Lord shall rise.” Once our cow got sick. Mother went to the animal technician, but he was drunk and even told her off. She did not quarrel with him, but was very worried. And in despair she read this prayer at home. Early in the morning, he ran to the mother, fell to his knees and asked for forgiveness. And the cow, by the way, was cured. I lost the prayer written by her hand and regretted it very much. But on the same day I went to the bookstore and found the text of the prayer in the book “Monastic Kitchen”. Despite the fact that the faith, the feeling of happiness, is a personal matter, we nevertheless asked people, trying to be tactful, about what supported them in the days when difficulties arose. Many spoke about faith in God. So Voitekhovich

revealed himself to us. And he even gave an example of his dialogue with his son. The son asked his father: have you seen God? Heard him? And the father answered the question with a question: have you heard ultrasound, or have you seen radio waves? The son had nothing to say. As for personal happiness, in the opinion of Avgust Pavlovich, this is a multi-layered issue, but in the profession he feels completely happy. On that we said goodbye, having no idea that twenty years later we would meet Voitekhovich and make a long interview with him for the magazine. At the top of the page of our diary there is a round seal with the inscription “Braslav District Committee of the Labor Union of Education Workers of Higher Education Institutions”. Inside: “Labor Union of Slobodka Secondary School”. At our request, our interlocutor put a stamp to prove our arrival in Slobodka. He left a note under the seal, written in a beautiful handwriting: “Dear Ivan and Valentina! I am grateful to God for our meeting, because after three hours of communication with you I felt spiritually enriched. Good luck in your search for the Kingdom of Far Far Away.” Best regards, Avgust Voitekhovich. April 16, 1996, Slobodka”. It’s noon. We are walking to Braslav. Ivan and Valentina Zhdanovich

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what the master meant… But we were in a hurry. It was afternoon, time to set off. But we had to visit Karanik! We entered his house. He and she were sitting, like two doves, on the bed. The room was small, on the table there were Easter eggs and Easter cake with a candle. Smiling, bright faces! Petr Kazimirovich, it turned out, was a well-known master, the “Palace” band, which in the early 90s was the founder of the modern folk style, performed in his hats. And a businessman from California visited Karanik and bought a straw hat. An American Hercule Kohane, the UN representative in Belarus, came to see the way the old man worked. Karanik was born in 1906. And his wife Teresa Petrovna was born in 1904. Both were in their 90s. — God helps us — that’s why we live long, — they said to us at parting. And we also took pictures with them. And during our conversation “Ave Maria!” sounded on the radio. It smelled nice of Easter cake. In good spirits, we left the Karaniks’ house. Avgust Voitekhovich was also in good spirits: his guests in new straw hats were happy. We were heading to the boarding school, where “Kewpie” was waiting for us. We were talking about faith in God, about happiness, about keeping the Biblical commandments. It was easy to talk to Voitekhovich. He answered questions

Slobodka residents call the heart of Jesus the famous Church of the Providence of God

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DIALOGUE WITH THE WRITER

ANATOLY REZANOVICH:

“RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW I WANT TO LIVE, CREATE, LOVE”

More than once each of us, the interlocutors of Anatoly Rezanovich, wondered even during the years of study at universities (one day we talked about this with each other): why, for example, phrases like: the sun is shining, it is raining — written by one author have a great impact on readers, while written by another — do not cause any reaction. And we agreed that the trick is in the spiritual energy with which the writer enlivens the word. Then, it becomes significant, even dense, I would say, if the writer fills the phrase with his/her vivid feelings. Therefore, the word affects. And so, it happens, it affects so strongly that it is difficult to hold back tears, or you can’t help re-reading one or another paragraph that awakened these feelings, evoked associations. The point here is not even that the writer sees the world differently in comparison with what other masters of the word. The writer can even repeat the events described in the work, but the feelings experienced are impossible to be reproduced. So we, the readers of this or that work, rely on our subjective taste. Because it is difficult to find objective criteria, especially when it comes to literature and art. Sharing our impressions of the works of our vis-а‑vis, as co-authors of the interview, we also did not immediately come to the following general impression about them: it is talented, it catches. We should also admit that Rezanovich’s powerful personality impressed as soon as

Cool, energetic, charismatic… One of those who knows the history of his family so thoroughly, whose ancestors lived, worked and fought in the era of Francysk Skaryna. This conversation is about him, talented Belarusian writer Anatoly Rezanovich, author of significant novels, novellas and short stories. And also about an interesting way the history of the people is reflected in the mirror of the family line. he appeared in the editorial office. One immediately thinks of such people: a person with charisma. And when, as a generous gift, he laid out his books, we looked at each other: it seems, we will have to work hard. We won’t deceive you: we haven’t had time to read all of Anatoly Ivanovich’s novels. But we have tried to reproduce and comprehend the conversation with him. As a result, it seems to us, we have recorded a frank conversation with the author of such iconic novels like “The Hermit”, “Wormwood-Water”, “Warsaw Express”, as well as stories — “What the pianist is playing about”, “Snow was falling” and stories “Revenge”, “Woman waiting”. As well as other works, including the philosophical work “Comprehension of Truth.” We propose this conversation to the reader. — Anatoly Ivanovich, in your books, the events of the past and the present are closely intertwined. The thought is emphasized: everything in this world is interconnected. But how do you feel about the opinion: no matter what a writer writes about, he/she writes about himself/herself? — Positive. After all, in my works, my life experience, my views and worldview are reflected. All my creativity is my life. Not a biography, of course, but what I saw, what I participated in, which I know very well, and what I felt at the same time. But, if a writer begins to describe life that is not characteristic of him/her, then the readers will immediately notice the falsity of this creation. You know, for example, a cook

cannot express the emotions of an astronaut in zero gravity, and an astronaut cannot bake pies better than a cook, no matter what they say. — And what about fantasy, mysticism? After all, this is a fictional life, not typical of a writer. And we read such works with great pleasure, without feeling the falsity of creation. — These are other genres. And here the power of the author’s imagination comes into play. If he/she is able to penetrate deeply into the fantastic world, to revive it with his/her energies of feelings and thoughts, then we will be involved there too. — Are you a happy person? — Oh yeah! Since childhood, I was surrounded by love. Both of my parents and grandparents. I had not only their spiritual warmth, but enough of those material benefits that are necessary for any person. Alas, not every person has all this. And this is the reason for dissatisfaction, complexes, envy, a desire for revenge not only on strangers, but also on their loved ones, relatives. Children leave their parents, husbands — wives, and wives — husbands not because of poverty or housing problems. They leave because of lack of love. — The protagonist of your work “The Hermit” Stepan Losich loses parents and church values become his passion. Isn’t it an natural result of loneliness when a person falls into despair and clings to his/her phobias?

БЕЛАРУСЬ. BELARUS 2021

DIALOGUE WITH THE WRITER — This is partly the case. Novel “The Hermit” is a multi-layered work. It also has philosophy, which is vital, real. It, along with the plot line of this novel, in my opinion, does not only captivate readers, but also puts before them questions of their existence, their relationship to the events, their conscience and morality. By the way, “The Hermit” was first published by the publishing house of the Belarusian Exarchate of the Moscow Patriarchate, and after that by “Mastatskaya litaratura”. For me, the saddest thing is that those who write about this work, which has been published three times — first as a story, and then, after revision, as a novel — not always get, as they say, to the root of the matter. As a result, the work that is significant for me is often advertised as follows: “The action of the novel “The Hermit” takes place in Polesie — in Krasny Bereg tract, in Ladorosh and Khoromel villages. The main character is Stepan Losich, the son of local dispossessed peasants. When the war breaks out, the NKVD workers order Losich to guard the church valuables hidden in the forest. Gradually, from the custodian of church values, Losich turns into their owner. The war ends, more than one peaceful decade has passed, but Stepan does not want to return the church property to either the state or the church. And he is afraid, because he gave part of the church values to Anastasia, the woman he fell in love with…” And it sounds like an adventure novel. But this definition is not accurate. The novel “The Hermit” is a tragedy and drama of a man who lived under the Soviet rule and came into conflict with it. As for the description of this conflict, it is presented only partially in a detective form. But this form is also a tragedy and drama. But in general, it is about the life of a simple peasant during the Soviet era for half a century. No more, no less. — Is your attitude to the Soviet regime caused by any personal negative associations? — Oh no! Not at all! Everything went very well for me. At twenty-four I

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worked in Pinsk city Komsomol committee, at twenty-seven I was the editor of Ivatsevichi regional newspaper, a member of the Bureau of the regional party committee, a deputy of the regional Council of People’s Deputies. When I was appointed to this position, it was already 1985 — the beginning of Gorbachev’s perestroika. In short, my career prospects were good. And for some time I used them, while working as an executive director at the newspaper and publishing company of the Central Committee of LKSMB

These books have seen the world

“Belaya Rus”, editor-in-chief of the republican magazine “SEZ”, director of the Republican Exhibition Complex “Belresursy” and so on. Before that, I had entered the Higher Party School, which I did not finish, since the Soviet Union collapsed. Strange as it may seem, it was at the party school that I started reading the Bible. Besides, I got the opportunity to get acquainted with the archival materials of the Soviet history… At some point I experienced a shock. Especially when my mother told me about something she had never told me

before. Namely: about the fate of my relatives, who disappeared in Siberia during the Stalin years. For what? For the fact that they wanted to live on their land, own it and grow on it what they considered necessary. — So, the fate of Losich is the artistic refraction of this tragedy? — Yes, that is right. The character of the novel “The Hermit” was never against collective property, but did not approve of people being herded into a collective farm. The novel, I emphasize, is about this. There is no need to look for something else in it… Fortunately, there are writers and literary critics who speak very highly of “The Hermit”. One of them is Vladimir Glushakov, laureate of the State Prize of Belarus. Let me quote him: “The artistic truth and authenticity of “The Hermit” by Anatoly Rezanovich involuntarily evokes associations with such masterpieces of world classics as “Robinson Crusoe” by Daniel Defoe, “The Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway, “The Dawns Here Are Quiet” by Boris Vasilyev. It focuses mainly on two distinctive, truly Poleshuk characters — Losich and Anastasia, on accurate sketches of everyday life and nature, where there is not a drop of falsity and farfetchedness, where the rapid dynamic development of the plot lines resembles a releasing spring.” I will say without false modesty: the words of Vladimir Glushakov are pleasant to me. “The Hermit” is a serious work and, perhaps, the only one in Belarus, which reveals the tragedy of collectivization. — What is your novel “WormwoodWater” about? As far as we know, you have published three books in Russian and Belarusian. You are writing the fourth, and the fifth one is lined up… — The novel is about our time since 1979, when a devastating flood burst out in Polesie, as a harbinger of a global change in the life of that time, its values. In the center there are people who happened to live during the changes. This is not just a novel. This is a chronicle novel, in which there is light and darkness, the reflections

DIALOGUE WITH THE WRITER of the characters about what happened and what it was like after Gorbachev’s perestroika, their assessment of what is happening, again — the philosophy of life. The main character of the work is Aleksey Zhilevsky. His fate is similar to the fate of thousands of young people who were born, raised, gained knowledge and experience in the Soviet Union, and then were forced to rethink what they had accumulated in their minds and even hearts. Alas, our contemporaries have experienced many tragedies of the last century. One of them is the most terrible one, i. e. Chernobyl. And not only physical, but also spiritual. It is the spiritual Chernobyl that interests me most of all as a writer. It and its consequences are mainly discussed in “Wormwood-Water”. I also show that this misfortune devastates some people, but also gives many other people hope, self-confidence… This is my character Aleksey Zhilevsky, He comes to the conclusion that he is one of those who can and should make life better. It is not only the state that is obliged to take care of the material and spiritual state of society, but it is vital for each of us to make every effort to ensure that we ourselves and our children are happy. This is a difficult task, but realistic. As for cruelty, evil, violation of laws and rules of human community, such manifestations can be seen in any country in the world. After all, there are enough fools and scoundrels everywhere. The main thing is not to sink to the bottom yourself, to swim out into the clear water and already get to the shore through it. The shore where peace and quiet reign. — And what was your childhood and youth shore like? We would like to know about your ancestral roots. What traditions have you inherited? What is kept in your memory? — I have already said that my childhood and youth were happy. I repeat: I grew up in love and prosperity. And the history of my family, including its tragic pages, is incomprehensibly woven into the canvas of my works. — Who from your family opened these pages for you? — At some point, my aunt Hanna, Anna Fedorovna Koleda. She died at the

age of ninety-three last year. I spoke to aunt Hanna about fifteen times. She possessed a phenomenal memory, and as many times she asked me before revealing something from the past,: “Tolik, won’t there be anything bad if I tell you?” You know, there was a period in our history when belonging to the wealthy class was not welcomed. — Apparently, your ancestors were not ordinary farmers? — Judge for yourself. When the house of my grandparents on the maternal side, Feodosy and Manya Zhuravsky, burned down, my grandmother said: “Thank God!” Because the address of Petr, the brother of grandfather Feodosy, who at that time had already lived in the United States for a long time, also burned down in that fire. And he used to write to her before the fire: Manya, come with Feodosy! I have enough money for you, your grandchildren and your great-grandchildren. My grandmother thanked God for the fact that as the house burned down, no one would pester her and my grandfather with questions about what the next letter from America was about. Letters from the USA that came to the Zhuravskys always contained a couple of US dollars. Those who checked foreign correspondence did not take out this money. But they suspected, apparently, that money was sent to my grandmother and grandfather in some other roundabout, secret ways. I remember an interesting case. When I got married, at the wedding, grandfather Feodosy pulled me aside, gave me a dollar and told me to keep it in my wallet. It was supposed to bring money. I got married in Soviet times, when the overwhelming majority of our citizens had never seen a dollar. — You are talking about the Zhuravskys. This is a fairly well-known and noble surname. Is Belarus their homeland? — Yes, my grandfather and grandmother Zhuravsky lived in the village of Gorodets, which is located in my native Stolin district. But before the war, grandfather Feodosy, his family lived in Lelchitsy region. During the Great Patriotic War my grandfather was an artilleryman, fought, took part in the seizure of Berlin, and there, on one of the streets, he was twice

"My future mother Valentina with her parents — Feodosy and Maria Zhuravsky"

Parents — Valentina and Ivan

In Pinsk city committee of Komsomol. 1983

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DIALOGUE WITH THE WRITER wounded. He had no strength to endure because of the sharp pain, and he asked those who were nearby to shoot him down. He shouted: “Can’t you spare a bullet on me?..” But they quickly bandaged my grandfather and took him to hospital. He survived, returned home. Although disabled, but a war hero, a victorious soldier. By the way, there is information about him, his military awards on the “People’s Memory” portal on the Internet. So, grandfather Feodosy was the youngest of the brothers in the family. And the elder brothers, except for Petr who lived in America, left for Poland when the Soviet power came, They lived there almost all the time. Although it happened that they crossed the border and settled scores with those who took their land and the entire large farmstead. My mother, who is about to turn eighty-seven, told me about this only recently, two or three years ago. She said, wiping away her tears, that after some time, grandfather Feodosy’s brothers disappeared. And nobody knew where or how. But, many years later, our family was told that people had seen one of them in Siberia. He was about a hundred years old. As for grandmother Manya, Maria Dmitrievna, she, according to her stories, was connected by her roots with the Radziwills, their relatives, on whose part there was not only love, but also betrayal. My grandmother Manya in her youth was an amazing beauty. She was supposed to live peacefully and happily, walk in the beautiful garden planted by her, which occupied and still occupies an area of almost a hectare, but she experienced so much grief and humiliation that it would be enough for several people. — So, that is how the echoes of your family line are present in the novel “The Hermit”. We can say that it was precisely the fear of death and physical violence that kept the novel’s character Stepan Losich in a swamp, in a damp dugout shelter for many decades… And the novelchronicle “Wormwood-Water” — is this a story about your father’s family line? And judging by the name of your father, your family is ancient, gentry. — Not just gentry but ducal ones according to the analysis of the historical

БЕЛАРУСЬ. BELARUS 2021

chronicles and the documents, as well as the stories that I heard from my grandparents. Its origins remain in antiquity. As you know, there was Novgorod voivode Dobrynya Nikitich in history, who brought up and raised Duke Vladimir Krasnoe Solnyshko. So, Dobrynya, they say, baptized Russia. He was Novgorod duke named Rezanovich. Perhaps my family roots come from him. There are other conspicuous pieces of information in the studies on Old Russian history: “The epic nicknames of Dobrynya Malkovich — Rezanovich and Nizkinich (from the latter, “patronymic” Nikitich came from) — connect Dobrynya with the famous boyar clan Rezanovich in the southwestern part of Russia — Volyn. There, three large villages are connected with the Rezanovichs:

Polish into Russian of the main meaning of this document regarding my ancestors, page 242: “King Jan Kazimierz in 1661 approved of a number of documents from the times of Jagaila and Witold, dukes John and Theodor Yaroslavich and Queen Bona for the Rezanovich family.” As you know, under these dukes and Queen Bona, who was famous for many areas of her ebullient activity, sparsely populated territories in Polessie and in other places started to be settled. It must be assumed that my ancestors Rezanovich received land for specific services to the state. They lived then in the village of Rubel or moved there, for example, from Volyn, it is not known how many years before. — Is this information the result of your research or is it just family legends?

During the presentation of one of the books dedicated to Petr Klimuk. In the editorial office of the newspaper "Zarya" (Brest).

Kalusov (modern Gryady), Budyatichi and Nizkinichi.” I also came across in the documents some information about Nemir Ryazanovich (Rezanovich), who lived in the fifteenth century and was a statesman and military leader of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the headman of Lutsk. This city is now in Volyn region of Ukraine. Under him, the chronicles say, the ancient city joined the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. As for my direct and closest ancestors, thanks to whom I was born, these are my father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and so on. They were given large plots of land in my native village of Rubel. This can be learned from several documents of that time, including “Polessie archive” edited by V. L. Verenich. This is a translation from

— Both and something else. The fact that my paternal ancestors were “extraordinary” people, I know for sure. For example, grandfather Fedor and grandmother Vera Rezanovich were not Uniates or Catholics, but Orthodox, and very pious. The service was held each time on holidays from eight a. m. to one p. m. When they came home, the grandfather sat down on the bench at the porch and smoked. Baba Vera took cabbage soup, porridge, and meat out of the oven. It was a well-oiled ritual. Baba poured wine for the grandfather. This happened only once a week after the church service. Having prayed, they dined slowly and stolidly. After the dinner, the grandfather crossed himself and went to have a rest. But the grandmother had to clean

DIALOGUE WITH THE WRITER the table. And there was also a special atmosphere in it. Some kind of solemnity, wisdom, which impressed me very much. I have never seen such a reverence for the Almighty, a patient attitude towards a difficult life, everyday life. The exception is my father Ivan Fedorovich Rezanovich. He was a man of a very high inner culture, all his life he used to wear a suit and tie. He never talked about the past of the family, he believed that in order to achieve something in life, we all need to work hard. Which is what we did. — Do you have brothers or sisters? — Only two sisters. They are younger than me. One lives in Domachevo, which is near Brest, the other in California, USA. — It turns out that your family was wealthy, if not rich…

The chronicle of various industrial enterprises in Belarus is also written thanks to Anatoly Rezanovich

— An interesting question… My paternal ancestors were really rich people. They had more than a thousand hectares of land. Our lands are the center of the village of Rubel, almost the entire Karasina tract, part of Goreyshe tract, areas of alder and pine forests. We owned a large house, outbuildings including barns and stables, a mill and a linseed oil mill. There were horses, bulls, sheep, pigs, chickens, ducks, geese. Horses were especially famous. They were tall, healthy, shiny, as if oiled. My aunts Hanna and Praskovia told me that the people of Rubel secretly said: “The Rezanovichs feed the horses with millet.” But that was certainly not the case. They

just wisely looked after the horses. One stallion named Oger, whom my grandfather loved very much, was taken away by the military. It was in the fifties when collectivization came to Rubel. And soon this stallion was brought to England by ship. And there Oger took first place in the races. For this, a few years later my grandfather received a plow as a gift. It was made in Leningrad at a factory. That plow was still hanging in my grandfather’s shed when I was at school. It was all made of iron, heavy, completely unsuitable for farming. And in Rubel since ancient times a plough had been used. Such a gift, of course, caused bewilderment of the grandfather. In short, it was one more piece of wood to the fire of grandfather Fedor’s complicated relationship with the authorities. No wonder he repeated to death the same expression: “The fool loves red.” Meaning, those who support this power. But he said this, I will stress, without malice, admitting that the Soviet power was doing a lot for the people. For example, he was very surprised to get a monthly pension. Even though it was small — twelve rubles, it was given, according to the grandfather, “for free”. Grandfather Fedor also had such a notion because he served in the Polish cavalry in his youth, was at one time an assistant to a deputy of the Polish Seim, traveled with his grandmother to Warsaw on business and “for dancing, and also “for a cup of coffee”. Not only by train, but sometimes also by horse. But not to dance or drink coffee, but to have a little of urban, high life. — And when, Anatoly Ivanovich, did you first find out that your family had its own land? — Once, being a student of the Belarusian State University, I was mowing grass with my grandfather and father in Karasina tract, and my grandfather said: “Here, Tolya, is our umbilical cord.” “What is the umbilical cord?” — I asked in surprise, since I didn’t even know a word like that. “The umbilical cord is our land,” — explained the grandfather. “There was a shed behind the bushes, and horses were grazing nearby, ducks and geese were swimming nearby…” For me, my grandfather’s revelation was not entirely clear and did not

cause much thought. But I began to remember what my grandmother Manya told me, who almost every evening, when I was still a child, got out a huge purse the size of a bag from somewhere, took out packs of old money, some papers and asked to look carefully and memorize what she was saying. And she talked about shares, royal coins, things belonging to the branch of the Radziwills dukes, the palace, which was in Mankovichi, which is near Stolin. Mankovichi, grandmother Manka… Some kind of magical connection was felt in this, but I did not have time to find out what exactly it was — my grandmother died, although she promised, by the way, to live ninety-six years. — During the formation of the Soviet power, as we know from history, it happened more than once that relatives found themselves, as they say, on opposite sides of the barricades. Was it the case with the families of Zhuravsky or Rezanovich? — Unfortunately, yes. My grandfather Feodosy did not want to settle scores with the Soviet authorities for expropriated goods, and his brothers, who went to Poland, as I said, did. Grandfather Fedor had a similar story. His brother Roman left for America in the twenties. With some wealthy businessman, he built a factory there, which produced matches, gunpowder, and various combustible mixtures. They made a fortune. Accidentally or not accidentally, but Roman liked communist ideas, he joined the Communist Party. And in 1939, the Americans, along with other communists, deported him from the country — they put him on a ship and sent him to Europe. Roman returned home. He was immediately checked: a communist, literate. By the way, my grandfather Fedor, in addition to the local language, knew Russian and Polish. Just in case, Roman was sent away from Rubel, otherwise you never know: from a rich, noble family, and even he has a bank account in America. In short, Roman was sent to Ukraine as a party worker. When the war broke out, he was summoned to Brest region and instructed to organize a partisan detachment in Stolin district. Since my fellow countrymen considered Polessie a separate territory that

БЕЛАРУСЬ. BELARUS 2021

DIALOGUE WITH THE WRITER could live independently, so they did not want to fight with anyone. But Roman still gathered a small group of people supporting the Soviet regime. They created a lot of problems for the Germans and Roman and his subordinates were wanted by them. It ended up at the end of 1943 or the beginning of 1944, Roman and several people from his group were killed by Ukrainian Bandera. They buried all the dead in one pit, without erecting a cross or a monument. When our troops came and liberated Stolin from the Nazi invaders, Roman and other partisans were reburied in David-Gorodok. I showed the history of the relationship between grandfather Fedor and his brother Roman in the novel “Wormwood-Water”. But not all. For example, I left outside the framework of the novel the fact that only grandfather Fedor’s family fed the partisans. Sending his people to him, Roman instructed them: “Do not tell Fedor anything, do not ask him for anything. Take whatever you need and whatever you want. And they took — flour, bread, meat, bacon, clothes, shoes. Grandmother Vera baked bread for the partisans at night: “Roman is a bastard, but still our kindred blood…” And why did this happen? It’s all about personal enmity. And this enmity began upon the arrival of Roman from America, when he demanded to be given half of the land that once belonged to their father. Grandfather Fedor said: “Take but the one that is not cultivated.” That is, meadows and pastures. Roman was terribly offended. They quarreled, said such words to each other, after which it was almost impossible to reconcile. During peaceful time, the brothers’ quarrel did not pose threat to anyone. But during the war, the life of grandfather Fedor, his family, and therefore my father, hung by a single thread. After the murder of Roman, the Germans came for my grandfather, they wanted to shoot down all his children and his wife. But the people of Rubel said that Fedor and Roman Rezanovich had been at enmity for a long time… They didn’t touch the family of grandfather Fedor. It’s hard to believe, but it was so! When I learn about such nuances and subtleties of the life of my close ancestors, I think: “Most of the

БЕЛАРУСЬ. BELARUS 2021

history of the Belarusian people is reflected in my family”. – Is there anything from the valuables, some objects, tools other than the plow, which have been saved? — Probably, it is funny and has a strange meaning, but I have an old silver bowl and a whip with an engraved inscription “1546”. What kind of event it was, why it was marked, I do not know. But such an unusual rarity helps me to establish an invisible connection with distant times. With the era of, let us say, Francysk Skaryna, under which my ancestors lived, worked and fought. By the way, this whip hung on the porch wall of the house of grandfather Fedor and grandmother Vera. He threatened me and my cousin Vasily with this whip when we disobeyed. — And what relationships do you, Anatoly Ivanovich, have with the Almighty? Do you feel His protection in your life? — Good relationships. I grew up in an environment in which God was revered. But there was a period when in high school I departed from the faith, tried to prove my mother that there was no God. Mom cried and begged not to say it. Many years passed before I realized the impossibility of being without God. And today I am sure: if something happens in this world, it is the will of the Almighty. If you and I are still alive, it means that there is some kind of predestination in that. And what is interesting: I was born on February 3, 1958 in David-Gorodok, eight months old, and at that time such premature babies almost never survived in regional centers. But I did. In my life I had nine major accidents, when cars were twisted, enraged, burned, and I did not have a single scratch. How can this be explained, if not by the highest patronage?.. Once I was driving with my wife on the territory of Poland, I had a car- crash and she, unconscious, was immediately taken to hospital. Thank God they saved her. Then I noticed that the steering wheel of the car was stretched. It was during the accident that I had such inhuman tension, animal power, and I did not remember how it happened that the iron steering wheel turned into a crooked donut. My car then was driving straight into a

tree. In a split second, I had to realize a lot. In this fatal drive, I finally got convinced: at such moments, life time either stretches or narrows. It has a different rhythm of movement. So, who owns time, owns the world. Who is this owner?.. I think you know. – We can guess. Your novels “The Hermit”, “Wormwood-Water” and other works are well-known, they are read and this is good. What are you writing now? And do you like the creative process itself? — Most of all I like the process. That is, creativity. I am now working on “Letters to Grandchildren”. The grandchildren are still small, but, like the children, they are my

continuation. Anyway, I hope so. Grandchildren make us feel more acutely that it is necessary to give way to the young, and our generation should not interfere with their advance. “Novel in Letters” — this is what I called my new work — begins like this: “Old age does not come when they start paying the pension, but on the days when they stop calling you. You sit and stupidly wait for at least one call before lunch or after lunch, but the phone is silent. Involuntarily, you are reminded of the days when everyone needed you and your phone was ringing during the day, even at night. During the day, your family, friends, work colleagues, acquaintances and strangers called you who needed something from you… Alas, everything has its price. And the cost of calling you in retirement is the price of

DIALOGUE WITH THE WRITER

It's easy to breathe in native places

Small Homeland of Anatoly Rezanovich

your, as a rule, successful life in the past, which is not all over yet, but its ending is already so close that you feel its breath and lose the sense of reality. This reality is now not only in whether you drank tea, coffee or alcohol in the morning, but in the fact that you are beginning to be controlled and supported by some inexplicable forces that do not want you to quickly depart to where nobody returns from in a usual state… These forces seem to expand the earthly space, enrich it with new pictures and events. Simply said, they create this “additional” world on earth for you, as they say, here and now…” Right here, right now I want to live, create, love. — From your words it becomes clear that not everything in your life was the way you wanted it to be…

— A person always wants more. But is there this “more” for a specific person in real life? The life that once was chosen for himself/herself, his/her self-realization? I think no. Let me give you an example from my own experience. When my friend Vladimir Petrovich Belsky in the nineties of the last century worked as an ambassador to the Czech Republic and Slovakia, I was the editor-in-chief of “SEZ” magazine. One day he called: “Come urgently.” I arrived. The ambassador arranged for me a meeting with two very wealthy businessmen — former employees of law-enforcement agencies. They invited me to participate in specific projects for the production of demanded goods. One of the projects is an enterprise for the production of medical rubber products, including condoms. Czech businessmen were ready to give four million dollars in cash to organize this production. But when I heard the word “condoms”, it was as if something turned over inside me: “Is this what I am supposed do?.. Never in my life! For no money! People will laugh…” Meanwhile, in the post-Soviet space, as far as I know, there were no such industries, to say nothing of high-tech ones. It was possible to earn a lot and, perhaps, it would have been so. But I also know that, managing a large-scale production, doing big business, I wouldn’t have written anything. This means that my mission is to write, show the latest history, highlight

the positive and warn about the negative. To some, this may seem boring, unnecessary. Especially in our age of the heyday of information technology. But cognition comes through comparison… — Are you an optimist? — Within the framework of what there is and should be. And each of us should be in his/her place. As there were tens of thousands of people in their places, about whom they say: “They are making history.” And I prefer to live and write in real time and with specific intentions and objectives. And if you admit any sin, your own and your relatives, then this should be done honestly and courageously. I am an officer, albeit in reserve. All my ancestors, the closest of whom are grandfathers and parents, served their Fatherland. By the way, no one in my family, including me, regretted and does not regret about the past. As for the land, it has not gone anywhere. Our land is in its place. At any time you can see it, walk on it, touch it… The Earth requires care, responsibility, constant attention. Personally, I, being born under the socialist collective economy, did not work a single day on a collective farm — there was no such need. So why do you think that the thought will come to my head to demand back my ancestral land, the last heir of which in the village of Rubel is me? And in Gorodets too. Let those who came to its expanses after my grandfathers and grandmothers, their children, work on this land. Those who know this land like the back of their hands. If the new owners have high yields, this is good! And I am pleased. This means that the land lives, it gives birth and gives life to people. I don’t need more, and I don’t need less. In general, the update process is ongoing. Therefore, it is important for the outgoing generation to stop in time, withdraw into the shade, and young people should not cross the boundaries of laws and universal values. This is continuity, democracy, development. — Thank you, Anatoly Ivanovich, for your sincerity and frankness. Good luck in life and your work. — Same to you. Interviewed by Ivan and Valentina Zhdanovich

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LIFE STYLE

TOGETHER TO THE THEATER Why spend time in the theater when you can turn on video on your computer and relax comfortably on the couch? We are discussing it with art critic Natalia Volontsevich, the author of the “Together to the Theater” project.

have known Natalia for a long time. As they say, “since the students’ bench”. We both studied at the theater department at the Belarusian State Academy of Arts: she was doing her post-graduate course and I was getting my first diploma. Of course we both loved theater, but I have never met among creative people such devotees to this “temple of art” as Natalia. Not everyone will analyze the design of Soviet-era theater handbills, look for exclusive materials about the ancient theater of the East, spend days in the archives… And then enthusiastically talk

БЕЛАРУСЬ. BELARUS 2021

about it at conferences and congresses of theatrical figures. I understand and in many ways share Natalia’s love for art: I myself spent my childhood, as they say, behind the scenes. I remember my mother, the leading actress of the Rukh pantomime theater, playing on stage, and I, with a woolen scarf wrapped around my sore throat, was waiting for her backstage. Such moments are engraved in memory and remain there forever. I remember heavy cherry-colored velvet curtains with a small, inconspicuous hole in the center. It was possible to peep at the audience directly from the stage. Sometimes I played pranks and as if accidentally stuck out my hand so that everyone could see: I am there, on the stage! Natalia did not have a “theatrical gene”, she just came to the theaterwith her schoolmates and… fell in love with him. But my friend came a long way to become a theater critic. Art school, economic class… At the decisive moment in her life, the parents did not let their daughter go from Novopolotsk to conquer the capital’s university — they feared for her. Having studied history at a local university, Natalia, who was quite mature, confronted her family with a fact: I am going to Minsk! So she went to enter one of the art universities. But she failed. Anyway, after a while, Natalia Sergeevna ended up in the Academy of Arts, where she completed her postgraduate studies and has been teaching as an associate professor of the Department of History and Theory of Arts for twenty years now. It may seem that the goal has been achieved, what else to dream of? But I have recently learned that Natalia organized the Theater Club “Together to the Theater” in Minsk. To be honest, I felt skeptical about it at first: who is interested in it in our “inter-

active” time? In addition, the coronavirus pandemic… But time passed, and theatrical meetings with Natalia continued and even became mass-scale. It all started with two people, now dozens of different occupation and age-groups lovers of this kind of art professions visit theaters with her. I decided to meet with an old friend and discuss her project. Looking ahead, I will say that our conversation turned out to be extremely interesting and soulful. However, judge for yourselves.

The spectator is already completely different — Natalia, what inspired you in our time, when everyone is on the Internet, when the issues of financial security and stability are on the agenda, when there is not enough time for everything, to tear people away from computers, gather them together and take them to the theater? — Probably a midlife crisis (laughs). When you are still full of energy, and the years pass by. I felt that there was not enough of me in this world. I do not carry out my mission, I do not fulfill myself one hundred percent. — What mission are you talking about? — For most of my life — more than 20 years — I have been teaching various disciplines at the Academy of Arts: history of foreign and Belarusian theaters, criticism, source studies, theoretical aspects of theatrical art, history and theory of drama… Basically, I work with young people. My job is very interesting, creative, I like everything about it. But there is not enough communication with an adult audience. I want to talk about theater not only with colleagues at master classes or

LIFE STYLE workshops, where actors and directors exchange their opinions and experiences with each other. But generally speaking, they are not familiar with their audience, they do not know who comes to them. The spectator is already completely different. Now, for example, tickets are sold out for the “Belvedere pension”, “Marriage with wind” or “An interview with the witches”, where very difficult life topics are raised! Now the audience doesn’t just go home after the performance. They leave their feedback, write reviews, even create blogs. Note that they do not cooperate with theaters! Spectators just wants to speak up, they are overwhelmed with feelings, which burst out. So, I watched this for a year. Then I decided that I was ready to become a “bridge” between professionals and amateurs, to create an entertainment and educational platform for communication.

During a rehearsal at the Theater Institute of Performing Arts in St. Petersburg

Theater critics had clout with the society — You reminded me of the figure of a critic who was noticeable in theatrical life in the last century… — Yes it was so. In Soviet times, reference books “The Results of the Season” were even published — a large theatrical review of the results of the theatrical season. On a mandatory basis, critics were invited to theaters, watched all the performances on the repertoire, and then their theatrical reviews appeared in the largest editions. These materials always took more than one page-spread in newspapers and were placed, if not on the front page, then immediately after the main events and news. Theater critics had clout with the society. They were even paid to come, watch and publish their reviews. If a smasher was written, it was on everyone’s lips — it was a scandalous event! The theater at the state level was of great importance. Regular art councils were held, where critics were invited without fail. They approved of performances, discussed, their opinion meant a lot. I read the minutes of the Minsk theaters of the Soviet period. So, when in the late 80s they staged “Passion for Avdey”, “Memorial Prayer” in the Janka Kupała

With daughter Ulyana at the Belarusian Fashion Week. 2019

Natalia, a participant of the project "120 years of fashion". 2020

National Theatre, they actually raised the issue of collectivization — a burning, dangerous topic at that time. The artistic council said so: it is a civil feat — to go on stage and play like that. The theater has always had a big impact on the audience. Theater critics knows it. They see the performance as a whole, perceive all the meanings that the director, perhaps, unconsciously puts in. — I remember from the history of the theater, that the authority of the critic gradually began to decline in independent Belarus. Do you think why? — Probably, a certain freedom appeared: each theater decided that it was ready to go its own way, a pluralism of opinions appeared. They wanted to experiment and innovate. I would like to note that the critic matures, but the theater does not mature, it changes. There is a misunderstanding that the theater critic is conservative selective. Something newfangled is accepted, something is fervently rejected. This is what happens now, for example, with the fashionable and already titled with various awards, director Yevgeny Kornyag. There are those who judge him in the “monsters are advancing” style. Like, what’s going on with the Belarusian theater! Cleanse the temple of art, don’t let it go on! In addition to freedom, the influence of the theater director increase. His opinion became more significant. Previously, the word of an artistic director or stage director was important and decisive, their names were heard, they determined the status of the theater in society. The director was simply responsible for working conditions. He performed the function, in modern terms, of the manager. Sometimes the actors did not even know the name and surname of their main boss. But the director controls finances, he signs contracts and makes decisions. Over the past ten years, as we switched over from an employment contract to a contracting system, directors gained more power and influence. They may say: we need to make a plan and sell tickets, and your highly philosophical art performances will not bring us money. Critics can prove till they is blue in the face how wonderful and important what they suggest, the director will answer: this all is

БЕЛАРУСЬ. BELARUS 2021

LIFE STYLE

The book is a memorable souvenir. Lviv, 2018

good, but it is not the right format. In addition, the theater stock company may be big, for example, up to 80 people. All of them must be involved — they are paid a salary every month, but there are not enough roles for everyone in every performance. It is good if there are two or three casts for one performance. But if the performance is staged for 2–3 actors? The director is responsible for all this, he has no time for “lofty matters”. — In the theater there is also a position of a literary director. What does he do? — Before, a literary director was a playwright who was writing a play specially for this cast or helped the director to include and adapt the existing one to the stage. Now a literary director’s main task is to look for a repertoire, follow trends, competitions, festivals, experimental performances. So that the theater does not fall out of general trends, does not become old-fashioned, boring, uninteresting. For the last 15 years, in small theaters, the duties also include communication with the media, promotion in social networks. Sometimes, for example, a director wants to stage a play written in a foreign language. The literary director must provide it in Russian or Belarusian, even if the script is not widely available.

I’m in the theater, the theater is in me — Was it complicated to start your project?

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— Not easy, to put it mildly. After another visit to the theater, and it was the International Theater Arts Forum “TEART”, I thought: I am often asked to go with someone to see a play, so why not invite people to organize themselves and go together, and then discuss? But first I decided to look for similar communities. It turned out that there were none! There are some Belarusian critics who are 10 years younger than me. They are supposed to be creative! But they just go to performances, take photographs and post them on their pages on the Internet. But is it really interesting just to see pictures of the performance? Can they form the impression? I wanted it in a different way. After all, the theater is a part of my life. They ask me why in social networks I don’t have two

At the Puppet Theater Museum in Minsk

separate accounts, i. e. personal and professional. I live in it! It is trendy now to have your own brand, that is the personality is the product on offer. So, everything converged wonderfully for me! Anyway. in my search for the way to start, I “reached” Saint Petersburg: there I learned about three theater clubs. They have 1000–9000 members! Pay dues, receive bonuses — everything is serious. I asked one of the organizers to come to Minsk: I felt scared to start alone. But she convinced me that I didn’t need anyone, that we had to act and that was all. Then I made a survey among my acquaintances: maybe this was interesting only to me. But many people supported me, not a single person refused! The format was supposed to be determined. We have the so-called

educational platforms: people come to onetime thematic meetings. I phoned them all! I said that I could tell them about the theater, about plays, about a fashion theater. I could tell them what they wanted about! Most often they refused. When someone agreed, the pandemic began. I decided not to give up: I gathered professional critics, we held a couple of online meetings with them. I invited directors from different countries to the conversation. Finally, the quarantine was over — but the theaters finished their season as it was summer. Then a person close to me died — I “fell out of life” for a month and a half. When I overcame stress, political instability began in the country, many actors quit. Accordingly, the circle of theaters had narrowed. Then I said to myself: even if the stones fall from the sky — I will do it! I gathered a group of 7 people, agreed on the time to go to the theater together. The day before the performance, the actress fell ill, the performance was postponed. At that time, there were only two left in my “team”: one lady under 50, the other was 25 years old. We went to a drama play without words “Belvedere Pension”, which raises the topic of old age and disease. Not a very cheerful start of the project, so to speak… But when we left the theater, being so different, we experienced simultaneously a wild thirst for life, some inexplicable optimism!.. We did not expect that this performance would make such a powerful positive impression on us. We could not part on such a string, we had to digest information. We went to a cafe, exchanged impressions. For the 25‑year-old girl it was the first visit to the Minsk puppet theater. She left it in a state of shock: it turned

Collective selfie in the theatrical dressing room

LIFE STYLE out that there are performances for adults in the puppet theater! I explained something to her, told her. We didn’t stay for very long. But an inexplicable inner triumph, life-affirming feeling did not leave each even after we parted. If after the performance we had simply said goodbye and parted, perhaps there would not have been such an effect. Our second visit gathered 9 people. Then I took them backstage. For some, to see the director, actors, props up close was akin to touching something sacred. You know, such a childish, genuine delight… We had a rather long conversation with the actors. Discussions like these are important for the theater because there is feedback. Oral reviews are different from written. They are more lively, you see the reaction, you can immediately ask a counter question. It’s cool to discuss the play because you are living through it again. You get additional insights, the energy of thought flows, there is an opportunity to stay a little longer in the atmosphere “I am in the theater, the theater is in me”. How pleasant it is for the actors!.. They go on stage, bow and leave but they don’t see the eyes of the spectators. There may be tears in these eyes. — It seems to me that recently people have begun to more actively unite in communities, attend seminars, trainings, create various groups… This is happening in reality and not only through live broadcasts on the Internet. It has become somehow easier to meet, to get to know, to communicate. Despite the fact that the Internet was not invented yesterday and these opportunities have always existed, there was still a mass-scale “loneliness in the crowd”. Now it is not so vivid… — Because 2020 showed the whole world what it is like to be closed, fenced off from the rest. We realized that it was hard, it made us feel bad. I have always said and say: Belarusians are very open, sensitive people who have a well-developed empathy. We are curious. We want to be educated; we love creativity. And in this context, the theater is interesting. It is a living art. But this is no longer the theater of emotions that carried a message, wanted to call for something, teach, induce to think about the problem. Now a new

direction is actively developing: the state of a person is simply reflected on the stage. The whole performance can be about this — about the state. On stage, they can be silent or say only three words. I do not know what the reason is, may be information overload or something

Walking in the Minsk city district

else, but people have forgotten how to feel themselves. Some do not even feel severe pain. There are so many schools teaching meditation, mindfulness, courses and seminars on this topic! That is why a spectator can be mesmerized by an actress who simply walks around the stage and pours water. Something is echoing inside. For some it will probably sound like a paradox, but in the theater, it is easier to feel and understand yourself. Now this is especially relevant, because isolation, masks and the like have created a problem with speaking, expressing oneselves.

People want to talk — I’ll ask a provocative question: why go to theaters, waste time on a round trip, if there are online broadcasts? Sit at home in your pajamas, watch, comment on the Internet messengers… — I remembered the anecdote: “I have everything, I can do everything,

why do I need a partner?” — “And to talk?” This desire — to talk — is growing by leaps and bounds, I can see it. We are now largely limited by circumstances, but inside we are still alive. We want to communicate. What topic can different people talk about? About work? For the hundredth time about children? About the theater! And it happens that a person wants to go to the theater, but doesn’t have anyone to go with.. The husband is busy, a girlfriend doesn’t like it, you won’t go alone. This is what I, a theater critic, can do: this is how I work and I love going on a date with myself. For many, the Theater Club is an opportunity to find a group in which you will not feel like a black sheep. You may even be explained and told something. Our meetings are very interesting. When a psychologist speaks using professional terms about narcissism, selfishness and diagnoses a stage character — it’s amazing! Or when a fashion designer comments on the clothes of the actors. In our club there is “Mrs. Belarus”, a pastry chef, a voice designer, editors of glossy magazines, philologists… Now they come with their husbands. Imagine all these people discussing a topic! And about pajamas and home furnishings, I will say the following: many people want elitism. Going to an expensive restaurant is not what I mean. They want everything to be beautiful, elegant, aesthetically pleasing, tasteful not only on the table, but also in manners, atmosphere, communication… The theater fully satisfies this need. By Alisa Gungor

When I was studying to be a theater critic, we repeatedly discussed with the teachers the question of whether the theater would ever “die”. After all, the cinema is much more spectacular and accessible to the mass audience. They even said that with the development of high technologies, the “end” of one of the most ancient forms of art was obvious. So, at least, it seemed to us, the students. But our experienced mentors only grinned silently. Now I understand why: if the theater is alive, then it, like the human soul, will never die. A priori.

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PERSONALITY

WHOLE ERA

HAS GONE WITH HIM The path in art of the people’s artist of Belarus Leonid Schemelev, his life and destiny as an example of human and creative longevity Notes in two parts. Part Two.

Youth scorched by war His works are called the chronicle of the era. There, Leonid Schemelev glorified Belarus, creating sublime, poetic images of his native land. Yes, he had everything, as they say in such cases: recognition, fame. He was not deprived of the attention of the state either. The title of the People’s Artist is the highest degree of merit. “Schemelev Gallery” remained in Minsk. But Leonid Schemelev did not strive for popularity. It found him itself. And the reason is the creative talent, which the master widely shared with the audience through vivid and meaningful works. His painting is accepted by a wide variety of people. Therefore, he is, indeed, a people’s artist.

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Each of his works is always a new world of images and heroes. Schemelev was able to convey in a talented way his impression of what he saw and thought out. In other words, his art world went beyond the picture, because it helped the viewer to more deeply comprehend the palette of life. Meanwhile, Leonid Schemelev has always been frank, not only in his work, but also in his personal judgments. Often, especially in his youth, he suffered, as they say, for his character. But he was like this before, remained true to the same principles in adulthood, and, perhaps, until the end of his life. I got convinced of this more than once, when I managed to meet and talk with the master. Our conversations concerned not only art, culture, which Schemelev, of course, was especially interested in. His

ideas about both history and modernity always seemed interesting – his rich experience allowed him to be discerning. Back then, Leonid Dmitrievich was often “turned on” by the situation in Ukraine. But even he could not find an explanation to it, he only uttered with excitement: “How could this have happened? How was it allowed? This is war, people are dying.” The key word here was “war”, about which he knew a lot. During the Great Patriotic War, by the way, he fought for the liberation of Ukraine from the Nazis. It is honesty, the blood-earned right to write the truth “about what happened,” plus talent and high professionalism, that lie at the heart of Schemelev’s pictorial chronicle of the war. As for his military biography, I knew it well from the frequent stories of a veteran-artist.

PERSONALITY late, to get ready for the journey, away from the front: the wife of a Soviet career officer could not stay there. They went to the commandant of the city. And he signed an exit pass for Leonid, as an accompanying person for the pregnant sister and mother. Then it was not so easy to get out of the city: NKVD controlled the evacuation of the population very strictly. Mother with Leonid and Galina barely had time to get on the last troop train heading east. And after a couple of hours, the train was bombed by the enemy aircraft. And then Leonid for the first time saw point-blank what death and human grief were like. There were few men on the train, mostly women and children, and it is difficult to imagine what was happening there. When the planes stopped the bomb attack, the living buried the dead and helped the wounded. And soon, during the stop of the train, there was a German parachute landing. Parachutes, as Schemelev recalled, were multi-colored, and the figures under them were ominously black, as if death itself was descending from heaven: “Parachutists fired at us from the air, bullets whistled quite close, but fortunately, they did not hit us...” Only on July 21 did they get to the freight station in Moscow. On the same day, the capital was raided by enemy aircraft and the first air raid alert was announced. Moscow, along with the territory of Moscow Military District, was already under martial law, divisions of the people’s militia and extermination battalions were being formed from Moscowites, and this alarming picture, of course, made a strong impression on the arriving refugees. The Moscowites received the Belorussians, half-dressed, dir ty, hung r y, exhauste d, without money and documents, very warmly: first of all, they fed them, then they were taken Vitebsk as I remember it, 1994

...June 22, 1941. On that Sunday morning, 18-year-old Leonid and his friends went to the Vitba River — the left tributary of the Western Dvina. At the boat station they took boats, leaned upon the oars together and found themselves in their native element. But at 12 o’clock a black loudspeaker at the boat station announced that the Deputy Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars of the USSR, People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs Molotov, would now speak. War! Lenya ran home with the friends. There was one haunting thought: what had happened? After all, a week before, TASS reported that there would be no war, and now — take that! As early as tomorrow, the first aerial bombs of the German Junkers were dropped on Vitebsk. A few days later, his father was drafted into the army. As part of a railway battalion, without weapons, with one knapsack on his shoulders, he left in the direction of Surazh highway. The last words that the family heard from him were: “Wait, I’ll be back soon.” He didn’t come back. Where and how he died is unknown. On July 10, the troops were forced to leave Vitebsk. But two days before that, almost none of the residents remained in the city. Suddenly, the husband of sister Galina appeared: their regiment was about to go to the front line. Galya by that time was seven months pregnant. Her husband said that it was impossible to stop the German colossus now and it was necessary, before it was too

Pre-war childhood. Vitebsk. 1967

to different places on buses, temporarily settled in apartments and clubs, collected money for their further journey to the deep rear. They placed the Schemelevs in a club opposite Kazansky railway station, gave food coupons, mattresses, blankets, and organized going to the bathhouse. Leonid came to Moscow for the first time and, naturally, taking the chance, first of all decided to find Lavrushinsky Lane, that is, the Tretyakov Gallery. On the way, he saw huge stratospheric balloons, which the military dragged by the ropes. This also made an impression. But then there was no luck: at the main facade of the gallery there were sentries, no one was allowed in. And the acquaintance with the world’s largest museum of Russian art, which Leonid had dreamed of seeing since childhood, had to be postponed until the post-war period. And again a long way — this time to the southeast. The last destination was the city of Semenov, where the Schemelevs settled down in a private apartment. Leonid, having registered at the military registration and enlistment office, went to work at an iron foundry, where they made F-1 hand grenades. He quickly mastered welding and soon replaced an experienced electric welder, who was to go to the army. Together with the work, Leonid and his peers, in anticipation of mobilization, had to engage in general military training under the guidance

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PERSONALITY of instructors, mainly with Mosin training rifle. There were not enough combat rifles even at the front. And then the long-awaited hour came: in December 1941, Leonid was finally mobilized and sent to a sergeant school. Military training, despite a severe cold, went on from morning till evening. Some could not withstand such pressure and were sent to the line companies. The rest were looking forward to the arrival of spring and summer, but even then it did not become easier. This went on for a long time. Only in December 1942, Leonid took the military oath and, having received the rank of junior sergeant, began to train for future battles young recruits, almost the same age as he, who were constantly arriving in the regiment. By June 1943, the first marching companies and battalions were formed. Junior Sergeant Schemelev was appointed a squad leader. Their time had come: very soon they had to go to the front, to the front line! Leonid Schemelev: “As part of the rifle regiment, we had walked half of Russia. Before reaching Kursk, we got off the carriages, since the train could not go any further. On the march we reached the point of destination — the completely deserted city of Dmitriev-Lgovsky, on the Svapa River: there were 15-20 kilometers from there to the front line, where the echeloned defense stood. We were lined up. The commanders gave us a three-line rifle, some got carbines, a pack of cartridges. All around there were terrible traces of recent battles.

There were no people. Only black skeletons were left of the burnt houses. The picture was terrible. There was a guy in my department just from this city. I saw his state when he looked at what was left of the city streets — words failed to express it. And overhead there were German planes, constantly bombing the ground. We had to adapt to the terrain in order to shelter from bombings And neither our tanks nor our aviation was seen, probably the main forces of the front were working in more important directions of the main attack...” On the ledge of the Kursk Bulge, the soldiers of the regiment stopped for a short time. This was the time of a great turning point in the whole war. It was in the Battle of Kursk that the troops of the Central Front under the command of General Rokossovsky executed a defensive operation, as a result of which they repelled the enemy’s offensive and created the conditions for a counteroffensive. It all began on July 15, when the troops of the right wing of the front, which included Schemelev’s rifle regiment, launched a counteroffensive. From the story of Leonid Schemelev: “Having broken through the enemy’s defenses, we drove the enemy in the western direction. Many died, and instead of the dead, a new replenishment arrived. And I was still alive and not even wounded. Miracles, nothing more! And you are treated with respect as a “veteran”, “old man”, “wolf ”: the new replenishment place hopes on you that

At the exhibition of paintings that always beckon

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The Field Tribunal, 1974

in difficult times you will not let them down, you will help out, you will save. What can I say — responsibility! On the other hand, although I was only twenty, I already understood that such fierce battles, in which the grindstone of war grinds thousands, millions of human lives, do not bring happiness to the victors. And latently I felt the disastrousness of such wars for humanity, regardless of who is right or who is to blame. Even the pre-Christian Roman poet Virgil understood that “no good can be expected from war,” and the Frenchman Francois Fenelon at the beginning of the 18th century bluntly stated that “war is an evil that dishonors the human race.” Maybe, it was just this feeling that 30 years later made me create a picture that was called “Field Tribunal”. In it, I tried to reveal the inner confusion of a young man who is at a loss, a soldier who, by the will of fate, found himself in a cruel meat grinder of war and did not understand what was happening around him. More than once I encountered such people, many of whom simply died in the very first battles, without having had time to make a single shot...” The hero of this canvas is a young soldier who, in one of the recent battles, got confused, perhaps was frightened, and lost heart. And now he was waiting for a verdict of the field tribunal. But as the author of the picture believed, such young guys, being confused at a certain moment, after some time overcame confusion, weakness of spirit, and natural fear and, if they remained

PERSONALITY alive, became real fighters, honorably fulfilled their duty to the Motherland. In other words, the theme of that canvas is human confusion and the hope of overcoming it. The topic is not easy. Yes, there was also such a “trench” truth of the war, which did not find its development in the Soviet art of those years. But Leonid Schemelev is one of the first artists who descended to sinful earth from the heights of dashing attacking jingoistic patriotism and said: look, my friends, how difficult everything was behind the “curtains of war”, how hard and with what agony we reached the spring of 1945. In September 1943, units of the Central Front, where Shchemelev was serving, approached Chernigov. A heavy battle for this city broke out. In his stories, he recalled everything: how fascist self-propelled guns hit our soldiers point-blank, how the Germans built barricades at the crossroads of Chernigov streets, hid tanks in ambush, deployed submachine gunners into the rear. He remembers how his fellow soldiers went into the attack, not thinking about heroism and exploits: truly, “there was no time for the awards— there was only one thought of Motherland.” They were just walking, for they could not help but walk. They were walking on their own land and for their own land. Another thing remained in his memory: how warmly they were greeted and seen off by the inhabitants of the liberated Ukrainian cities and villages. Leonid Schemelev: “Of course, the war for the high command was portrayed in other dimensions. Now I know where and how the fronts, armies, corps, divisions were located. And at that time I commanded only a machine-gun squad and “my” war was going on a small patch of land. What was supposed to happened, I did not know. But I knew something else: on this patch it was my country, my language, my spirit, my comrades...” Before the Pripyat crossing (this is near the Belarusian town of Kalinkovichi), no more than a hundred active bayonets remained in their rifle regiment, but the soldiers, literally getting their teeth into the ground, moved forward and forward. We reached the bank of the Pripyat river. There was silence. But what was there, on the opposite bank, that was unknown.

Then the company commander gave a combat mission to four, including Schemelev: to specify the relief of the water lines, along which the troops could reach the other bank of the Pripyat. They swam across, climbed onto the high bank and looked around. In the distance there was a dense forest. Funnels, trenches filled with dirty water, a disfigured German self-propelled cannon “Ferdinand”. Everything was quiet, and the soldiers gave a signal to their comrades. The crossing of the Pripyat went unhindered. This is how Leonid came to his native Belarusian land for the first time after July 1941.

homeland. And around them there was forest, the swampy area, no Germans were seen. But it was strange: their speech was heard, they were somewhere nearby, and the soldiers did not know how to behave in such environment. They were not taught the tactics of behavior in forest conditions. But they were to go forward. From the memoirs of Leonid Schemelev: “I remember our offensive began at 4 am on October 6, but it was unsuccessful: the Germans stubbornly and desperately defended themselves. The attacks continued throughout the day. There were heavy losses.

My birth, 1967

Then an incident happened, amazing, incredible, almost mystical. After returning from a scouting mission, during a short hour of rest, all these four — and they were people of different nationalities — simultaneously had the same (!) Dream: a fabulously beautiful girl. But each dreamed about a different girl. Leonid’s one had a long golden braid and was all dressed in white. Other guys — in different dresses. They woke up, and, interrupting each other, spoke about their dream. They looked, and saw on the other shore a girl. But — alas! — it only seemed to them. In fact, there was a thin birch tree swaying in the wind... This is how Schemelev was met by Belarus after a two-year absence from his

Our company commander, a courageous and bright man, died. For us, he was not just a commander: a comrade, a father. In an oily service shirt, energetic, powerful, he inspired by his example of courage to fight — “saint and right.” He died in a swampy forest, in front of me, shot down by an automatic burst. I can say that such people led us to victory, strengthened our strength. And it was very hard. On that day we were looking forward to getting dark: at night German counterattacks stopped. But in the evening the order followed: to attack again. And not far from Kalinkovichi, in the forest, drowning in a swamp, our platoon entered into the last battle of that day with the Nazis. I remember as if it was today: bypassing the

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PERSONALITY doctors, nurses, nurse’s aides, who, in fact, not only treated the wounded, but to everyone, regardless of position and rank, gave the hope that they would definitely join the ranks and reach Berlin, he called them “a unique phenomenon of the human race.” On November 6, they arrived at the freight station in Moscow. It was on this day that the Sovinformburo report announced the conquest of the city of Kiev by the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front. The joy of the people was indescribable. On this occasion, even the wounded were treated to wine. Then there was the city of Gorky. The train stood at the station for a long time. Finally, late in the evening, the train set off northward. It passed the small railway station Bor. Where were they going? Leonid asked the nurse about this. Hearing the answer, he was stunned! It turned out that to the hospital in the city of... Semenov! At night they arrived at Semenov. Without waiting for dawn, Leonid, along with a friend, a junior lieutenant, put on some civilian clothes over their underwear, opened an “accordion” (connection of carriages), went in the cold to the apartment at the old address, where his relatives were supposed to live. There they were said that Leonid’s mother, Agafya Venediktovna, was alive and well, but was living in a different apartment. A lively teenager Vanya, the owner’s son, despite the late hour, willingly volunteered to accompany the “military uncles” wherever needed. They came and there was a joyful meeting. Agafya Venediktovna, seeing the plastered hand of her son, became agitated, but Leonid reassured her: everything was in order, At the exhibition of L. Schemelev

broken forty-five, the hefty, well-matched Fritzes with submachine guns, with their sleeves rolled up to the elbows, were going into a mental counterattack against us. One of them, middle-aged, tall, fair-haired (I remembered it!), managed to shot at me with a machine gun. At first I felt nothing — just a blunt blow, as if my left forearm was hit with a stick. Then I saw: blood was gushing, whistling, so, I thought, the bullet went right through. Automatically pulled out the package, somehow bandaged my arm and with difficulty crawled on my belly to my comrades-in-arms. In the field medical unit they bandaged me. It turned out that the bone and ulnar nerve were shot through. Immediately, without any delay, they gave me a card describing the history of the injury and sent me to a field hospital. The captain of the medical service examined the wound, shook his head and urgently ordered his personnel to take me to the medical battalion near Kursk. There, having made a diagnosis, they assigned me to the category of seriously wounded.” That was deep rear. The carriages were packed with wounded soldiers and junior officers from different fronts, but the living conditions were quite tolerable: good food, clean linen, sheets, warm and respectful attitude towards the wounded by the female medical staff. Leonid Dmitrievich could talk for hours about the “women of war”, i.e.

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Field spring, 1988

most importantly, he was alive. At dawn, the guys returned to the carriage, and an hour later, having received blankets, were already in the officers’ ward of the evacuation hospital. In the afternoon, the restless mother came to visit, and since the land is full of rumors, the guys, former colleagues from the iron foundry, soon turned up. They brought a lot of news, gifts, a huge bouquet of flowers and a bottle of vodka inside this bouquet. Leonid Schemelev: “In the hospital I was looked after by the nurse Katya, who was born in the nearby village of Dyatkovo. Once we got into a conversation with her, and I mentioned that in Ukraine, when our regiment came across a local partisan detachment, I accidentally met a guy from Semenov district. When he learned that I was also from Semenov, he was terribly happy. He said that he himself was a career officer, at the beginning of the war he was captured, escaped and after long misadventures ended up in the raid Sumy partisan formation of Sidor Kovpak. And Katerina was listening and suddenly, without saying a word, instantly disappeared. As blown away by the wind. After a while, the chief of the hospital, a major, called me: “Listen, junior sergeant, there is a strange old man waiting for you in the waiting room. He wants to clarify something.” I went out and saw an old man who looked like a merchant: a red beard, piercing eyes, a warm fur coat, a raccoon hat. Later I learned that he was one of the Old Believers. “Are you Schemelev?” — he asked. No expression on the face. I answered affirmatively.

PERSONALITY “I heard that you saw my son at the front.” I shrugged my shoulders: “I have seen many...” And then he took photographs out of his fur coat and put them in front of me: “Show whom you know.” Among dozens of pre-war photographs, I recognized the image of a young man of about seventeen or eighteen years old: yes, this is the one whom I met in Ukraine, only younger. I said: “This one, only he is now a little different and with a scar...” The old man immediately ran to the head of the hospital, asked to let me go to him for a few hours. The reason is not an ordinary one. They let me go. I was taken to the sleigh, put a fur coat on my shoulders — and we moved forward. And his big house was already packed with people. The table was laid with all sorts of food and drinks. The old man immediately reported to everyone that he had brought a dear guest who had seen his son. I was gently seated at the table. We were about to raise the first glass, when suddenly a post-girl ran into the room and joyfully shouted that a letter had come from the host’s son! There are such coincidences in life that cannot be logically explained. The son wrote that he was alive and well, fighting the enemy in good faith, that he would soon be transferred to Kharkov, to the headquarters of the partisan movement. At the end of the letter, he stressed that in the area of the town of Vorozhba, in Sumy region, he met “a dear fellow countryman from Semyonov” and so on. Of course, the letter made an extraordinary impression on everyone, and I was so fed and made drunk by the hospitable hosts that I thought that I would not get to the hospital in time and there would be a scandal. But people were quick-witted: they brought me safely to the place. And almost the whole of December 1943 the old man and his family visited me with gifts.” Schemelev was discharged before the new 1944. But not long before that, another interesting meeting took place, which played an important role in his subsequent life. Leonid Schemelev: “In the hospital I met a cavalryman who had already been discharged and was dressed in full cavalry uniform: an overcoat, boots, spurs, in a word, everything was as it should be. We started talking. When we talked about my future fate, I said that after my recovery I would

like to get into a cavalry unit, as I loved horses since childhood. He, without hesitation, warmly supported my desire and with the words “Quickly write an application!” dictated the address of the reserve of the Supreme Command Headquarters. The next day, having little faith in a positive result, I nevertheless sent a triangle letter to Moscow with a request to allow me to continue military service in the cavalry after my recovery. To my surprise, the answer came quickly and, most importantly, it was positive: after being discharged, “to send junior sergeant Schemelev to the 2nd Cavalry Brigade.” Destination — the city of Kovrov. Prior to that, in the city of Gorky, I passed the relevant medical and other tests. It was not easy, but I was lucky. So, having received a travel order, I ended up in a cavalry school, which was located near the Klyazma River. After a while, I was promoted to the rank of sergeant, and soon I was appointed a squad leader. Of course, I also had my own horse. Its name was Bamboo: a handsome bay, three-year-old, clever, just a beauty.” The small town of Kovrov until August 1944 was part of Ivanovo region, before the war it had a population of about 70 thousand people and had no distinctive differences from the cities of this kind. But during the war it became the largest center of the USSR for the production of small arms, i.e. assault rifles, machine guns. Leonid Schemelev: “Once, during my duty in the machine-gun and mortar squadron (the squadron consists of three squads), the commander of the Red Army cavalry, Marshal Semen Budenny, along with the commander of Moscow Military District, Colonel-General Pavel Artemyev and his retinue, came to inspect the state of affairs in our cavalry brigade and in other mobile troops. In a beautiful bekishe, in a fur hat,

with marshal’s shoulder straps, he came up to me, listened to the report, shook my hand firmly and said: “Well, sergeant, show me your facilities.” After a well conducted “excursion” I received the gratitude of the management”. At the beginning of 1945, the 2nd cavalry brigade was transferred to Ukraine, to the area of the city of Rivne. There the

At the painting "The First Day of Peace"

so-called special group “forty-five” was formed from its composition, under the personal supervision of the then deputy commander of the Red Army cavalry, ColonelGeneral Gorodovikov. Sergeant Schemelev was also included in it. The group was created to forestall enemy sabotage, extermination of the Germans and Bandera’s flying detachments remaining in the forests, who, after the liberation of Ukraine from the Nazis, launched an active struggle against the Soviet regime. But it so happened that just before the departure of the group (in the direction of Hungary), Schemelev fell ill with tropical malaria. A person instantly collapses, remembers nothing, the temperature is up to forty degrees, and has a fever. Where such a rare infection came from, the doctors did not establish, they only stated the fact that,

БЕЛАРУСЬ. BELARUS 2021

PERSONALITY yes, the signs of tropical fever were present, but they were not able to identify its source. In April 1945, Schemelev was sent to Moscow, and from there to his native military unit, to the old “base”, to Kovrov hospital. There he welcomed Victory Day. 38 years later, he will paint an autobiographical paintingconfession “The First Day of Peace”, in which he managed to reflect the deep theme of memory of the front path, heroism of fellow soldiers, bitter losses and hopes. And also the happiness of a person who won that terrible war. Leonid Schemelev: “Generally speaking, I was lucky in my life to have good people, especially during my service in the cavalry. I will never forget a man of great courage and a generous heart, my immediate commander, Captain Petr Sergienko. Everything that I have achieved in life is largely indebted to him. I met people who knew my countryman well, Major General Lev Dovator, the commander of the 2nd Guards Cavalry Corps, who died heroically on December 19, 1941. Among the cavalrymen who participated in Dovator’s daring raids on the enemy’s rear, there was my namesake Kuznetsov in my unit, who talked a lot about his legendary commander. Many years later I tried to embody the image of Dovator on the canvas. Although, when I painted the picture, I thought not only about the general, but also about those people whom I had the honor to encounter with on the difficult front roads.” Before painting the picture, Schemelev had a chance to see only one “live” newsreel

with Dovator and Rokossovsky, taken by a military cameraman on the Western Front. Besides, he saw with the surviving photographs of the hero. He read several letters of the general from the front, addressed to the family. But, of course, the main thing in the birth of the pictorial image-legend was his personal, author’s attitude to the character and the time in which this person lived and fought. In a gray sheepskin hat and a black felt cloak, in a red hood, the legendary corps commander, squeezing the handle of a pellet, stands with field binoculars in a simple, natural pose. It seems there is nothing special in it. But what guards smartness, elegance, what a noble appearance, what inner strength of a man whom the cavalry soldiers sacredly believed. And how closely the artist looks at the characteristic details that are important for understanding the atmosphere of winter 1941: a machine-gun cart behind the general, a well with an icy bucket, houses with figures of residents. And it seems that somewhere out there, in the invisible depths, that last battle of Dovator will soon brake out. The enemy took an advantageous position and, firing aimed fire, did not allow the Cossacks to attack the village. And then, dismounting, the general, waist-deep in snow, descended from the steep bank and crawled on his bellies into the chain of fighters in order to inspire soldiers by personal example to

General Dovatar, 1975

the last victorious assault. And — came under heavy fire from German machine guns. The rhythm of the picture is such that, peering into the canvas, as if you can hear the music of a song-epic about glorious fighters, about hot battles, when victories roads were under the hooves of fast horses and cavalrymen went into immortality... This is how the war was reflected in the heart and soul of Leonid Schemelev. It undoubtedly sharpened the feelings of the future artist. But it did not leave him indifferent to everything that cannot but worry a partial person. Veniamin Mikheev

Artist L. Schemelev and his works

БЕЛАРУСЬ. BELARUS 2021

L. Schemelev. Still life. 1968

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