Belarus (magazine #10 2021)

MAGAZINE FOR YOU

No.10 (1057), OCTOBER, 2021 Беларусь. Belarus

BELARUS Politics. Economy. Culture

ISSN 0320-7544

Bright success in San Remo DIPLOMATS HAVE A RESPONSIBLE MISSION

PRIORITIES ARE CLEAR

TALENTED IN THEIR KINDNESS

LISTENING TO THE TIME MOVEMENT

NEWSPAPER FROM BELARUS

ГОЛАС РАДЗІМЫ EDITION OF THE "ГОЛАС РАДЗІМЫ" IS AVAILABLE AT WWW.ZVIAZDA.BY

The newspaper for fellow countrymen: well-known and well-read ГАЗЕТА З БЕЛАРУСІ

ГОЛАС РАДЗІМЫ

Голас Радзімы серада, 29 верасня, 2021

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l СЕРАДА, 29 ВЕРАСНЯ, 2021

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

Святыні нас яднаюць у народ Стар. 4

Родныя песні на Байкале

Ажыў гадзіннік вежавы

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СВЕТАПОГЛЯД

Свята нашага адзінства

У Беларусі – новае свята. 17 верасня мы ўпершыню адзначалі Дзень народнага адзінства. Выступаючы 17 верасня ў “МінскАрэне” на форуме патрыятычных сіл, прысвечаным Дню народнага адзінства, Прэзідэнт Беларусі адзначыў: у Год народнага адзінства была агучаная і падтрыманая большасцю беларусаў прапанова зрабіць дзень 17 верасня новым дзяржаўным святам. “Таму што для нас ён даўно з’яўляецца сімвалам беларускай дзяржаўнасці, запаветам будучым пакаленням. Запаветам берагчы суверэнітэт краіны, нацыянальнае адзінства і мір на роднай зямлі", – прадоўжыў Аляксандр Лукашэнка. У часе выступлення Прэзідэнт яшчэ раз нагадаў: “У дачыненнях з усімі мы імкнемся да міру і сяброўства. Мы ніколі не квапіліся на чужы каравай або кавалачак зямлі. Нам свайго хапае. Мы нават не нагадваем сёння ім пра тое, што Беласток і Беласточчына – гэта беларускія землі, што Вільня – гэта таксама беларускі горад, і землі вакол. Мы ж пра гэта не гаворым! Унутрыканфесійная раўнавага і міжнацыянальнае адзінства – непарушная аснова нашага грамадства”. Аб’яднанне БССР і Заходняй Беларусі ў межах адной рэспублікі – гэта ж параўнальна нядаўна было, калі глянуць на гістарычныя падзеі вачыма нашых землякоў з Заходняй Беларусі. Да свята гісторыкі беларускія дасталі, паказалі шмат вельмі цікавых дакументаў, што сведчаць, як усё тое адбывалася, без прыўкрас ды сарамлівага “прысядання”: а раптам нас недзе там не так зразумеюць. У прыватнасці, яшчэ ўлетку грунтоўная размова з навукоўцамі прайшла ў рэдакцыі газеты “Звязда” (гл. “Дзень, які нам варта адзначаць. Што значыць для беларусаў дата 17 верасня і чаму пра гэта трэба памятаць і ведаць” – Звязда, 21.06.2021.) У

часе яе кандыдат гістарычных навук, дырэктар Інстытута гісторыі НАН Беларусі Вадзім Лакіза, у прыватнасці, адзначаў: “Калі прымалася рашэнне аб прапанове даты Дня народнага адзінства, гаварылі пра 17 верасня або 14 лістапада, і сярод экспертаў гучала думка: маўляў, мы кагосьці пакрыўдзім. Але мы не павінны аглядвацца на кагосьці, мы павінны адстойваць свае нацыянальныя інтарэсы і

матэрыялаў “Назаўжды разам”... Ды не толькі архівы могуць прыадкрыць нам праўду пра падзеі верасня 1939-га. Яшчэ й цяпер людзі паважанага веку згадваюць мінулае, што адбілася ў іхняй, тады маладой памяці назаўсёды. Некаторыя й “за польскім часам” у школы хадзілі. Тата мой, 1930 года нараджэння, згадваў не раз убіты яму ў галаву (відаць з 37 па 39-ы…) просценькі вершык-агітку:

падаваць гісторыю з пункту гледжання беларусаў, а не кагосьці з суседзяў”. А для аргументацыі, прадоўжыў навкукоўца, напрацаваны велізарны матэрыял: “Сёлета Інстытут гісторыі ды Акадэмія кіравання правялі канферэнцыю, прысвечаную 100-годдзю Рыжскага міру, прычым не толькі на сваіх пляцоўках, але і ў іншых ВНУ. У 2019-м ладзілі навуковую канферэнцыю, прымеркаваную да 80-годдзя ўз’яднання Заходняй Беларусі і БССР, вынікам якой стаў падрыхтаваны зборнік

“Кто ты естэш? – Поляк малы. Які знак твуй? – Ожэл бялы”. Ну але які ж ён, аднак, быў паляк? Бедная сялянская сям’я з-пад Клецка, прычым праваслаўнага веравызнання… Апынулася, як і сотні тысяч іншых, ва ўладзе Польшчы ў выніку сумна вядомага Рыжскага міру з 1921 года. Што яшчэ цікава: і ў нашай невялічкай вёсцы Яцкаўшчыне жыў, старэйшы за майго тату, Аляксей Ждановіч. Казалі ў нас, што ўваходзіў у суполку ці то камсамольскую, ці то партыйную: Камуністычнай партыі

Заходняй Беларусі. Што падарвалі ягонае здароўе каты з польскай дэфензівы ў сумна вядомай Бярозе-Картузскай. Хварэў чалавек, “бо на допытах і газу ў нос лілі, голкі пад ногці заганялі”, ды й памёр дачасна. Што да слова дэфензіва, то яго цяпер не ва ўсіх слоўніках знойдзеш. Састарэлае, засталося ў тым часе, калі, як гнеўна пісаў Янка Купала “нашу Айчыну Без нашае волі, Як тую аўчыну Ў шматкі папаролі”. Але нам варта ўсё ж памятаць: такая дзяржарганізацыя была ў Польшчы ў пару між Першай і Другой сусветнымі войнамі, яе службоўцы займаліся контрразведкай, да таго ж выконвала ролю палітычнай паліцыі. Таксама не забудзем, што дэфензіва катавала нашых продкаў за само жаданне “беларусамі звацца” ў згаданым канцлагеры польскім, створаным у 1934 годзе. Цяпер мы згадваем: быў перыяд, калі ў пасляваенны час, з 1949-га, у сілу палітычных прычын – каб не ўгнявіць, не засмуціць “таварышаў” з сацыялістычнай Польшчы – беларусы згарнулі сваё Свята ўз’яднання. А дарма. Сваю гісторыю варта памятаць. Рабіць з яе высновы. Новае дзяржаўнае свята мы адзначалі ўпершыню. Па ўсёй краіне, ва ўсіх рэгіёнах прайшлі разнастайныя імпрэзы, яму прысвечаныя. І гэта – заканамерна, бо дзень 17 верасня для беларусаў – гэта дзень нашай гістарычнай памяці. А яна, калектыўная наша памяць, паядноўвае людзей ды эпохі, перадае каштоўны досвед папярэднікаў і засцерагае ад фатальных памылак. Іван Ждановіч

УСЕ ФАРБЫ

Дзень пісьменства ў Капылі

Дзень беларускага пісьменства святкуецца шмат гадоў, і гэта на Беларусі ўжо добрая традыцыя. Сёлета прысвечана было свята Году народнага адзінства, прайшло пад дэвізам “Слова нас аб’ядноўвае”. Пісьменнікаў, аматараў прыгожага пісьменства на гэты раз вітаў Капыль. А зямлю Капыльскую праславілі больш за паўсотні празаікаў і паэтаў, сярод іх Кузьма Чорны, Мікола Хведаровіч, Адам Русак, Ян Скрыган, Сцяпан Аляксандровіч ды іншыя творчыя асобы.

Цёпла сустракаў гасцей горад, адметны пагорыстым ландшафтам. І Мікола Хведаровіч пра тое пісаў: “Стаіць на пагорках, на ста сямі горках мой любы, мой родны Капыль”. Упершыню ў пісьмовых крыніцах паселішча згадваецца у 1006 годзе. На пачатку XIV стагоддзя Капыль увайшоў у склад Вялікага Княства Літоўскага, і амаль два стагоддзі правіла ў ім дынастыя князёў Алелькавічаў. З 1612га перайшоў ва ўладальніцтва князёў Радзівілаў, а ў 1652-м Капыль атрымаў ад караля Яна Казіміра Магдэбургскае права ды з ім свае герб і пячатку. У 1924-м стаў райцэнтрам. Дарэчы, на свяце ў Капылі прэзентавалі новы турмаршрут: “Да крыніц Нёмана і Капыльскіх святыняў”. Першымі яго прайшлі ўдзельнікі выязнога семінара па Мінскай вобласці “Турыстычны патэнцыял Уздзеншчыны і Капыльскага раёна”, прымеркаванага да Дня беларускага пісьменства. Пры-

Помнік Цішку Гартнаму

вабнае для турыстаў старажытнае Замчышча ці Замкавая гара непадалёк ад зліцця рэчак Каменкі і Мажы. Гісторыкі сцвярджаюць: у XIV стагоддзі на Замкавай гары стаяў замак, і раней, да яго ўзвядзення было там гарадзішча. Найбольш насычаным на падзеі быў другі дзень свята. У горад 5 верас-

ня ўранні прыбыла Міжнародная навукова-асветніцкая экспедыцыя “Дарога да Святыняў” з Жыватворным Агнём ад Гроба Гасподняга. Яна стартавала 1 верасня ад мінскага Свята-Духава кафедральнага сабора, прайшла каля 780 кіламетраў праз Баранавіцкі, Ганцавіцкі, Лунінецкі, Салігорскі ды Уздзенскі раёны і завяршылася ў сёлетняй сталіцы Дня беларускага пісьменства. На сваім шляху святары, вядомыя дзеячы навукі, культуры і мастацтва наведвалі храмы, навучальныя ўстановы, дзіцячыя дамы, школы-інтэрнаты, дамы састарэлых, бібліятэкі, музеі, правялі там духоўна-асветніцкія, літаратурныя і музычныя імпрэзы. Удзельнікі экспедыцыі даставілі Жыватворны Агонь у капыльскі храм Ушэсця Гасподняга на святочнае набажэнства. І ўсе ахвочыя змаглі запаліць свечкі ад Незгасальнай лампады. → Стар. 3

12 DIPLOMATS HAVE A RESPONSIBLE MISSION

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There is still place left in the achievements’ pool It happened so that Belarus ends its presidentship in the CIS on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the organization. This anniversary is celebrated by the Commonwealth of Independent States, without exaggeration, against the background of a specific international situation, when it is very important to preserve unity.

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Priorities are clear Integration agenda has recently revived not only in the CIS area. As we know, earlier in Dushanbe, the SCO and CSTO summits were held, where special attention was paid to foreign policy issues. But now the time has come to substantively discuss the economic aspects of cooperation within the EAEU.

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About Traby town If we look at the map of Belarus, Grodno region, we will immediately see: the agricultural town Traby is conveniently located in a forest area, not far from the highway Minsk – Vilnus through Rakov, Oshmyany. And there is the famous Golshany, as well as Zhemyslavl, and ancient Krevo: with the ruins of a stone castle of the XIV century...

БЕЛАРУСЬ.BELARUS OCTOBER 2021

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BELTA

IN THE ISSUE

IN THE ISSUE

Беларусь. Belarus Social and political magazine No. 10 (1057), 2021 Published since 1930 Founders: Zviazda Publishing House editorialand-publishing establishment Editor-in-Chief: Viktor Kharkov Executive Secretary: Valentina Zhdanovich

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VLADIMIR LIPSKY: "THERE ARE STILL MANY PLANS" 34

And the music will sound The International Day of Music was celebrated with the ballet "Creation of the World" by Andrei Petrov at the Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus. The holiday of the unique language of culture appeared in 1975 by the decision of UNESCO.

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Talented in their kindness World Animal Day, tasked to remind us of the important role we people play in lives of animals, was also celebrated in October in Belarus. Activities, conversations, meetings, presentations, volunteer movement that were taking place that day across the country are the evidence of how Belarusians take care of their furry friends.

Editorial office address: 220013 Minsk, Belarus, 19 Zakharova Street Tel.: +375 (17) 263-80-12. www.zviazda.by E-mail: belarus.mag@mail.ru Subscription index — 220034 Registration Certificate No. 8 issued on 16.07.2018 by the Information Ministry of the Republic of Belarus Design and Layout by Kseniya Kulikova Беларусь. Belarus is published in Belarusian, English and Chinese.

The magazine is distributed to 50 countries worldwide.

Final responsibility for factual accuracy and interpretation lies with publication authors. Should any article of Беларусь. Belarus be used, reference to the magazine is obligatory.

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

Signed for printing on 28.10.2021 Offset printing. Coated paper.

Format 60х84 1⁄8.

Conventional printed sheets 5.58 Accounting published sheets 7.01 Total circulation — 684

copies (261 — in English) Order

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As if listening to the movement of time This year marked the 35th anniversary of the formation of the creative association "Nemiga-17". An exhibition in the Republican Art Gallery "Arts Palace" was dedicated to this event. The exhibition presented paintings by Algerd Malishevsky, Aleksey Tsirkunov, Nikolay Buschik, Leonid Khobotov, Sergey Kiryuschenko, Anatoly Kuznetsov, Zoya Litvinova, as well as sculptures by Tamara Sokolova and Galina Gorova..

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

© Zviazda Publishing House editorial-and-publishing establishment, 2021

PANORAMA

Belarus should remain a presidential republic, but power within the country should be balanced. The President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said this at the meeting with a working group on finalization of the draft of the country's new Constitution.

According to the head of state, the time has come to redistribute powers between the authorities at the Constitution level. Their duties and areas of responsibility should be split, but the country should still remain a presidential republic, Alexander Lukashenko is convinced. He noted that the overwhelming majority of Belarusians also share this idea: they support a strong presidential power.

"I am absolutely convinced that Belarus should be a presidential republic if we want to save the country. And the All-Belarusian People's Assembly is introduced not because some of those present here or the current President is eager for this position, but in order to ensure, as the lawyers say, containment and counterbalance, – said the head of state. – This is one of the fundamental things – containment and counterbalance, all laws and legislative acts, and above all the Basic Law, are based thereon".

The task of the working group is to continue the activities started by the Constitutional Commission.

"The main thing in the work of the current group on constitutional amendments is to prevent imbalance in the system of government bodies," – noted Alexander Lukashenko.

Earlier, at the expanded meeting of the Constitutional Commission, the head of state, summing up the results of the discussion, determined how and who would finalize the draft of the new Constitution before the referendum. On his instructions, the Presidential decree on the creation of a working group was issued, which is now engaged in finalization of the draft of the Basic Law of the country.

"The commission is not dissolved, it does not disappear. It continues its work," – said Alexander Lukashenko. – After a nationwide discussion, a group of lawyers will review each line and finally phrase in legal language the document that will be submitted to the referendum. That's what the lawyers will do. And this group should include not only lawyers. It should be a group of specialists including both economists and executives."

According to the President, the referendum on the new version of the Constitution of Belarus will be held no later than February 2022.

Alexey Fedosov

BELTA

The country as it is seen in the future

Bright success in San Remo

Kseniya Galetskaya won the Grand Prix at the international festival "SanRemo Junіor", which took place in Italy this year. This is a vocal competition for children under 15 years old.

President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko sent congratulations to Kseniya, which contained the following words: – You glorified Belarus, showed the whole world what talented and hardworking youth we have and how they love their country. I want to convey my words of gratitude and respect to your parents, teachers, Spamash production center and everyone who helped you to conquer a high creative peak.

Kseniya was born in Gomel in a large family. But in 2018 she moved to Minsk to study in the art studio of Spamash production center. This is not the first time the girl has won music competitions. She won the Grand Prix at the XVII International Children's Music Competition "VITEBSK-2019". Kseniya's competition award was presented by Alexander Lukashenko during the opening ceremony of the XXVIII International Festival of Arts "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk-2019".

Besides, the singer became a finalist of the national selection round of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2019 and a finalist of the national selection round of the International Children's Vocal Competition "New Wave". The girl is a laureate of the special fund of the President of the Republic of Belarus for the support of talented youth for 2019.

The young singer has already returned to the homeland. Kseniya notes that she is very glad to have brought victory to her beloved Belarus: – If you set a goal, work very hard, you will definitely achieve it. Our big team has done it. Behind the scenes I was a little worried, because I understood: I must do everything to give it my all in front of the public.

When on stage, I saw the audience, I felt great support from my native Belarus. It helped me to perform 100%. I am grateful for that.

Now Kseniya is 14 years old, which means that she is already leaving the children's league of music competitions and is joining the adults’ one.

However, it turned out to be a beautiful "farewell" to her childhood. Not only parents and friends were waiting for the girl – the solemn meeting, which was arranged for her after arrival, was attended by the Minister of Culture Anatoly Markevich, representatives of government agencies, as well as teachers and students of Spamash center.

"Zviazda" asked the director of Spamash center Angelina Mikulskaya about her impressions of the pupil's victory.

Arina Karpovich

БЕЛАРУСЬ.BELARUS OCTOBER 2021

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REAL INTEGRATION

THERE IS STILL PLACE LEFT IN THE ACHIEVEMENTS’ POOL It happened so that Belarus ends its presidentship in the CIS on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the organization. This anniversary is celebrated by the Commonwealth of Independent States, without exaggeration, against the background of a specific international situation, when it is very important to preserve unity. Alexander Lukashenko also aimed his counterparts toward this, as chairman moderating the discussion of the regular summit, which was held in an online format.

Ye s , on ly t wo mont h s rema i n before Belarus completes its responsible m ission. Su m mi ng up t he resu lts of Minsk chairmanship in the CIS, Alexander Lukashenko, in particular, drew attention to the key aspects of interaction in the Commonwealth.

Such as the development of a common economic space, the expansion and enhancement of the efficiency of mutual trade. The President of Belarus also stressed that significant efforts were directed at further development of cooperation in youth policy, culture, science, education, health care, sports, tourism, social protection.

In general, the agenda of the summit included such important topics as the development of interaction in the field of biological security, in the spheres of migration, protection of the electoral rights of citizens and guarantees of the electoral sovereignty of the CIS countries. Alexander Lukashenko noted that the updated Treaty on Combating Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction fully meets the requirements of today.

By the way, the draft Agreement on formation of the Council of Presidents of the Supreme (Higher) Courts of the Commonwealth countries is also aimed at expansion of functions and

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БЕЛАРУСЬ.BELARUS OCTOBER 2021

capabilities of the judicial system, taking into account modern realities.

The President of Belarus assured his counterparts: – Belarus has been and remains an active participant in regional integration associations. And today we confirm this once again.

Alexander Lukashenko also noted that this meeting is significant, as it is held on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the CIS. – There are different points of view about the termination of the existence of the Soviet Union, or more precisely, its forced collapse. Everyone is well aware of my negative attitude towards these events. But in that critical situation, the creation of such integration, one might say, "dome" that sheltered the former Soviet republics from the inevitable chaos and economic collapse, was most likely the right decision.

Of course, over three decades, the Commonwealth has gone through a difficult path of formation and has become a regional organization recognized by the international community. The President of Belarus pointed out obvious advantages of the CIS: – Universality, voluntariness, equality are fundamental principles that helped to contain many destructive processes and stabilize economies, to maintain

trade ties between our countries.

For economic consolidation The topic, which was one of the priorities in the framework of the chairmanship of Belarus in the CIS, is the cooperation of economies. It is to this aspect that the states of the Commonwealth intend to continue to pay the most serious attention. However, Alexander Lukashenko highlighted such an equally important point: – One of the key achievements of the CIS is the preservation of close human contacts, trust-based political relations, multifaceted economic ties with a focus on further integration. In conditions of instability in the world, the cooperation of mutually complementary economies of the CIS states is of decisive importance.

The subject of discussion at the summit was the topic of sanctions pressure, which is applied by the West contrary to the norms of international law.

In this regard, Alexander Lukashenko proposed to take further real steps to unite efforts on joint protection of interests in the world market for strengthening the role and weight of the Commonwealth.

The President of Belarus believes that in modern conditions it is advisable to take specific steps to combine regional integration processes:

BELTA

REAL INTEGRATION

– I believe that topical issues on the agenda in the CIS format should, first of all, take into account what is going on in Greater Eurasia. And on certain topics, they could be synchronized with the problems discussed within the Collective Security Treaty Organization and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

According to Alexander Lukashenko, under the current conditions, the Union State of Belarus and Russia can act as a driver for integration processes, offering the best practices for the EAEU and the CIS. The President of Belarus expressed confidence that this would be a real contribution to harmonization of such processes with neighboring regional associations in order to consolidate Eurasia economically and form a large Eurasian partnership.

HEADS OF STATE ADOPTED A DECLARATION IN CONNECTION WITH THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CIS The document, in particular, says – We consider it our common task to further realize the potential of the Commonwealth, strengthen its position

in the international arena and ensure it s f ur the r dy namic de velopment .

C o n s i d e r i n g t ra d e a n d e c o n o m i c interaction as a key factor in further deepening of economic integration and sustainable development of the CIS member states, we declare our desire to create favorable conditions for effective economic cooperation, full-f ledged functioning of the free trade zone, and transition of interested states to deeper economic integration.

VERBATIM In their speeches the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan spoke about t he way t hey see t he consequences of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. They also expressed their point of view about the events in the region as a whole. They dwelt not only on the problems, but also on peace initiatives.

– War and the conflict have remained i n h istor y. We a re ready to sta r t negotiations with Armenia on border delimitation, under condition of mutual recognition of territorial integrity. We are also ready to start a peace agreement negotiations with Armenia, – noted Ilham Aliyev.

On t he whole, Armenia is a lso inclined towards dialogue.

– We are ready to start this process.

And in this matter we also hope for the support of Russia and our other international partners. An appropriate at mosphere i s ver y i mpor t a nt to overcome existing obstacles, – Nikol Pashinyan said.

A nd one more prop os a l f rom Armenia.

– We consider it important to restore the negotiation process within the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship, – said the Prime Minister of this country.

Vladimir Putin, President of Russia: – The key role of the CIS is to provide conditions for peaceful cooperation a nd joint work for t he prosperit y and development of our countries, improvement of the well-being of our citizens. I am pleased to note that the indicators of trade and investment cooperation within the Commonwealth are beginning to improve. The volume of trade within the CIS increased by 27 percent. Prospects are opening up for the implementation of large joint investment and infrastructure projects that increase interconnection in the Commonwealth space, the involvement of economies and БЕЛАРУСЬ.BELARUS OCTOBER 2021

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REAL INTEGRATION companies in Eurasian production and transport chains.

For all of us, the priority task is to preserve the memory of the common Victory in the Great Patriotic War. We are grateful to the Commonwealth partners for support of the initiatives put forward by Russia on international platforms to preserve the historical truth and oppose the justification of Nazism in any of its manifestations.

Sadyr Japarov, President of Kyrgyzstan: – Ky r g y z s t a n a t t a c h e s g r e a t importance to expansion of relations with the CIS countries. The situation in the world is rapidly changing, and this dictates the need to consolidate efforts for a timely response to external challenges and threats. The presence of such destabilizing factors as international terrorism, extremism, illegal migration

a nd c ro s s -b order c r i me , f u r t her exacerbation of the socio-economic and food crisis, can lead to a real humanitarian catastrophe in Afghanistan. This, in turn, can ignite a civil war in this country, which will cause tension and destabilize the situation in the regions of Central Asia and the Middle East. In this regard, I would like to appeal to the entire world community and call for the adoption of joint effective measures on neutralization of these challenges and threats, and provision of all-round support to the Afghan people. The Kyrgyz side proposes to consider the possibility of delivering humanitarian aid to the people of Afghanistan under the auspices of the CIS. Natalia Gavrilica, Prime Minister of Moldova: – The last 30 years have become the years of transition for the states represented here, and this time was not easy for all of us. Many countries have had to go BELTA

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of Kazakhstan: – The CIS has become an authoritative international organization. Intraregional trade in the CIS is more than $91 billion (or only 0.5 percent of the level of world trade). At the same time, the share of mutual trade of the Commonwealth countries occupies about 20 percent of the total trade turnover of our states with the outside world. These indicators testify to the presence of a huge potential for a significant increase in our trade

and economic ties. Therefore, a lot of joint work is to be done on rethinking and improving the current approaches to economic interaction. The main attention should be paid to the expansion of industrial cooperation of the CIS countries, including the creation of joint ventures, ensuring production connectivity and effective cooperation of economic entities. To do this, we propose to set up a new program for the development of industrial complexes until at least 2025.

The leaders of the states have determined the cultural capital of the Commonwealth in 2023 – it will be the Moldovan city of Comrat

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through hardships, losses and conflicts.

And Moldova is no exception. Despite the difficulties, the CIS platform provides an opportunity to continue the dialogue between our countries and find solutions to existing problems.

I especially want to emphasize that the approach of the new leadership of the Republic of Moldova is a pragmatic, balanced, consistent foreign policy that takes into account the interests of our partners and promotes its own priorities.

The CIS is an important forum for us, since it opens up opportunities for the Moldovan side, first of all, for mutually beneficial and effective trade and economic cooperation.

We are interested in strengthening and further development of trade ties within the CIS on an equal and mutually beneficial basis.

Emomali Rahmon, President of Tajikistan: – Our Belarusian friends during the chairmanship did a great job on maintaining a stable functioning pace of the CIS, which made it possible to jointly achieve a number of significant practical results. The focus should remain on issues of strengthening the coordination of joint activities to overcome the crisis and reduce its negative consequences.

We are concerned about the activities

of a number of organizations banned in our countries, which use the platforms of international and regional structures to justify their illegal actions. In this regard, we hope that the idea proposed

by Tajikistan to create a single list of terrorist and extremist organizations banned on the territory of the member states, will be jointly implemented.

Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, President of Turkmenistan: – One of the tasks of the Commonwealth in the coming years is to build up economic cooperation. Adopted Strategy for the Economic Development of the CIS until 2030 clearly defines the directions of our cooperation.

The priorities of the strategy include transport, fuel and energy complex, communications, industrial cooperation, innovations and technologies.

Turkmenistan pays special attention to joint protection of t he existing architecture of global security, upholding the norms of international law and the UN Charter. This task is more urgent than ever. The CIS countries, using their political and diplomatic capabilities, are meant to act from a consolidated and principled position in the UN and other international and regional structures.

In other words, it is necessary to return to world politics based on respect for law, culture of dialogue, trust and predictability in relations between the states.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President of Uzbekistan: – One of the key areas of multilateral cooperation is mutual assistance in ensuring sustainable economic growth of the Commonwealth countries. The global crisis caused by the consequences of the pandemic has become a big test for all countries. In these conditions, we manage to maintain the positive dy na m ic s of t r ade a nd econom ic co oper at ion . Ne ver t hele s s , to d ay the time necessitates a full-f ledged functioning of the free trade zone in t he Commonwea lt h space w it hout restrictions and barriers.

We propose to jointly conduct a comprehensive analysis of the real state of our trade relations in the new conditions and, on this basis, prepare specific recommendations, taking into account the factor of complementarity of our economies. They could form the basis of a multilateral action plan for the further liberalization of trade policy within the CIS. Vladimir Velikhov

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CONTEXT

PRIORITIES ARE CLEAR Integration agenda has recently revived not only in the CIS area. As we know, earlier in Dushanbe, the SCO and CSTO summits were held, where special attention was paid to foreign policy issues. But now the time has come to substantively discuss the economic aspects of cooperation within the EAEU. A single market for gas, oil and oil products, a common digital space, transit, import substitution and interaction in the agro-industrial complex – these are the topics became the key issues at the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, which was held in October in the format of a video conference.

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A strategy-driven perspective Formation of a common gas market, pricing and transportation issues... Gas issue in its comprehensive version is not at all new for the members of the Eurasian Economic Union. And as it followed from the discussion, it is the gas problem, which in many respects hinders the development of the EAEU. Incidentally, this is the firm position of Minsk, which actually found understanding among all participants of the discussion. As well as the Belarusian initiative that a decision should be reached during a live meeting of the leaders of states.

Alexander Lukashenko specified another energy issue as a key one.

It concerns the decision to move to the second stage of creation of common markets for oil and oil products. It involves the preparation by 2023 of draft rules for trading and rules for exchange trading in these products. And by 2024, an international treaty is to be developed on the formation of common markets for oil and oil products. The President of Belarus emphasized: – Striving to create a common energy market, it is necessary to take into account the interests of all member states of our union. Only in this way can we ensure its stability and durability.

In general, the further prospect of the EAEU is associated with the full and timely implementation of the Strategy for the Development of Eurasian Economic Integration until 2025. It is not for nothing that Alexander Lukashenko emphasized: – It is important now to concentrate on the implementation of the measures stipulated by this document. Only in this case, by January 1, 2025, we will receive a full-fledged economic union with common markets for goods, services, capital and labor resources.

Focuses of Belarusian initiatives

However, the President of Belarus prioritized a number of areas in integration. This also applies to the formation of a digital space, where, according to Alexander Lukashenko, there is something to work on.

Unfortunately, according to experts, the process of creating and launching an integrated information system of

the Union is still going slowly. It has been under construction for about ten years. For all the scale and complexity of the project, such results are difficult to consider as satisfactory. But the prospects for a deeper development of the transit potential are also associated with digitalization: – The development of a draft agreement on a unified system of customs transit should be accelerated.

Its adoption, along with an agreement on the use of navigation seals in the union for tracking shipments, will contribute to an increase in the transit flow of goods.

Concerning the development of cooperation in the field of agriculture, the following initiative was voiced by Minsk: – In order to further develop the agro-industrial complex, it is necessary to introduce at the union level a system of medium-term and long-term planning of the agro-industrial complex, taking into account the development of the world agricultural market. We should seriously think about the food security of our countries, protection from external price shocks caused by the rush demand for this or that agricultural product.

The President of Belarus also believes that it is necessary to reach a final solution to the problem of unilateral bans and restrictions on the supply of goods: – Accordingly, it is necessary to ensure a timely and full-fledged interstate exchange of information in the field of sanitary, phytosanitary and veterinary control.

The EAEU has done too little on import substitution. Expressing this opinion, the head of the Belarusian State noted: – It is obvious that this process should be linked to industrial cooperation in the Union. To avoid protectionism at the national level, it is necessary to make the most of the industrial capacities and resources of our countries. It is important not only to promote industrial cooperation, but also to stimulate more advanced forms of cooperation through the creation of supranational Eurasian companies or consortia.

The President of Belarus also drew attention to the need of further improvement of the financial infrastructure of the EAEU:

– To increase the number of joint projects with a high integration component, it is necessary to provide access to project financing in the form of long-term loans with a preferential interest rate.

As a conclusion: for this, it is necessary to change the format of the

"Striving to create a common energy market, it is necessary to take into account the interests of all member states of our union.

Only in this way can we ensure its stability and durability."

Alexander Lukashenko Eurasian Development Bank. The main drawbacks in its current model are the high threshold for financing projects and the absence of a preferential rate on loans.

Developing the financial theme, the President raised the issue of expanding the use of national currencies: – We all talked about this a lot.

Excessive use of one or another foreign currency in calculations deprives us of competitive financial and economic advantages and threatens the security of our countries. Therefore, where, if not in the EAEU, we should move with advanced pace to use national currencies.

Alexander Lukashenko expressed the opinion that resolving the above issues will allow the EAEU countries to more quickly overcome the consequences of the economic recession caused by the pandemic, restore business activity, stimulate the growth of industrial production, improve the transit potential and the competitive environment of our common economic space: БЕЛАРУСЬ.BELARUS OCTOBER 2021

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CONTEXT strengthening of cooperation within our Union.

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Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of Kazakhstan: – We should unite efforts to successfully overcome the pandemic, develop joint projects in the field of science, pharmaceuticals, coordinate, if necessary, actions to establish sanitary and epidemiological regimes.

The problem of food security has acquired global relevance. Today, one in ten people on the planet, that is, more than 700 million people, suffer from food shortages.

Of course, the situation in our countries is much better.

But our markets are already feeling the pressure of rising world prices. The severity of the problem will grow from year to year. As a response, the Eurasian Economic Commission, together with the countries of the Union, developed a draft of general principles and approaches to ensuring food security.

It is important to develop the potential of cross-border transport arteries and logistics hubs.

Integration of the Eurasian Economic Union with the Belt and Road initiative and formation of a modern logistics infrastructure will significantly increase the economic impact of the Union on world commodity flows.

– In Belarus, we are convinced that with goodwill, through joint efforts, we will be able to fully realize all the possibilities of the Eurasian Economic Union and achieve our goals

From the speeches of the meeting participants Vladimir Putin, President of Russia: – Economic growth has resumed in almost all EAEU states. Good pace has been gained in mutual trade. In JanuaryJune, trade between the EAEU member states increased by almost a third (31.9

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percent), and the volume of foreign trade of the Eurasian Union with third countries – by a quarter. Moreover, such indicators were achieved despite the fact that some member states of the Union are subject to illegitimate sanctions from some countries. It's no secret that these sanctions are used not only as a tool of unfair competition, but also as a means to undermine legitimate governments by creation of social, economic and political problems or exacerbating the existing ones, which are in abundance in any country. Such external unfavorable conditions should further stimulate the

Sadyr Japarov, President of Kyrgyzstan: – The stage of formation of the Union has passed, but it should be admitted that the real pace of integration could be higher. We have accumulated enough

CONTEXT questions: freedom of movement of goods and the problem of removing obstacles. In this regard, it is necessary to develop an effective mechanism for automatic cancellation of the barrier, when it is detected, and the impossibility of its reuse.

Consistent integration steps will require great efforts, determination and political will from us. Incorporating new directions into the integration of the Union countries will strengthen the EAEU position in the international arena: the foreign trade, industrial, tax policies of our countries should be timely adapted to the upcoming external transformations.

The important issue of further integration today is the formation of common markets for gas, oil and oil products. These issues directly affect the energy security of our countries.

Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of Armenia: – The formation of common industry-specific markets in the energy sector is not just a task on fulfillment of the provisions of the agreement on creation of the EAEU, but a prerequisite for the full realization of the potential of economic integration. This determines the principles and mechanisms for the functioning of this market, implying consideration of different opportunities and interests of countries in the energy sector.

Removing obstacles to mutual trade in the EAEU is one of the priorities of the Union, the purpose of which is to ensure the functioning of the internal market without exceptions, restrictions and barriers. Fulfillment of existing agreements in this area will strengthen the foundations of the Union, and the absence of barriers will increase not only the level of credibility of the states, but also competitiveness in foreign markets.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President of Uzbekistan: – Difficult economic situation in the world requires to strengthen interaction, as well as to use new, unconventional approaches in response to modern challenges. It is important to intensify efforts to further increase trade and economic ties.

We propose to develop, together with the EEC, a roadmap to increase mutual trade, including measures to eliminate existing

In Belarus, we are convinced that with goodwill, through joint efforts, we will be able to fully realize all the possibilities of the Eurasian Economic Union and achieve our goals Alexander Lukashenko barriers, harmonize technical regulations and standards, and digitalize customs procedures. Uzbekistan is also interested in expanding cooperation in the creation of interregional added value chains by deepening industrial cooperation.

The issue of ensuring food security is of particular relevance. We propose to develop a joint program of cooperation to strengthen food security in the Eurasian space.

Miguel Mario Diaz-Canel Bermudez, President of Cuba: – We, who are present here, are, to one degree or another, in a complex global environment, under the influence of multidimensional crises aggravated or generated by the pandemic, and in some cases under the influence of unilateral coercive measures used by interventionist governments with powerful economies.

These challenges can be most effectively resisted only together.

Cooperation is a key word at the time when our agendas set a common priority – the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, which is already considered the most difficult sanitary crisis that humankind has faced in the last century.

Consensus decisions Following the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council,

the participants approved a statement on economic cooperation between the EAEU member states within the climate agenda. It says on behalf of the heads of state: – We declare our intention to develop economic cooperation between the EAEU member states within the climate agenda, including the achievement of goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, including the formation of the necessary approaches and mechanisms based on the principles of the functioning of the single EAEU market. We express our confidence that the economic cooperation of the EAEU member states within the climate agenda will become an important contribution to international efforts to combat climate changes and ensure sustainable development.

It is obvious that the most important issue at the forum was the economic pressure exerted by third countries on the EAEU states. From now on, they will oppose it together. Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Igor Petrishenko commented for journalists on the decision of the summit participants.

He recalled that it was the initiative of the President of Belarus, and at this stage it was possible to reach a consensus: – A set of six responses has been developed. And in case of a request from one of the states, the Eurasian Economic Commission will prepare proposals and inform the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, which will decide on the launch of a toolkit of these six measures. This refers to consultations, assessment of damage to the country that suffers from economic sanctions, and, accordingly, a multiplicative effect on the entire EAEU, negotiations with third countries and a number of other issues. It is a big step that our integration formation will collectively respond to unreasonable economic pressure.

The Deputy Prime Minister stressed that the decision was made not only in relation to Belarus and Russia, but it also applies to all subjects of the EAEU. Vasily Kharitonov

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ACCENTS

DIPLOMATS HAVE A RESPONSIBLE MISSION Belarus is always open to constructive partnership with any state that has good intentions towards it. Alexander Lukashenko reminded about this key principle of Belarusian foreign policy when accepting the credentials of the new heads of diplomatic missions of Azerbaijan, Armenia, India, Indonesia, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mongolia, Tunisia and the Republic of South Africa.

During the ceremony, the President emphasized that Belarus is a modern democratic state with a developed e c o n o m y, c e n t u r i e s - o l d h i s t o r y and distinctive culture. And most importantly, "it has always been like

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this here since ancient times, that guests are welcome." The President suggested that many of the diplomats had already got acquainted with the countr y firsthand, which makes it easier for them to understand the

processes taking place here. Alexander Lukashenko noted: – The beginning of your diplomatic mission falls on the period of important transformations in Belarus. But we are not talking about a global change of priorities.

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This is primarily an internal affair of our country. To ensure the dynamics of the further development of the Belarusian society, to adjust the domestic and foreign policy in the country, there is an objective need for changes.

The President is convinced that there is another important point, the awareness of which will become an unconditional help in diplomatic work: – Today's ceremony is held in the Year of National Unity, its goals are the

further consolidation of our society, strengthening of its patriotic foundations, consolidation of the multinational Belarusian nation on the basis of the ideas of the country's sovereignty and independence. БЕЛАРУСЬ.BELARUS OCTOBER 2021

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ACCENTS Insight into international agenda Intersection of global geopolitical interests in the Belarusian territory predetermines Minsk's expectations of a mutually beneficial international partnership. Alexander Lukashenko also drew attention thereto: – Being on the border between West and East, Belarus, like no other country, understands the importance of a creative, unifying international agenda and is constantly working on its practical content.

The President of Belarus also touched upon the migration issue, which has recently received a wide response: – We attach paramount importance to security issues and the protection of the state border. Our country has always been a responsible participant in collective efforts to combat smuggling and human trafficking. We are ready to act the same way in the future, but only on condition of respectful attitude towards us, and not under the pressure of sanctions and ultimatums. Not to mention, hybrid wars.

The head of state emphasized that Belarus has always been a supporter of mutually beneficial trade and economic cooperation with all international partners and is open to new joint projects, including the most advanced and hightech ones.

New partnership opportunities Belarus is interested in d e ve l opi ng c o op e r at i on w it h t h e widest range of states, regions and t h e i r i nt e g r at i on s . In p ar t i c u l ar, Alexander Lukashenko emphasizes the importance of the fact that Minsk highly values the level of interaction with the CIS countries: – We are bound by strong bonds of brotherly friendship, which, I am sure, will continue to help us to deepen relations, develop trade and cooperation in various areas for the benefit of our peoples. Speaking about relations with Asia, which is the fastest economically growing region in the world, I would like to emphasize that Belarus and many of our Asian partners are complementary in their interaction.

The President is also confident that the country is interested in expanding cooperation with African countries: – We already have examples of successful joint work, which, I am sure, will be multiplied.

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The head of state expressed confidence that the professionalism and dedication of the ambassadors will give impetus to relations between Belarus and foreign countries. "I sincerely wish you success in your responsible diplomatic activity to the benefit of our peoples," – Alexander Lukashenko summed up.

In addition, according to the head of state, Belarus may be of interest as a platform for the development of trade with the EAEU countries.

– And first of all with Russia, with which we are implementing an ambitious integration project that opens up new opportunities for business, science and other areas, – the President specified.

Alexander Lukashenko also drew attention to the fact that, as a serious industrial hub, Belarus today can provide profitable supplies of agricultural and mining equipment, mining dump trucks, potash fertilizers, petrochemical and pharmaceutical products.

– Our companies are ready to offer their scientific, technological and production developments. Share the successful experience of modernizing the energy, transport and communications sectors, creating full cycle turnkey agricultural production. Our universities can admit applicants for training in various popular areas, including training in the field of industry, agriculture and health, – the head of state specified.

Following tradition, the head of state described the relations with each of the countries represented by the ambassadors.

About Azerbaijan – Azerbaijan has been and remains our strategic partner, a fraternal state that consistently and disinterestedly supports Belarus, – stressed Alexander Lukashenko. On behalf of the country and on his own behalf, the President expressed gratitude to the entire Azerbaijani people and his friend President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev for their trust and reliability.

About Armenia Alexander Lukashenko stated that Belarus and Armenia are linked by traditionally friendly relations, common history and close interpersonal contacts.

– Our countries actively interact within the integration structures, in most cases speaking with a common voice, – the President said. However, the significant potential of bilateral cooperation has not yet been fully realized, the Belarusian leader believes. He assured that Belarus is open to proposals on further development of strong relations with Armenia in all spheres.

About India Speaking about the countries of the long-range arc, Alexander Lukashenko noted that cooperation with them becomes more and more important in view of the emerging international situation.

– We highly value the relationship with India based on friendship, trust and mutual understanding. Minsk and New Delhi are the most important partners, and the potential for bilateral cooperation is unlimited, – the President of Belarus said.

About Indonesia and Malaysia Accepting credentials from the ambassadors of Indonesia and Malaysia,

ACCENTS Alexander Lukashenko emphasized the striving of Belarus to build constructive relations with all countries-members of the Association of South-East Asian Nations.

– I am convinced that additional opportunities for the further development of Belarusian-Indonesian and BelarusianMalaysian relations will be provided by strengthening of cooperation between the EAEU and ASEAN, – the head of state said.

The President named Indonesia a key partner in this association.

– Our citizens, representatives of business and academia know Indonesia not only as a tourist pearl, but also as a country with a dynamically developing economy, high human and scientific potential, – said the head of state.

As for Malaysia, according to the President, this country has made a huge leap forward in its development over the past decades.

– We are very interested in studying the experience of transformation of your state, – said Alexander Lukashenko.

About Mongolia The he ad of st ate note d wit h satisfaction the further development of practical cooperation with Mongolia, in which Belarus sees a reliable and promising partner.

– We are interested in continuing the implementation of joint projects. Recently, our states have achieved a lot, but I know we still have additional opportunities for the further development of mutually beneficial cooperation, including in the machine-building industry, – the President said.

About Lebanon Alexander Lukashenko noted the interest of Belarus in cooperation with the Lebanese Republic, expressing confidence in the existing significant potential for bilateral cooperation in various fields.

About Tunisia Addressing the Tunisian Ambassador, the head of the Belarusian state expressed interest in enhancing all-round relations with this country. According to him, Belarus considers Tunisia as a promising partner in North Africa. "We should be more active in looking for directions that will strengthen our interaction. First of all, this concerns the spheres of tourism

and healthcare," – Alexander Lukashenko believes.

About South Africa – Belarus is ready to further promote cooperation with the Republic of South Africa, which rightfully has a reputation of a political and economic leader among the southern states of the continent, – noted the head of state.

According to the President, Belarus can offer South Africa modern integrated solutions in the field of agricultural mechanization, current scientif ic developments, transfer of technologies and knowledge, educational services.

The head of state, accepting the credentials, spoke about the priorities of

Belarus is interested in developing cooperation with the widest range of states, regions and their integrations. In particular, Alexander Lukashenko emphasizes the importance of the fact that Minsk highly values the level of interaction with the CIS countries

Belarus in building friendly relations.

In particular, the President stressed that justice in international, interstate interaction and in maintaining domestic policy is what Belarus has gained through suffering in its entire history: – Today Belarus, on a priority basis, intends to build friendly relations with those states that really respect our sovereignty and independence. Respect our people. With those who are ready to develop interaction with us honestly and frankly.

The head of state expressed confidence that the professionalism and dedication of the ambassadors will give impetus to relations between Belarus and foreign countries. "I sincerely wish you success in your responsible diplomatic activity to the benefit of our peoples," – Alexander Lukashenko summed up. ...Ambassadors left the Palace of Independence in the cars with the state flags of their countries attached thereto.

This is a sign of the official beginning of the cadence. The head of state wished it to be successful: – I am sure that ver y soon you will be convinced that we are ready for active cooperation in all areas of mutual interest. We expect from you an objective view of events, a focus on strengthening of bilateral relations, proactive activity in the implementation of new projects.

Alexander Lukashenko congratulated the ambassadors on the start of their diplomatic mission in Belarus: – I am absolutely convinced that your professionalism and dedication will give impetus to relations between our countries.

And one more wish, which was already voiced during the informal conversation between the President and the diplomats: – I still hope that you as experienced people (and all of you, I see, are experienced people) will objectively assess the situation in Belarus. I am absolutely convinced that you will see a quiet, calm, peaceful Belarus in our country and in Minsk. And I will be glad if you compare it with what you have read and seen on the Internet. You will be pleasantly surprised to see that Belarus is completely different from the one individual countries and people are trying to make it out to be in this global system.

Alexander Pimenov

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MEMORY

WHERE EVERY STONE IS A MEMORIAL TO HEROES The fortress was crowded that day. Delegations came one after another, laid flowers, honored the memory of the defenders at the Eternal Flame. Representatives of youth and public organizations, labor collectives, governing bodies, foreign guests took part in the events on the occasion of the jubilee.

The memorial complex "Brest Hero-Fortress" was opened on September 25, 1971. The guides of the fortress always emphasize that the defenders of the citadel, who fought heroically from June 22 to the end of July 1941, were soldiers of 30 nationalities.

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The enemy got none of the flags of the military units that were stationed in the fortress at that time. All this was taken into account when considering the issue of awarding the fortress with the honorary title "Hero-Fortress". It received this title in 1965.

Three years later, the work on the construction of the memorial began, it became a monument to the courage and heroism of the generation of the 1940s who defended their country.

This year, the staff of the memorial complex received the Special Presidential Prize in the field of culture and art for their

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significant contribution to the preservation of the historical truth about the Great Patriotic War, the project of the Union State "Overhaul, restoration and museumisation of Brest Fortress in the Brest Fortress memorial complex" President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko congratulated the staff of the memorial complex on the anniversary.

The head of state noted that on June 22, 1941, the citadel became the first shield on the path of the Nazi army, the garrison fought to the last drop of blood. "We still do not know all the names of the brave defenders who stepped into immortality for us and their country," – the congratulation says.

Thanks to the painstaking work of the staff of the memorial complex, contemporaries open new pages in the defense of the fortress and admire the feat of the heroic generation of victors, the welcoming address says. "Together

with millions of visitors from near and far abroad who have visited the memorial for half a century, we bow our heads and silently thank everyone who fought here for their lives and clear skies."

The head of state expressed confidence that the activities of the team, aimed at preserving the truth about the Great Patriotic War and the role of our people therein, contributes to the education of true patriots, allows Belarus to continue building its future on the basis of national unity, universal values, peace and harmony.

In the afternoon, a solemn meeting dedicated to the memory of the defenders took place on the Ceremonial Square. The main event of the round table "Memorial. 50 Years at the Service of History" was the presentation of the anniversary album "Brest Fortress. History and Memory".

Svetlana Yaskevich

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SOCIETY

Age-free interest in everyday life On October 1, the Day of Senior Citizens was celebrated in modern Belarus for the fourth decade. This is a kind of tribute to the older generation. According to opinion polls, the majority of Belarusians consider it their duty to take care of their retired relatives. And the state, of course, does not abandon them to their fate either.

Longevity in the full sense of the word By the way, the President of Belarus also congratulated the citizens of the older generation on the Day of Senior Citizens.

The congratulation said that this holiday once again reminds of the cultural code of Belarusians, in which great respect for the elderly is the most important priority in society, and wisdom, rich life experience always underlie making fateful decisions. This year has been declared the Year of National Unity, stressed Alexander Lukashenko: "Our unity would have been impossible without the consolidation of all generations in an attempt to ensure peace and harmony in our native land, to build the future of our country, relying on time-tested traditions and values. It is you, the people of the golden age, who are the guarantor of their preservation. Therefore,

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one of the main directions of state policy was, is and will be social protection of senior citizens." The congratulation also notes that today Belarus has built an extensive system to support and improve the quality of life of this population category, to expand opportunities for active longevity and self-realization. The President wished everyone good health, good mood, peace of mind and well-being both on holidays and weekdays.

Yes, aging population is one of the dominant trends in the demographic development of most countries in the world.

Actually, this is a natural and irreversible process of our time, affecting all spheres of life of modern society. Any country pays maximum attention to it, and Belarus is no exception. Last December, the Government approved the National Strategy "Active longevity – 2030". Its goal is to create conditions for the most complete and effective

realization of the potential of older people, a sustainable improvement in their quality of life. More precisely, the Strategy defines the priority areas of development in such spheres of life as education and employment, health care and social services, social inclusion. A large-scale network has been formed and is developing in the country – 146 social service centers are operating in each administrative district, there are 83 inpatient facilities. 155 day care departments have been opened, almost 13 thousand elderly people regularly visit them. By the way, this was recently stressed by representatives of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection at the press conference at the National Press Center.

Help comes in due time The task of the territorial centers is to organize leisure. Various hobby groups and

SOCIETY clubs work there, so that elderly people can learn to do the things they had no time for before. Creativity, physiotherapy exercises, learning to play musical instruments, learning foreign languages – these and other focus areas are very popular. In many clubs, classes are taught by pensioners themselves – the so-called third-age volunteers. The movement, which originated in Minsk in 1994, has spread throughout the country. Now it unites more than two thousand people who consider it their duty to help others. Volunteer teams carry out the programs "Senior to the Elderly", "Grandmother for an Hour," and others. As Tatyana Fedorova, head of the main department of social services and social assistance of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, noted at the press conference at the National Press Center, special attention is now paid to veterans of the Great Patriotic War and those who suffered from its consequences – almost 14 thousand people, as well as lonely unconnected elderly people – about 129 thousand. Every year, the employees of the territorial centers examine such citizens,

identify the problems that have arisen. At the moment, 90% of this kind of requests have been fulfilled. If necessary, support is provided – living quarters and stoves are repaired, fire detectors are installed, etc.

More than six thousand elderly people have already received such assistance this year.

Do not forget about the health of body and mind According to the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, elderly Belarusians don't fall out of love with life. They are active Internet users, communicate on social networks. Territorial social service centers play an important role in computer literacy improvement.

Volunteers, including students, are involved to help. And the UN Population Fund, together with one of the mobile phone providers, has developed a manual for the elderly, which in plain language explains how to use the Internet on mobile phones, how to find the necessary information and much more. Besides, now online training is being conducted

for employees of territorial centers so that they can also teach the people under care to use these skills.

Euphrosinia Bazyleva, veteran of the Great Patriotic War: – For me old age is a joy! This is the golden time of life, when you can devote more time to yourself: to do what you love, to go for long walks, to communicate with like-minded people. My secret of internal energy is in a positive and friendly attitude towards other people. Although I am almost 90 years old, I do not consider myself to be old. Like other veterans of war and labor, I’d rather be called a person of great life experience and wisdom. We are not used to talking about diseases and complaining about something. We, who withstood the hard times of war, are not afraid of any hardships. I walk up to four kilometers a day, I like to make vegetable- and fruit-shaped cakes.

I’ve recently taken part in the "Veterans' parties" and the competition "My orchard and vegetable garden". I met so many people with bright eyes and enthusiasm at this wonderful event! Thanks to the

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veteran organization of the Sovetsky district of Minsk, we have the opportunity to have a good time, communicate and demonstrate our talents.

Vladimir Kulchitsky, Academician, Doctor of Medicine, Deputy Director for Research of the Institute of Physiology of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus: – In the modern world, many people of retirement age tend to lead an active lifestyle. Such intensive activity of the brain in particular, contributes to longevity. Of course, provided that there are no serious chronic diseases. Active longevity is not uncommon among scientists. As a representative of the Department of Medical Sciences, I have deep respect and admiration for such people, whose lifestyle and ideas are the drivers of the development of scientific thought.

Wisdom comes with age, and it is worth noting that the formation of academies of sciences in different countries has always been focused on the dominance of this particular property of the human mind. From the point of view of neurophysiology, wisdom is not an innate reflex, but is developed in the process of long-term improvement and training of the brain neural networks to make non-standard decisions. But how can this be achieved? There is no

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VOZRAST.BY

In Belarus, about 1.5 million people belong to the 65+ age category, which is almost 16 percent of the population

particular secret here. The reason is that the researcher uses the analytical capabilities of his/her brain, which allow him/her to process the amount of information comparable to the amount of information on the Internet.

In this regard, one cannot fail to mention as an example the famous Belarusian scientist academician Petr Vityaz – a very active person who, despite his considerable age, is knowledgeable in numerous current tasks, works fruitfully in the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences, oversees such a complex area as the country's space industry. The same applies to academician David

Golub, who analyzed the structure and functions of the nervous and circulatory systems of animals and humans even being over 100 years old. The conclusions he drew are still used in clinical practice. By the way, one of the secrets of his amazing performance was physical activity, i.e. the habit of many-kilometer walks, which he did every day during breaks and on the way to work. Thus, we can conclude that the main thing is not to forget about the health of the body and mind, read interesting books, and find activities to your liking.

Alexey Fedosov

INNOVATIONS

Energy of good deeds Digitalization of the fuel and energy complex, aspects of nuclear energy and the development of electric transport – these and other relevant topics were discussed at the XXV Belarusian Energy and Environmental Forum on promising projects which deal with such issues as smart city, the introduction of universal metering control systems, the transmission of data on consumed energy resources, the automatic calculation and charging of payments for housing and communal services and the online use of all information resources and services that digital platforms can offer.

As we know, the country has recently adopted a state program for the development of electric transport, according to which, in particular, it is planned to actively transfer passenger transport to electricity.

– We set an ambitious goal to transfer almost half of passenger transport to electricity in cities by 2025. This cannot be done without new materials, technologies, energy storage

BELTA

Belarus has set a course for the improvement of energy efficiency and energy saving. Over the past ten years alone, the energy intensity of the country's GDP has decreased by 1.2 times. And in ages, Energy Expo has become a central platform for dialogue between representatives of governmental bodies, energy companies, organizations producing equipment, and the scientific community.

Thus, a number of ministries – of energ y, natural resources and environmental protection, industry, housing and communal services – held the XXV Belarusian Energy and Environmental Forum in Minsk. It is noteworthy that this year the anniversary of the event coincided with the 90th anniversary of the Belarusian energy system.

In particular, the forum was attended by more than 200 organizations from seven countries, including the leading enterprises of the energy industry of our country, as well as Rosatom, Siemens, Honeywell, Rrohne, Tavrida Electric and others. The program of the event i ncluded i nter nat iona l specia l i z ed exhibitions "Energy. Ecology. Energy Saving. Electro", Oil & Gas Technologies, "Atom-Expo-Belarus", "Expomir", "Water and Air Technologies", "Expogorod", as well as XXV Belarusian Energy and Environmental Congress.

– During the forum, we discussed strategic directions for the development of the energy sector, which are important for the residents of our country, – noted Olga Prudnikova, Deputy Minister of Energy.

With the commissioning of the first power unit of BelNPP, the country's fuel and energy balance has certainly changed significantly. Accordingly, changes have taken place in the structure of electricity production, as well as energy consumption.

Electricity serves as a primary carrier for heating, hot water supply. A full lineup of new kind of vehicles has appeared, from public to personal.

Intensive development of these areas requires an appropriate infrastructure and legal regulation. Questions of tariff policy are always of interest. The discussion during the forum was also about the involvement of municipal solid waste, local and renewable energy sources in the energy balance.

Today, in terms of digitalization and automation of processes, the fuel and energy complex is one of the most advanced in the economy. The Ministry of Energy is working

devices that are being developed and created today, – said Alexander Shumilin, Chairperson of the State Committee for Science and Technology.

Meanwhile, presentations of technologies in the field of environmental protection, rational use of natural resources, renewable energy, disposal and efficient use of waste became the key ones in the exposition of the Ministry of Natural Resources at the forum. The Ministry of Natural Resources was also the organizer of a scientific and practical conference on the development of green economy. The event became a unique platform for discussions on environmental policy improvement.

Alexander Pimenov

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Vladimir Lipsky:

"There are still many plans" Children's book and the market... Can these concepts be combined? What are the priorities of young readers of Belarus today? What is more important – reading in a gadget, on the phone screen or getting to know a printed book?..

Vladimir Lipsky is a writer whose work has been awarded with the title of laureate of the State Prize of the Republic of Belarus, Honored Worker of Culture of the Republic of Belarus. He is awarded with Francysk Skaryna Medal, Francysk Skaryna Order. He is the laureate of various literary awards of Belarus and Russia. For more than 40 years he used to work as the editorin-chief of Vyaselka magazine. Dozens of books by Vladimir Stepanovich are a reflection of his multifaceted searches for the main being of the Country, which is called Childhood. Our interlocutor is an attentive teacher, an attentive artist of the word, and, of course, a person who is not indifferent to what moral and spiritual priorities will remain as the primary ones for the next generations of boys and girls.

– Vladimir Stepanovich, recently you were awarded by the publishing house "Adukatsya i vyhavanne" as one of the few authors whose books are sold out much more than others. A children's book and the market – is it the correct way the question is put?

– At the meeting with Minsk fifthgraders I asked them an unexpected question:

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– Why does it happen – every person has brains, and some lack minds?

T h e y s t a r t e d t h i n k i n g . We nt quiet. It means, I hooked them. And I immediately suggested acting out an episode from my new story "A third grader in love". As if a storyteller comes to their class and offers to immediately compose magic. He takes a chair and announces that it is magic. He seats

Marinka, a pupil, onto it and announces that she is already a heroine. This happens in almost all fairy tales: the opening scene – there was once; and another scene – once upon a time...

Now a third scene should begin – and suddenly!

Everyone froze, what will happen to Marinka and the chair?

The wizard mysteriously announces:

– And suddenly the chair with Marinka flew into space. Your classmate is high in the sky. Sees the Earth and you in class. You can ask her questions...

The children applauded and were glad that their friend was already in space. And it began: do you see us, what is our planet like, are there aliens there?..

I suggest another veariant of the tale. The chair with Marinka sank into a deep dungeon. And there she found three bags of gold. What to do?

Marinka was confused. The children began to raise their hands.

And the teacher heard a great variety of ideas! Her pupils began to spend the gold in different ways: I will buy a house for myself, a car, a new smartphone, the rest will take home; I will buy all the sweets, all the ice cream and fly to the warm sea; I will build a villa, my own swimming pool... And only one girl said: – And I would give these bags with gold to disabled children and orphans. Let them rejoice...

In short, it turned out to be a meditation lesson. It was as if the children had been to the gym. So that's what we need to inspire our readers – to develop the mind and build up the muscles of the soul. An unsurpassed teacher in this matter was, is and will remain Its Majesty the Book.

Frankly speaking, I am pleased that my books "I live here", "My Belarus", "Have mercy and uplift", "The ABC of life" are popular with the readers and are being reprinted.

On the last Day of Belarusian Written Language in Kopyl, I used up in writing autographs my whole "PARKER"pen. Joy! But there was bitterness in my soul as well. A mother and her daughter came up to the booth of the publishing house "Adukatsya and Vyhavanne". I talked to the girl. She wanted to have my book "I live here" – a multi-genre tale about our Belarus. And suddenly the mother publicly humiliated her child: "You won’t read this book, you are glued to your phone. Let's get out of here!.."

The problem of our time arises: everyone needs to fight for a good book, not pulp-fiction. The writer ensures quality. Journalists, reviewers give the

DMITRY SAPSAY

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book wings. Publishers bring their pro du c t to s cho ol s and f am i l i e s .

Teachers, parents train minds and s ou ls of t heir chi ldren. And how can it be otherwise, if we want them to follow us, be replaced by worthy successors?

– A fe w months ago you l eft the post of editor-in-chief of the children's magazine "Vyaselka". You have worked there for more than four decades. Is it difficult to retire? Are

you worried about tomorrow's fate of the magazine?

– Ivan Shamyakin brought me to the Vyaselka magazine. I then worked in the Belarusian Writers' Union as an executive secretary. With regret, they let me go, I used to serve the writers well.

But the wise Ivan Shamyakin, supported

by Maksim Tank, Ivan Chigrinov, Boris Sachenko, Anatoly Vertinsky, the then leaders of the Writers' Union, bid farewell with hope: БЕЛАРУСЬ.BELARUS OCTOBER 2021

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"Vyaselka" really became my destiny, my planet, my life. I feel anxious if young people will preserve my editorial principles, which I have cultivated for many years in the oldest children's magazine in the country. I kept this bar at a high, demanded level. What is my experience?

"Vyaselka" also polished my literary abilities. For the cause of raising children, with hope and faith, I launched several dozen books. I would like to believe that they will help young contemporaries find themselves in life. Yes, indeed, my editorship in the magazine has ended, but my service to the Children does not end. "Vyaselka" started publishing my new project "Where Our Names Come

– The publishers have just given wings to my book of confessions "The Coronation of the Soul". It came out in the series "Living Word". I hope my sincere confessions will help readers to figure out what to believe in, what not to believe in, with whom to be friends and not to be friends, whom to love and not to love, what to expect and not to expect, what to read and not to read... In total, the book

During the meeting with young readers

Look not at the face of the author, but in his work. In Belarusian it sounds almost like a rhyme. Accept your reader as a gift from God. Do your job with the sweat of God. Love life and teach children to do it.

Take care of the Motherland, know how to stand up for it. Do not damage your reputation, keep your conscience clear.

Be a Human and faithfully serve the Children!

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From". I invited my readers on a trip across Belarus. Together we will solve the mysterious toponymy of our cities, towns and villages. And for the magazine "Busya", for the little ones, I offered the story "Laughing Marinka", in which the main character learns to think.

– And what new book did the writer Vladimir Lipsky give to the publishing house?

contains fifteen confessions of my souls.

I of fered the publishers my autobiographical novel "Taurus". I am looking forward to its publication.

And what manuscripts I keep on my desktop is still a secret. I admit one thing – I really love the genre of the diary.

Recently my anniversary diary "Every day is the last" was published. I am keeping a diary this year, too. I want to leave many

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PERSONALITY moments of life in my memory. For myself. For my readers.

– What topics do you think are the most important for a young reader?

– The young reader is obliged, and we, adults, really want to be replaced by a well-bred, civilly liable generation that loves their Motherland. These are not just wishes. They contain the future fate of the country. So the writer should define his main themes. It seems to me that we are indebted to the young readers in regards of the knowledge of the history of our country, family roots and traditions, and the culture of Belarusians. I am one of the initiators of the series of books "Personalities" ("Asoba") in the publishing house "Adukatsya i Vyhavanne". We show and tell young readers which of the contemporaries can give them life lessons, how to look for one’s place in the world, how to value the time while the candle of your destiny is burning. I have prepared three such books – about the cosmonaut Petr Klimuk; about the talented agrarian

Beaver in a Chernobyl village, descend into the underground, where Soligorsk people extract potash fertilizers, visit Belovezhsky auroch... And they as if get to know each other again, respect each other. And the Storyteller is an amazing teacher for them.

There was a presentation in one of Logoysk schools. All third graders gathered in the hall. I asked secretly: "Is there anyone in love among you?" Almost the entire audience raised their hands.

The principal and teachers smiled shyly.

They didn't seem to know about it.

– Which writer is closer to you – Samuil Marshak or Eduard Uspensky?

– Both Samuil Marshak and Eduard Uspensky are wonderful, wise professors of children's souls. Each has his own writing manner. This is quite understandable. But the goal is the same – to captivate their readers by their characters, to help them understand the labyrinth of life. These masters are really children's writers. And today anyone who uttered a crow about

amazing life. We, modern writers, have a lot to think about. We kindly envy the masters!

– Do you read Russian children's magazines? Which of them would y ou re c om m en d to B el ar u si an schoolchildren?

– I have a long-standing friendship with Murzilka. Previously, we exchanged delegations, subscribed to each other, published our authors. Vasya Vyaselkin an d Mu r z i l k a , l ong t i m e l it e r ar y characters, lived in friendship. But the time of today's reality somehow separates us, although ever ything should be exactly the opposite. What's the matter?

And the fact is that "Murzilka" became private, "Vyaselka" remained under state patronage. It seems to me that we need a solid program of the Union State on work with Children. They are kids today, but tomorrow they are the people!

– Many years ago you wrote a book about the front-line nurse Zinaida Tusnolobova-Marchenko. And what

The young reader is obliged, and we, adults, really want to be replaced by a well-bred, civilly liable generation that loves their Motherland. These are not just wishes.

They contain the future fate of the country.

Aleksey Skakun, who at one time resigned a bureaucratic post, took over three lameduck farms and made a fairy tale come true in Ostromechevo; about a talented artist, director, writer Valery Anisenko.

By their life, work, beliefs, such people give master classes to young men and women who are in search of their "self ".

– Is it possible to talk about love with the third graders, for example?

– It’s necessary! After all, the world rests on love. Victor Hugo precisely defined the significance of these feelings: "Life is a flower, love is honey from it".

In search of such honey, one life is not enough. So talking about such important things with children is a duty of both parents and writers.

I have a book called "A third grader in love". The storyteller invited Tolik and Alesya to his winged car. They travel not across the blue seas, but around their own Belarus. They visit Vasya Vyaselkin, the hero of the children's magazine "Vyaselka", meet with White Stork, the owner of a unique estate, talk with the gray

his/her children's book, proudly declares that he/she is a children's writer. No, my dear ones, in order to become a children's writer, you need to devote your whole life to this, to process children's problems through your soul, along all the strings of your nerves. Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy lamented at the end of his life that he had not finished his main book – "Primer".

– Do you think the works of Yanka Mavr, Vitaly Bianka, Georgy Skrebitsky are modern today?

– Yes, these are popular authors for all generations of children that I have known in my life. Recently I took and re-read the story of Yanka Mavr "Polesie Rabinsons". The book was published in 1940, it has a dedicatory inscription of the youngest son of Yakub Kolas, Mikhail Konstantinovich Mitskevich, the son-inlaw of Yanka Mavr. It was as if I returned to my childhood, discovered my Shelkovichi in a new way, my dense forests, in which I roamed, found bunches of boletus in an oak grove, discovered places of partisan camps. Books of children's classics have

characters does children's literature lack today?

– Zina Tusnolobova-Marchenko is an amazing person. The nurse returned from the war without arms and legs, Hero of the Soviet Union. Her beloved Joseph Marchenko came from the front.

The marriage was registered in Polotsk civil registry office. And they began to live happily. A son and a daughter were born in the family of front-line soldiers. I have never met a happier family. Today's children should be skillfully told about the truth of the war, about how to form the character and a sense of responsibility for the family and the Motherland. I touched upon these topics in the books "Snowdrops in the Sky", "Son of the Day", "Yanka Wreath", "Bow to a Grass Blade" and I understood that such revelations are missing in children's literature.

– In Russia today, about 80 percent of the total children's book novelties is translated literature. Is it good?

– We need to translate each other.

After all, this is a bridge to friendship, БЕЛАРУСЬ.BELARUS OCTOBER 2021

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KSENIYA KULIKOVA

PERSONALITY

There are dozens of different books on Vladimir Lipsky's creative account

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PERSONALITY understanding and spiritual communication. I can not determine the percentage, but I firmly know that such friendship unites not only authors and readers, but take it higher – the peoples. Once the Ukrainian poet Bogdan Chaly, who didn’t know me, translated my story "Steep Versts" – about Zina Tusnolobova-Marchenko. It was printed twice in Kiev. And Bogdan and I became close friends and created a joint book "Love me in any fate" – about the Belarusian and Ukrainian youth taken to German working camps during the war. Now I have finished translation of Albert Likhanov's story "Mamma's darling" – about how a Russian boy perceived the war, being far from it. The story very subtly conveys the feelings and thoughts of a boy who noticed around him civilians oppressed by the war, who first saw the wounded front-line soldiers...

G oing towards t he spir itu a l enrichment of each other is a matter of state importance of various peoples. I would return to Soviet practice, when the Writers' Union in each country trained, educated, and inspired translators into many languages. And thus, the most popular books of the countries of the world found their readers in Belarus in a timely manner.

Well, children's literature has always been a priority.

– Do you give the manuscripts of your books for review to school teachers? What advice do you expect from them?

– A school teacher is a creative person. I have known the teacher Irina Butorina for a long time. And I was pleasantly surprised when she brought a manuscript of the book about me, "Insider in the Country of Childhood". It turns out that she is closely following my work. It's lovely!

At one time, I gave my storiesf a i r y t a l e s " T h e Ad v e n t u r e o f No l i k " , " A n d re y k a D o br i k a n d the Devil Duronik" for a teacherpupil examination. I listened with excitement to their ass essment.

Very strict revelations. Their advice comes from school ever yday life, from the problems of modern readers.

– And what is your main pedagogical advice to young parents?

Advice to parents from Vladimir Lipsky If you want to know something, think about it.

If you want to stay inspired, be surprised.

If you want a sleepless soul, fall in love.

If you don't want to be a barren fig-tree, do not be lazy.

If you want silence, be quiet.

If you want to be in time everywhere, do not flicker, do not fuss.

If you want to understand another person, appreciate his/her thoughts.

If you want morning freshness, don't oversleep.

If you want conciliation, do not betray.

If you want respect, earn it.

If you want to see beauty, be inspired.

If you want to have a friend, trust him/her.

If you want to hear words of praise, work hard.

If you want to keep the day by the tail, do not flicker.

If you want to live, don't die before death.

If you want all this to work, repeat the parting words of Evgeny Evtushenko every day: "God, grant everything, but only what you will not be ashamed of later."

– My parents Maria and Stepan did not go to school. They only knew how to sign. But they, as I understand now, were proficient in folk pedagogy.

In the arsenal of my father there was an educational belt: "Is it difficult for you to read a book?.." From other teachings: "Do not be lazy to work, you will always have a pretty penny and a full belly"; "Don't take what belongs to other people – you’ll be left without your skin"; "Listen to your elders – they won't teach you bad things." Mother's requests: "Son, be obedient, a friendly calf sucks two mothers"; "Live honestly so that your conscience is clear"; "Do not get lost in people when you begin to live on your own."

– What book would you like to write first of all?

–There are many plans, but little time. There is a desire to recall the people I met in my life and write the revelation "They are in my heart". I want to create a book about the writers with whom fate brought me together, who left a good mark and undeserved scratches in my soul. As usual, I dream of getting deep into the history of my beloved Belarus. And of course, to compose new fairy tales, stories for children. I can only dream of a calm life.

Interviewed by Sergey Shichko БЕЛАРУСЬ.BELARUS OCTOBER 2021

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y b a r T t u o b A r e t s e r o f , n tow and r o t Vik l v a l s y m Zhe ly see: e t a i d e i l l i m m a re a , n o t f a r w e w , t es ion e is no reg ated in a for y. And ther he d o r G elarus, veniently loc ov, Oshmyan revo: with t B f o p e ma raby is con rough Rak d ancient K h t t a ok an nT s th If we lo icultural tow insk – Vilnu Zhemyslavl, r the ag e highway M y, as well as entury... h c f ro m t o u s G o l s h a n e o f t h e X I V l m t t h e f a f a s to n e c a s ru i n s o

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TRAVELING TOGETHER

by Viktor's grandmother – Stanislava Dobrolovich. In the morning, her grandson called her. Apparently, she lived next door in another house. The grandmother's name in the city was Kavalikha. Observing their communication, we realized: Viktor and his grandmother were good friends.

In those years, we knew little about Traby, so we listened with interest to our new acquaintance. He said that the princes Trabus had lived here since ancient times. "Maybe you are their descendant?" we asked. "Maybe so," Viktor laughed. There was a soft dignity in his manner: inborn, natural. We immediately noticed his good sense of humor and told him about it. In this regard, he recalled an incident that happened to him dur ing his s er v ice in the army. Once the mother of his fel low-s oldier came to see her son.

Viktor was present at their meeting.

They talked about various things,

Traby in 1915 RU.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

Researchers of antiquity, by the way, say: the tradition of stone-defensive architecture in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania began from Krevo Castle. At the same time, Krevo was one of the political centers of ancient Lithuania, one of the centers of ethnic and political processes on the eve of the emergence of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. And Traby was useful in those historically important processes: according to documents, at that time it belonged to Prince Trabus. There was even his castle! We read about this in one of the sources: "The wooden castle, the residence of the Grand Duke Trabus, was built on a high hill (now the Castle Hill)". Nowadays, few people mention the Duke, but he is the ancestor of many royal heads of Europe.

According to the authors of the book "Picturesque Russia" (1882), the princes are descendants of the Golshanskies, whose family Sofia Golshanskaya, the third wife of King Jagiello, comes from. And from the children born in wedlock, the royal dynasty of the Jagiellons enlarged and grew. Read about this and about other things in the previous notes (No. 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9).

But then, in 1996, during our "Hiking to the Kingdom of Far Far Away", these details were beyond our modest knowledge about the places of Grodno region which we were walking through. Now it is enough to type the required query, press Enter, and the Internet will give out more information than is necessary – just choose. Therefore, we asked with great interest the people about the history of the region in which they lived and worked.

After Golshany we came to Traby late in the evening, it was already very dark, so, naturally, we did not see there much. The streets were quiet... We stood in confusion, not yet knowing what lay ahead.

We had to look for an overnight stay somewhere.

And then a young local guy caught our attention.

This is how we met Viktor Zavadsky, whom we now call the forestry master. He was hurrying down the street. And he did not immediately hear when we called him. Finally he came up to us. The first thing that I remember was the smile of the young man. It was so bright and friendly, as if we had known each other for a very long time.

And the guy behaved with dignity. We said who we were, where we were from and where we were going. We asked: where is the school, is it possible to spend the night there? Viktor immediately realized that the travelers needed a place to stay overnight, and took the initiative: "So, you don’t need a school, come to my place."

In his house, we gave each other a second glance, had delicious tea and went to bed: because we were worn to a frazzle.

At that time, Viktor was 22 years old. He had already graduated from a forestry college, served in the army, and was working in the local forestry. From the way he did pull-ups on the beam under the ceiling in the house, it was clear: the guy was well trained and kept himself fit. And when we we having hot pancakes for breakfast, we, as they say, "had a heart-toheart talk". By the way, pancakes were baked

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TRAVELING TOGETHER including God. And suddenly she told Viktor: "God wants you to laugh." And Viktor immediately laughed! Then he felt some force pierce his body. Mystic! But it's a fact. Since then, he admitted, any good joke made him laugh, and added that humor and joy were highly valued in his family.

"Soul – to people, life – to home. Heart – to a woman, honor – to none. By V. Korotkevich" – these are the farewell words Viktor Zavadsky wrote down in our travel diary and left an autograph.

When writing these notes, we clarified: these lines were first discovered by researchers of Vladimir Korotkevich's work in the writer's preface to the book "Memory of the Belarusian Land" (Minsk, 1979). And the lead to them is as follows: "An ancient principle that came from somewhere, but paraphrased, has forever become ours." We believe that it was formulated and rhymed by Korotkevich himself. And after the sentence there is the following phrase: "People imbued with love for my native Belarus! Majestic and proud, it deserves it!" On the morning of April 29, 1996, we found ourselves in such a high, sublimely patriotic force field in the former possessions of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Trabus, together with a young forester, the son of a village teacher of the Belarusian language Valentina Zavadskaya. Together with hospitable, considerate, sharp-tongued Mrs. Kovalikha and her delicious pancakes.

We left Viktor's house after breakfast at 8:35 am. And as soon as we left Traby, we immediately stopped. As it usually happens, we really wanted to talk about the people who had received us so warmly. The weather was mild and the air was a little humid. It had rained at night. We heard the first cuckoo. We laughed, remembering Viktor's grandmother, her statements about love. We asked her: "Is there love in life in your opinion?" "Of course there is, – she answered, turning to Ivan. – You’re taking her with you." She probably thought that Ivan was driving Valentina in a stroller... And we were also impressed by her words: you can get out of luck, but never out of love.

The mood was good, uplifted during the day, as happens after meeting good people. Therefore, on that day, for Ivan it was easy to write poetry. About storks. As they say: he had a flash of inspiration. During a rest halt in Zhemyslavl, we admired spring games of couples of storks. The storks there were amazing, sleek and large. They looked like kings. Maybe because they lived near the local palace. We came to this conclusion looking at the abandoned palace of the Umyastovskys princes.

And storks, there were about 20 of them, we circling high in the sky above us.

And now, as we are writing these notes, a revelation has come! There, in Golshany, Traby, Zhemyslavl there we re s u c h hu ge

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layers of history.... Princes, kings... Lords. Famous people.

Rulers. Something attracted them to these beautiful places – to live there, build ancestral castles, palaces... And therefore, from the height of our time, we wanted to delve a little into the history of Prince Trabus and his descendants. In particular, Viktor Zavadsky told us on the phone on September 8, 2021: "Somewhere there is an engraving of Prince Trabus. Rectangular shaped. There are no traces of the castle itself. In Traby, one might say, there is the Castle Hill: when you go from Ivye, you will immediately see it. This elevation is to the right of the road, from some places you can also see it straight ahead. Nobody has excavated the hillfort here yet. At least officially. I know that Prince Trabus was one of the ancestors of the princes of Golshany. " Many scholars are sure that there was once a castle in Traby.

And what it looked like – one can only guess. On the map of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, M.-K. Radziwills (2nd edition, 1613) marked the castles of that time. Today, in none of those settlements the remains of the former castles have survived.

The castle in Traby resembles a quadrangular fortification with walls and corner towers. Judging by the miniature, the central tower is the main one in the complex. Most likely, this tower overtoped the gate, as it is located in front of the silhouette of the walls. On the site there is Castle Hill, a small moat, coins and hewn stones are often found there. However, in fact, archaeological excavations have never been carried out in Traby. According to some sources, there were ancient settlements in Traby and its locality much earlier than the 13th century. There are many legends and myths about the history of

Viktor Zavadsky: “I am still young at heart! There are many interesting stories in life, there’s never a dull moment, even though we live upcountry. And the forest is my life."

TRAVELING TOGETHER those lands. Those interested can get acquainted with them on the website of Traby School Museum of History and Local Lore.

But it seems to us that it would be worthwhile to put at least a commemorative boulder sign in Traby: as a reminder of the small homeland of many royal heads of Europe. And although the greatness of Traby is in the past, this is an important part of the history of our Motherland. Moreover, as the famous song says, "nothing on earth passes without a trace." Since ancient times, local residents have a certain cultural background.

There is a high culture of everyday life, hard work, a tendency to order. And forestry has been practiced here since the dawn of time. Viktor Zavadsky is an example thereof. He still works as an assistant forester in Traby forestry and has extensive professional experience. In 2001, he told us that he was married and had a four-year-old son, Anton. "I work as an assistant forester in the same Traby forestry, I am satisfied with my work.

I always go to the forest with a light heart and return home with a calm soul " – these are the lines from Viktor's letter, which we keep in our family archive.

The forest problem has always been relevant for Belarus, since forests in the country are one of the main renewable natural resources. Moreover, it is our most important national wealth. In order to manage them competently, to properly master forestry, there is a Ministry of Forestry in the country, almost a hundred forestry enterprises have been set up in Belarus. And the conversation with Viktor Zavadsky in those years turned out to be meaningful. We learned with interest that among other problems in forestry (felling, reforestation, control over the condition of trees...) there is also monitoring

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of the territory: have strangers appeared in the area adjacent to Lithuania? Foresters have established close cooperation with Survilishki border post of Lida Border Guard Service. Foresters also collect spruce and pine cones. Then they are transported to the seed station and processed – and the forestry gets the seeds. The seedlings are grown in a forest nursery. According to Viktor, they mainly plant pine, spruce, and in some cases – birch: when they see that none of the coniferous trees will grow on barren land, because birch is an unpretentious tree, it grows everywhere. And industrial birch wood is needed. Today in the possession of the Ivye forestry enterprise there are about 90,000 hectares of land. It includes nine forestry enterprises, a main forest nursery, a woodworking shop, a hunting complex and a hunting paddock. But the main achievement is the people who put a lot of effort, diligence and skills into the development of the enterprise. They are veterans, experienced employees and young people. All those who today, with their hard work, modern approach, improve the work of forestry, find new ways and approaches in their lives.

When we recently asked Viktor what he would say about the forest from the point of view of a modern forester, we heard from him: – You can talk about the forest for a long time, philosophize.

But I am not a poet or a philosopher. And for a long time I have been looking at the forest from a practical point of view: how we can earn money. To get something there and then sell it at a profit. It turns out that the forest for me is primarily a reliable business partner, but with a difficult character that should be constantly taken into account. I remember when I went to study at Polotsk Forestry College, I thought: we, foresters, will protect nature. I had such a "psychological attitude" from school. To be honest, the forest will live without us, without people, as it lived for millennia before us. But oddly enough, we protect it first of all from ourselves... From those who, being in the forest, can unintentionally or deliberately harm it, for example, by fire. And we do not cut down unnecessary trees in the forest, we are constantly restoring forests. By the way, I sometimes give such arithmetic to skeptics in response to a reproach: you, they say, will soon cut everything down... Our forestry enterprise has 8,000 hectares of forest. The average growth per hectare is 4 cubic meters of wood per year. So, in our country, more than 30,000 cubic meters are growing annually. And we cut down about 15,000. Plus, we plant new plots. We will never cut the forest at this rate: nature has a large margin of safety if the forest is managed wisely.

Viktor has repeatedly invited us to come to Traby (125 km from Minsk) to see how beautiful the town has become. And he promised to take us to the forest, show us his domain, introduce us to his family and colleagues.

He did not forget: when we left Traby in 1996, Valentina seemed to bless the guy. She said: you will meet a good girl who will be a good wife to you. And so it happened.

Viktor and Olga (she is the chief livestock technician o f Tr a b y a g r i c u l t u r a l e nte r pr i s e ) h ave t h re e Traby forestry building

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TRAVELING TOGETHER children. All are adults. Anton graduated from the Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics with a degree in Radio Engineering. He works now. And the middle daughter, Aleksandra, is studying there in her 3rd year. The youngest Aleksey is in the 6th grade. Viktor's invitations are always sincere.

Certainly not everything goes well. He said, come to gather mushrooms. Sometimes there are so many of them that you need a minitractor to carry the out of the forest. Viktor is not a mushroom picker, he is a hunter, he keeps dogs – Russian hounds. He loves foiling, sees special beauty in it, gets great pleasure from its sounds and noises. And he feels sorry for animals. Even wolves.

And in Zhemyslavl we stayed not far from a beautiful palace – also on Viktor’s advice: he advised to pay attention to this local landmark. Which we did. Only with time did we learn about the origin of the palace, the so-called Umyastovskys estate.

There is a lot of interesting information about it on the Internet. Many who have visited Warsaw compare the estate with the royal residence of Stanislav August Poniatowski, the last king of the PolishLithuanian Commonwealth. They even say that this was his main project. It is known from the histor y of the "copy": in 1805 Zhemyslavl passed into the possession of the Umyastovskys, representatives of the count's family. This old Belarusian noble family was not rich, but respected. The first owner of the estate was Count Yakov.

For the next three generations, the main income came from a small distillery, which is still in operation. After the death of the last Count Vladislav, his wife Yanina donated the estate to Vilnius University.

Probably, this was the last hope to preserve Lazienki of Zhemyslavl for posterity.

The Umyastovskys palace stands aside from the houses of local residents on the shore of a picturesque lake. We rested nearby, looking at the palace, which was gradually falling into decay. In 2013, a fire broke out in it – the estate was badly damaged. This monument of palace and park architecture of the 18th-19th centuries, or the palace, as the locals call it, was destroyed, and its ownership changed.

And later, as we read , the complex of buildings was put up for auction again. This time the owner was Minsk company "Graditel", headed by Mikhail Glinsky. What are his plans for the revival of the object, if changes are expected, and what will be the final result? He answered these questions of our colleagues from the newspaper "SB. Belarus today" (kondratsieva@sb.by): "Those ruins (he showed) where there used to be a stable, are not ours. The park is not ours either. We will prepare documents for their withdrawal, in order to create later a single ensemble and attract tourists, offer them horseback riding along the

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alleys. We are planning to build a small cafe in the former barn, and we will make hotels in two outbuildings to the right and left of the palace. The main building will definitely host a museum, a hall for celebrations and official receptions, as well as several VIP rooms. Pre-design work has been done. And there is a common understanding of where and what will be located.

The first thing we started doing here: we provided round-theclock guarding of the park. Secondly, we mowed and cleaned pathways to the lake. Of course, if we want the park to be ours, we have plans on how to use it. Local residents said that there were once popular discos here. We want to make a dance floor.

We will try to attract people here. I would very much like the school to be preserved in the agro-town. There are not many

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Landscapes in Zhemyslavl are wonderful

children, but we are interested in people living here. Tourists will come, including from abroad. Someone has to meet them.

We are very concerned about this issue."

Of course, it will take time to restore the Umyastovskys palace. But the fact that things are moving is encouraging. After all, we see how much is being done throughout Belarus in this direction. There are such well-known, promoted "projects" as Nesvizh palace and its park complex, Mir and Lida castles.

And soon, according to the news, tourists will visit six halls located in the first stage of the Old Castle in Grodno. And the infrastructure with Golshany Palace in the center is already gaining momentum (we wrote about this), work is also underway in Krevo Castle: last year and in 2021, the north-

western wall was finally restored there... Many buildings that have been destroyed for decades are finally being restored or projects are being developed for their conservation and restoration. It is possible that a wooden palace will be built and restored in Traby over time – in memory of the Grand Duke Trabus, a relative of many royal heads of Europe. Let it be the embodiment of the imagination of a modern architect, but on the basis of a solid historical foundation. At first glance, our Belarus may seem like a young state, but in fact it has strong, powerful roots growing from time immemorial. We can be proud of this, building our own future and the future of our country.

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THEATRE

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The International Day of Music was celebrated with the ballet "Creation of the World" by Andrei Petrov at the Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus. The holiday of the unique language of culture appeared in 1975 by the decision of UNESCO. Yehudi Menuhin, violinist and conductor, stood at its origins, he was born 105 years ago in New York, where his father had moved to from the Belarusian Gomel.

I won't reinvent a wheel if I say: we would be infinitely spiritually poor if we did not hear music that awakens deep emotions in us and expresses them much more powerfully than words can do.

Each of us has experienced its emotional power. But why it is so powerful, why it has such a powerful effect on the psyche, and where it comes from into the minds of those who compose it – this remains a mystery to me. For example, the father of

the evolutionary theory, Charles Darwin, was puzzled by the human ability to perceive music and called this ability "the most mysterious of those that humanity is gifted with." We are able to get into a state of euphoria, listening to a longfamiliar melody and reliving forgotten feelings. I don’t remember who said that our current existence on Earth – from impregnation, gestation, birth to funeral, with everything that can happen in

between – is accompanied by a certain musical line. And it is not surprising that the sounds of our favorite tunes are able to give us such an intoxicating mix of emotions and memories.

Thanks to music, we also feel more keenly the togetherness with other people. So it was the case, when the music of Andrei Petrov sounded at the Bolshoi.

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THEATRE parable "Creation of the World" directed

by Valentin Elizariev.

Let me remind the readers: this performance has been staged in the theatre for over 40 years. The composer Andrei Petrov created the music for the ballet inspired by the drawings of popular in the Soviet Union French artist Jean Effel, who told the biblical story of Adam and Eve in a humorous manner.

– When I got acquainted with the musical material, it seemed to me surprisingly deep, – says the artistic director of the theatre, People's Artist of the USSR, Professor Valentin Elizariev. – And I thought about the way to reveal this topic globally, giving it a universal character. How to dare and tell about humanity as a whole, about what it can face in the future...

By the way, Petrov created a musical version of the play pointedly for the Belarusian theatre.

Indeed, in the original it is a three-act ballet. But the composer was so

inspired by Elizariev's plan that he even added some pieces. And at the premiere in Minsk in 1976, congratulating the artists and directors, Andrei Petrov could not hold back his emotions and said that this performance could be

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called, perhaps, the most successful of all that existed at that time in the Soviet Union and abroad. The audience shared

this opinion: at each performance there was a full house. An interesting story happened on tour in Poland. After the ballet "Creation of the World" was shown on the stage of the Bolshoi Theatre in Warsaw, the establishment and celebrities approached V a l e n t i n E lizar ie v wit h congratulations.

A n d t h e choreographer still remembers one person and his words. The performance was attended by the Polish cardinal Karol Wojtyla.

Smiling warmly, he approached Elizariev, shook his hand and said briefly: "Thank you for God." Literally after some time, the cardinal was elected the Pope, whom the whole world knows as John Paul II. – A modern person will always be emotionally affected by the biblical theme touched upon in the play, – continues Valentin Nikolaevich. – God created mankind, and it, in turn, creates a modern world in which hope and harmony should live...

– This is so symbolic, because music is designed to comfort people and harmonize society, and harmony arises from chaos, – Nikolai Kolyadko seems to echo Elizariev. It was he who conducted "Creation of the World" ballet on October 1 at the Bolshoi. – Besides, doctors have long established that good music – classical, rock or jazz – lengthens

The great physician of antiquity, Avicenna, called the melody a "nonmedicinal" met ho d of tre atment, along with diet, smells and laughter.

Pythagoreans also noticed that music somehow influences humans. They used special melodies against rage and anger.

And they had their math classes to music, as they noticed that it made learning more

life. Therefore, I urge everyone to listen to only good music. I will add that the main parts that evening were performed by our recognized ballet stars – Irina Eromkina, Egor Azarkevich, Konstantin Geronik, Taro Kurachi.

Yes, music affects us. Why? And how does the mechanism of its perception work? Of all the questions about the way our mind captures and processes music, this one seems to be the most difficult, indecipherable. Indeed, there is something unique and intangible in the magical effect of music. Physicists who study our world at the quantum level are increasingly convinced that the material world, which includes our human bodies, is vibration at different levels. Music is also a vibration, moreover, arranged in a certain way. Therefore, scientists believe, there is nothing strange in the fact that musical vibration interacts with the vibration of our body.

effective. In the 3rd century BC in the Parthian Empire, a special musical and medical center was built. Here music was used to cure melancholy and emotional distress (https://mir24.tv/).

All these and other questions arose on the day of another contact with the high art of Belarusian ballet. It would seem that I saw "Creation of the World" more than once, both in its old edition and in its updated version. And again, like the first time, I experienced deep feelings. Delight, surprise, pleasure, joy, the universal feeling of unity with all that exists... And again the question arises: how does music come to the minds of composers? How do they compose their music? In connection with the topic of my interest, on the Internet I came across the arguments of an anonymous music composer who called himself an audioman (ttps://habr.com/ru/). They seemed to me interesting, partly shedding light

on the question of interest. There are several ways to create music. The socalled intuitive way or the way based on inspiration, a methodological way or a knowledge-based approach, and a combination of these two. The first way is when the whole piece is born in the head. First you hear it and then you record it. It just pops up in your head out of nowhere. Our audioman s ays: "I comp os e d one piece this way and it was a strange experience.

While I was inspired, I had the feeling that I "lent" my hands, and "something" played the composition with them, and I wrote it down on paper." As for the methodological way of creating music, the music composed like this may seem boring, unemotional or predictable. It takes a lot of theoretical knowledge to compose decent music.

A n d i t s e e m s t h at t h e combination of the two is a priority for our anonymous aut hor. He re ' s w hat he writes about it: "It's hard to get the whole melody only out of inspiration. It is also difficult to create an entire melody based only on theoretical knowledge. Therefore, you can mix the two methods. You come up with a motive that you like (inspiration), and then, using your knowledge, you turn it into a complete composition (harmony).

As you play, inspiration can come back and bring the rest of the melody along."

Well, quite a decent explanation. And yet, only those who create music can understand this. And we will settle upon the fact that music, as well as opera, is a miracle of wonders. It can be different: tender and affectionate like a mother's lullaby. And bright, gushing, cosmic, sparkling, like in "Creation of the World".

On the day of the holiday at the Bolshoi, ballet dancers obeyed it – the main roles that evening were performed by our recognized stage masters – Irina Eromkina, Egor Azarkevich, Konstantin Geronik, Taro Kurachi, as well as other ballet dancers.

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We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals… For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours, they move finished and complete, gifted with the extension of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings: they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth.

Henry Beston, writer and naturalist The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.

Mahatma Gandhi Animals are much more right than men... They don't flatter and they don't intrude. They don't pretend. They are as they are, like stones or flowers or stars in the sky.

Hermann Hesse, Steppenwolf Not to hurt our humble brethren is our first duty to them, but to stop there is not enough. We have a higher mission – to be of service to them whenever they require it.

Francis of Assisi Who feeds a hungry animal, feeds his own soul.

Charles Chaplin Nature has endowed man with a noble and excellent principle of compassion, which extends itself also to the dumb animals.

Francis Bacon

TALENTED IN THEIR KINDNESS World Animal Day, tasked to remind us of the important role we people play in lives of animals, was also celebrated in October in Belarus. Activities, conversations, meetings, presentations, volunteer movement that were taking place that day across the country are the evidence of how Belarusians take care of their furry friends.

This holiday is a good occasion to introduce those people who took animals, as they say, out of the gutter.

All of them work at the Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus, they are talented not only as performers, artists and representatives of other theatre services, but also as

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people capable of extending mercy and kindness. Here's what they say on social networks about their rescued pets (on the official Facebook page of the Bolshoi Theatre). These stories are touching, instructive, and will not leave anyone indifferent.

Oksana Volkova, soloist, Honored Artist of Belarus, director: – Discussions about a dog that we need for complete happiness have been going on in the family for a long time. Everyone expressed own wishes about the breed, argued and we did not

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come to a consensus. I've always liked Staffordshires and French Bulldogs, the boys dreamed of a shepherd dog. The daughter was against them all, and our cat Mason supported her.

He appeared in the family eight years ago. The cat quickly understood who was the boss in the house, overmastered everyone except dad. He respected him and could even sleep on the dad's head.

At first glance, Mason wins the hearts of everyone who comes with his beauty and plushness, but after a few minutes, he dispels this good impression by his bad behavior. He growls like a dog, hisses,

bites, scratches, looks with unkind eyes and does not allow to be stroked or taken in arms. He sniffs his food for a long time with contempt, doubting whether he was given something tasteless.

Snatching the right moment when mom was on tour, and dad was on a business trip, the son brought home a puppy. He sent both of us a video with a cute furry belly. It was impossible not to soften. I quietly advised to name the dog (it turned out to be a girl) Laima, in honor of my father's dog from childhood, in order to melt the father's heart. So, a dog appeared in our house. Mongrel. The

cat reacted with hostility, as, in general, to all the guests, not expecting that it would last forever. Laima is still trying to make friends with him, but invariably gets socked in the nose. But they began to eat from each other's bowls, and the cat is no longer choosy, falls upon food until it is taken away.

Laima has a very good character. She loves all people indiscriminately, she doesn’t bite at all, a sweet and kind dog.

She also takes me out every morning.

If not for her, I would not go out at all, but would only work. Now my morning begins with her licking and hugging me, БЕЛАРУСЬ.BELARUS OCTOBER 2021

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ABILITY TO EMPATHIZE then she drags me for a walk. I can say I breathe fresh air and stretch my bones.

Laima is very unpretentious in food, like any mongrel. She eats everything, and she never gets sick, like the highbred dogs of my friends do. Either their ears hurt them, or their eyes, or they have stomach-ache... She can eat my shoes – and nothing will happen, they will be digested without problems! So far, two pairs have come to harm, but I don’t get hurt, they have already been worn for a long time. However, the children noticed that with the appearance of the dog, dad became much kinder. She rushes to meet him with such joy that she relieves all the stress accumulated during the day.

Don't be afraid to take a friend off the street. These dogs are very faithful and loyal. In the place where I live, I met people who also took dogs off the street.

Now we are friends, we communicate.

Dogs unite us, give us positive emotions, relieve stress and make us kinder!"

Andrey Valentiy, soloist, Honored Artist of Belarus: – Once on a Facebook page of our theatre production designer, I saw a photo of a cat from an animal shelter.

In color, in the expression of the face, it seemed to be a copy of cats from my childhood – there were several such beauties in my parents' house at different times. And for a long time I dreamed of finding the same-looking cat... It is interesting that my sister used to breed British cats for some time, and I could take a pet of any color. But this is not mine – these cats are not mine either by nature or by temperament.

Therefore, after seeing the photo, I found out where to go and took Sima home within an hour.

This cat is very attached to me, tails after me everywhere, just like her kitten – little Sindy, who is very similar to her mother in color. Being very tiny, Sindy constantly attacked my foot, on which she then rode. As a result, we call her Sandalik more often than Sindy.

They are both girls with character, despite their attachment to people. Sima, for example, will play, will allow to give her a light squeeze, but not for long, otherwise she may get offended. And in general she is touchy: once she brought a swallow, I punished her for that, and to this day, I feel, she remembers it. She just brought her booty to show. The

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swallow, by the way, survived and flew away immediately.

Sima and Sindy aren't just great.

They are smart, clean, live with me like queens. They love to ride in a car: I often go to dacha, and they are always with me. They caught all the mice, moles, and shrews on my plot of land. And now they are helping the neighbors.

Ekaterina Bulgakova, production designer: – Meet! My Sweet Inga! Ingusya!

I to ok her to my hous e t hroug h Zoochance! And I'm very happy! When my beloved cat Marysya died, I thought that I would never take a pet: it is very painful to lose them, especially if they have been living nearby for many years!

Quite by chance, I came across a video with a kitty Ingusya! It was an event held

by ZOOchance and Mark Formelle. I saw Inga and fell in love at first sight! A very nice girl, Elena Rusinovich, helped me.

This is a story of the miraculous finding of a new friend!

Natalya Bagretsova, ar tistdesigner: "I saw Tolik while leafing through the Facebook feed, volunteers were looking for a home for him. The caption to his photographs said not about a dog, but about old age and the fact that sometimes no one needs you in old age.

Especially if you are an old mongrel dog, a little deaf, blind and with a bunch of diseases...

I p h on e d t h e g u y s w h o w e re rehoming him. It turned out that before meeting the volunteers, Tolik used to wander along the streets of Brest.

Well, already for a year, he has been living with me! The biggest problem for Tolik in his "new life" was the elevator, it took him a long time to enter it, in the elevator he hunkered and hardly breathed, and rushed out of it like a shot.

Now he's an experienced elevator-rider!

Anna E lizarie va, he ad of the international cooperation department: "It all started with Barguzin... I have a house in the village and this dog came to my yard and stayed for permanent residence.

I thought that I could not afford a dog, because I already "keep" a whole cat family. But Barguzin turned my world upside down, and now I can't imagine life

without dogs. Unfortunately, Barguzin later died.

I began to look for a dog similar to him. Carrie helped me survive the pain of losing my pet. I found her thanks to Olya Petrakovskaya, the head of the Public Association for the Protection of Animals "HappyPet", and Dmitry from Chuck Shelter.

Carrie is a touching, timid and incredibly beautiful dog. I adore her.

And Fedka appeared 4 months later. I picked him up on the highway.

Frightened, he was darting between the trucks, at risk to be hit by the wheels. I could not drive by.

I tried to rehome this guy with character twice, but in a new house his behavior was just awful.

He bit, turned on the new owners, in general, did everything to be taken back.

At some point, I realized that I would no longer look for a new home for him, and he, as if feeling it, immediately calmed down. Now he is my main admirer, hugger and kisser.

Motka, the cat, appeared "suddenly". He was thrown out of the car in front of my neighbor, and he came to my yard. A fearless kitten that held the line in front of two dogs. At first it was called Katka.

Then I tried to use a more noble name – Matilda. At the vet’s examination, it turned out that this is a guy. This is how the name Motya appeared. Motka has grown to be an incredibly affectionate and gentle cat.

This is how we all live together. Do not be afraid to take adults or older animals, they know how to love and be grateful. And they also deserve love, care and attention, like any of us.

And I am very happy that I have them!

From author This trinity, which the reader sees in the photo, did not appear in our family overnight. The older black-and-white cat Ashka, like a year after her, the half-

ABILITY TO EMPATHIZE

sheds with wood, in garages, bath-

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houses. In general, they fought for life.

Some died, others were born. Natasha tried in every possible way to rehome the feline baby that was born. We also helped her a little. In addition to Ashka and Marsik, we found owners for four kittens.

But the third, our youngest Yatsyk, who is over three, might have died, if not for his feline m i n d , o r, p e r h ap s , the strong genes of the des cendant of C e y l on c at s . Hi s three brothers did not survive their f irst winter in the village of Yatskovschina.

And the background of his VA L

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A TIN

persian Mars came to us from near Minsk. There, at the suburb Drozdy, they were born in one of the dachas, where there were many homeless cats.

Whoever could, fed them. And as soon as our kind-hearted friend Natalya appeared at her dacha, the cat's pride rushed to her, ahead of each other. The cats had a gut feeling: soon there will be food. In Drozdy they lived wherever t he y cou ld – in

appearance is as follows.

Yatsyk's mother, the cat Aisha, often came to us when we arrived at my husband's parental home.

According to the villagers, she had been thrown out of the car on KletskLyakhovichi road, which runs right

through the village. So Aisha took root here. One day she used to live in the household outbuildings in one place, another day – in some other. She had kittens in our garage by the house, and then carried them to the barn of our neighbor Valentin. He told us about it. Once, in the August evening, before imminent thunderstorm, Aisha came to us. We fed her as usual. And when it suddenly started to rain, contrary to human logic, she jumped out like a bullet and rushed along the path from the courtyard. Then we did not know about the kittens yet. After the rain we saw them. They were sitting near a jasmine bush about five meters far from us, and Aisha was licking her cubs. It flashed through the mind: autumn in coming, cold weather is approaching, how they will survive the winter... In the fall, when we used to come to Yatskovschina, we went to visit Valentin with treats for the kittens. And they also came to us, and the ginger one more often than the others. Ususally he came running, sat down nearby and sat like a statue.

Once he allowed me to take him in my arms. Well, I joked that he just wants to go to town with us. Deep autumn came round. On the day off, we came to close the house for the winter. The ginger did not show up. Getting into the car, I said: if he comes, I will take him with me. In less than a minute, I saw my pet jump over the bumps in the neighbors' garden and rush towards our fence made of metal mesh. He easily jumped over it and ran to the open car door. He paused for a moment, looking at me questioningly. Come on, jump in, I said. I immediately wrapped him in a towel. I pressed him to my breast and he rode two hours to Minsk without moving. The older cats did not accept him right away, at first they were afraid. We took him to the veterinarian, who was surprised: where we found such a neat kitten...

We, like the employees of the Bolshoi Theatre, have never regretted that this friendly troika lives with us. Male cats sometimes chase the she-cat. But what can we expect of them: they are boys.

And there is also one thing: Yatsyk, a child of nature, hates French perfume and the smell of good cream.

Valentina Zhdanovich БЕЛАРУСЬ.BELARUS OCTOBER 2021

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As if listening to the movement of time 42

БЕЛАРУСЬ.BELARUS OCTOBER 2021

Nowadays it is impossible to surprise anyone with the avantgarde in the visual arts. Moreover, many young artists even overuse their not very clear attachment to this trend. But it’s very different when we evaluate the avant-garde experiments in painting or in graphics almost half a century ago.

PHENOMENON IN ART

This year marked the 35th anniversary of the formation of the creative association "Nemiga-17". An exhibition in the Republican Art Gallery "Arts Palace" was dedicated to this event. The exhibition presented paintings by Algerd Malishevsky, Aleksey Tsirkunov, Nikolay Buschik, Leonid Khobotov, Sergey Kiryuschenko, Anatoly Kuznetsov, Zoya Litvinova, as well as sculptures by Tamara Sokolova and Galina Gorova.

"Nemiga-17" creative association appeared in a difficult time, but it was able to make its considerable contribution to the development of Belarusian art of the XX-XXI centuries. Nine Belarusian artists created the foundation, which over time was strengthened by new participants.

– It is necessary to underline the role of two art critics – Irina Stalnaya and Valery Buyvol, who organized exhibitions of the association in the country and abroad. By the way, Irina Stalnaya, Zoya Litvinova and Galina Gorovaya were even awarded orders of the French government "For achievements in literature and art" for their active exhibition activities and the development of cultural relations between France and Belarus, – said Nikolay Pogranovsky, chairman of the criticism and art history section of the Belarusian Union of Artists, curator of the project "Nemiga-17".

Active exhibition activity of this creative community lasted until 2002. It was then that the last joint exhibition took place in the halls of the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, where the paintings by Nikolai Buschik, Zoya Litvinova, Anatoly Kuznetsov, Sergey Kiryuschenko, Leonid Khobotov, sculptures

by Galina Gorova and Tamara Sokolova were exhibited. But although the exhibition at Tretyakov Gallery was widely spoken of, its participants decided to break up.

Author – Zoya Litvinova

– It happens, and this is not the only case when creative associations fall apart. However, "Nemiga-17" sowed good seeds in the Belarusian soil of art, – said Nikolay Pogranovsky. – The members of this association from the very beginning of their activity did not accept the orthodox understanding of realism, sought to define their place in the context of contemporary Belarusian art of the 20th century and additionally took upon themselves the obligation to restore the interrupted pictorial searches of Belarusian masters of the 1920s.

But the co-curator of the project, Anna Malinovskaya, emphasized the fact why it was important to hold this exhibition in 2021. Yes, in general it was timed to coincide with the anniversary of the association. However, the heroes of the day are also among the artists of the creative union. Sergey Kiryushchenko turned 70 this year, and the 80th anniversary of Galina Gorova was also celebrated. It was not for nothing that the exhibition presented the works of artists from both Nemiga-17 period and their later works.

Today, the works of the members of this creative association are in the National Art Museum of Belarus, the National Center for Contemporary Arts, the Art Fund of the Belarusian Union of Artists, Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, as well as in private collections in France, Italy, Spain, Austria, Israel.

– In fact, there are many works in museum collections, – says Natalya Sharangovich, first deputy chairperson of the Belarusian Union of Artists. – It’s unique because creative association ran a little counter to the official philosophy of art, especially in the late 1980s. But it became such a popular and striking phenomenon that museum workers simply could not let it pass by. The museums acquired the works of the participants of "Nemiga-17" and now these works are quite fully represented therein.

As for the creative manner of the members of the association, it is characterized by emphasized attention to the expressiveness and symbolism of color. "Nemiga" brought to Belarusian painting an interest in expressive, rich in nuances form and metaphorical language. Actually, the name of the group itself is also symbolic.

The workshop, where the idea of unification was born, was located on Nemiga Street in Minsk. But this was the name of the river that does not exist now, on the banks of which in 1067 a historical battle took place between the squads of Polotsk and Kiev princes.

The first mention of the city of Mensk in ancient chronicles is also associated with the battle on the Nemiga. So, choosing a name for the association, the artists strove to emphasize their connection with the deep layers of national history and culture. БЕЛАРУСЬ.BELARUS OCTOBER 2021

43

PHENOMENON IN ART The following fact is also important: the formation of "Nemiga" took place in the first years of perestroika, when creative workers in the republics of the former Soviet Union were concerned about the problem of national and cultural identity.

And one more thing. Nowadays it is impossible to surprise anyone with the avant-garde in the visual arts. Moreover, many young artists even overuse their not very clear attachment to this trend. But it’s very different when we evaluate the avant-garde experiments in painting or in graphics almost half a century ago. However, only in the 1980s and 1990s, the Belarusian avant-garde became an open alternative to official art.

It was then that sections started to appear in the structure of the Belarusian Union of Artists not according to the types of art, i.e. painting, g r aph i c s , sculpture, as it used to be before, but according to interests or ideological principles.

This is how "Nemiga-17" appeared – an association of fans of the formal trend in ar t. From t he catalog of 1988 for the exhibition "Nemiga-17": "Artists deny the understanding of art as an illustration of political slogans.

Art cannot and should not stoop to the level of a commentator of the already ideologically comprehended – it should lead a person to comprehend new needs, form a new, tomorrow's life style ". Finally, the members of "Nemiga-17" group do not understand individuality in art as selfish, arbitrary selfexpression. According to them, individuality, as in all spheres of life, is a way of determining, creating and developing a social need.

Looking at the works of the "Nemiga" artists, one comes to the idea: of course, they are the masters! Strong, mature.

Personalities – each in their own world of creative aspirations.

And for all that, there is some kind of community of spirit among them.

Now they are already over sixty, and even older. In substance, I think, these are happy people: they are free to work in art the way they want. There is no pressure of authorities, no "social order" of the situation at hand, no fashion invented by someone.

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БЕЛАРУСЬ.BELARUS OCTOBER 2021

However, having learned about their past, one notes: the path to this freedom was long and hard.

"Nemiga" is from the generation called in criticism "the seventies". Naturally, there is a psychological difference between them and art leaders of the 1960s. Circumstances deepened this difference to mutual denial. The younger ones were not attracted by the journalistic nature of works of the "sixties", mainly by the literary character of their imagery, lack of genuine interest in updating the language, which, in the opinion of representatives of the new trend, leads to a loss of the quality of plastic expression.

Avoiding creative dialogue, the elders preferred the tactics of long-term and consistent displacement of the young from the public life of art. The younger ones, of course, did not want to put up with the situation of the outcast. A certain chance to defend their status in culture was given to them by the idea of "Nemiga" association.

The idea, which was nationalromantic in nature, contained an incentive for original pictorial research, i.e. being h i g h l y - t r ai n e d professionally in arts, to revert to t h e p o e t i c s of Belarusian folklore, folk art, peasant crafts.

T h i s m ov e m e nt retained its full relevance for Belarus. The rise of the national school in the 1960s had its own characteristics.

Un l i k e , s a y, Author – Nikolay Buschik U k r a i n e , Moldova, new trends in the country's art were fed mainly not by the centuriesold folklore heritage, but by the tragic memory of the military past. Therefore, for the fine arts, even in the 1980s, shades of white color and peasant weaving, ornaments and other plastic motifs characteristic of embroidery, traditional clay products, wood, shimmering gold of Belarusian straw retained the full power of charm... In a word, expressive symbols of folklore thinking in all their richness. At that time, the Moscow "seventies" were talking about the development of the "world museum", about the "carnival" tonality of the perception of life. Their counterparts in Minsk were rather different. One can call it an attempt of national identification. It is worth recalling that the group did not include only Belarusians: there were people from different parts of the former USSR, right up to Siberia and the Far East.

The Nemiga, which retains its name from the times of "The Word

PHENOMENON IN ART

At the exhibition of "Nemiga-17" creative association members

of Igor's Campaign" – a river under one of the central quarters of modern Minsk with artists' workshops – was perceived by them as a historical, geographical and cultural symbol, with which the participants of the association connected their creative intentions.

As if listening to the movement of time, they dreamed of picturesque visions of village childhood, folklore legends reflected in paintings-songs, paintings-parables. Those were the pictures without pathetic village lovers and, moreover, without anecdotes, with which cocky Moscow primitivists delighted the audience. As a rule, the plot delicately shone through the colors, because the goal of the authors was also to understand themselves. In Minsk, a style of pictorial poetics could be born, colored, of course, by the place and time.

However, this was probably a possible, but too idyllic option.

Reality decided otherwise. It happened that at the very end of the Belarusian artistic life of the Soviet era, the movement of Zoya Litvinova, Galina Gorova and Tamara Sokolova, Nikolay Buschik and Anatoly Kuznetsov with Sergey Kiryuschenko no longer found understanding either in their midst or among cultural authorities. On the contrary, the field where they lovingly hoped to grow their seedlings, began to grow violently with weeds. Souvenir consumer goods in painting, the chic lifestyle of fashionable salons rushed to exhibitions defining the style of the acquired independence with their annoying variegation.

The idealists of "Nemiga" had only one thing to do: to go in some other direction. Their new choice turned out to be critically difficult, especially since more than one decade of hard professional work was left behind. The choice was difficult for any talented artist in the post-Soviet reality, in Moscow, in

Minsk, in St. Petersburg... Everything that was better or worse built by the midlife, which gave at least relative creative stability, was coming apart at the seams... Actually, the collapse of the Soviet system left for our "seventies" very little room for choice, based on the priorities that existed in the framework of foreign and domestic state of affairs, or, more simply, effective demand for their creative efforts.

This does not mean at all that they have deviated from human nature, have lost sensitivity to human life, the ability to hear and excite many of us, find support and evoke a response in the organism of a living culture. However, they approached the creative process as discoverers. They try to bring in something significant, anticipated by them, but not yet comprehended by us, not expected and not seen.

Nikolay Buschik, perhaps, stayed relatively close to the world of his early landscapes, symbolic mysteries of nature and planetary harmony. However, its pure, radiant color consonances create the impression that the earthly elements merge with the blazing of the spiritual cosmos. Galina Gorovaya is a sculptor capable of discovering the hidden soul of wood, stone or metal. The tender feeling of an intimate touch of two human beings in her work could coexist with penetration into the dumb world of animals or birds, with a unique feeling of the nature of the most amazing characters of our life. With pride, fascination and tenderness, she was able to admire the beauty of many phenomena of life, sharpening it in her plastic compositions with gorgeous color accents, based on popular perception of brightness and freshness unusual for a tired eye. This is how a special mythology of the master arises, who collects in a single circle small and large, animal and human in their unique originality. БЕЛАРУСЬ.BELARUS OCTOBER 2021

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PHENOMENON IN ART

Two more members of the group – Anatoly Kuznetsov and Leonid Khobotov – chose the method of abstraction. But, again, in their quests they are quite original. In general, the meaning of abstract-symbolic images is perceived to a certain extent, but it is almost a losing battle to describe it, because everything here is built on very fragile and subjective associations, which, moreover, float and vibrate depending on our mood. It seems that Kuznetsov is attracted by large spaces where all kinds of forces of nature soar, among which a person tries to discern the music of his/her own heart, his/her lyrical states, and the flickering of the morning landscape, and an exciting tide of form-making will.

And all this – in gusts of wind, blazing color lightning, bursts, rays, and sometimes in methodical and painstaking work to curb these elements by discipline of the painted surface of the canvas. Kuznetsov's abstraction is a metaphoric presentation of the artist's life, his fantasies in a duel between the brush and the bustle of infinity outside the walls of his studio. In turn, Leonid Khobotov is a kind of architect of natural essence...

Analyzing such observations, I would like to talk about a certain philosophy of the world outlook of the masters of "Nemiga." They had to live in a difficult time, the time of collapse of the country, fortunately, not as catastrophic as it used to be before. And the support that they found for themselves in the hope for the future was the reliance on the creative elements of nature, the healthy foundations of the eternal way of human life. Each in his/her own way they keep to the ground. They do not tell naive tales, they charge and inspire their viewers with primordial earthly power. And in this work, it seems to me, the creativity of Zoya Litvinova, the most famous master of "Nemiga" community, is filled with the highest power and wisdom.

An artist of rare temperament, initially inclined to large scale concepts, Litvinova fully followed the path of spontaneous passion for the pagan power of life. Her canvases, which so often glorify scenes of a national holiday, were widely known back in the Soviet years. She also worked as a monumentalist: her tapestries based on peasant motives most likely became an appeal to a new understanding of the earthly human. Gradually, however, in the play of natural vital forces, Zoya Litvinova began to open up a higher religious meaning. Thoughts of endless complexity, contradictory diversity of the world order began to come to her mind. Zoya Litvinova even today often does not betray her favorite motive of ritual dance, which came to European art of modern times from Matisse, Picasso, Goncharova.

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БЕЛАРУСЬ.BELARUS OCTOBER 2021

In these reflections, the artist finally rose to the mysticism of Christianity. To the mystery of faith, love and sacrificial death, the symbolism of the reunification of everything on earth. And here we come to one of the intimate details of the artistic language of Zoya Litvinova. Depicting holidays s well as passions, she often tells about the most complex moral and philosophical collisions in the history of mankind, shedding soft golden light on the figures depicted. Perhaps this is the radiance of faith and its love for a human. There is lofty lyricism with which the symbolic Nemiga warms her and her comrades, along the banks of which the history of previous generations was being made.

In general, the work of these artists exists in context of the modernist tradition in art. The horizons of their path can be defined with words: form, expression, spirituality.

Unlike Litvinova, almost all other members of the association today work in the space of non-objective art, at the same time maintaining fairly strong ties with reality – the main source of their impressions and creative impulses. The rejection of figurativeness was largely natural, due to the logic of the evolution of their thinking, the desire to get away from literature as a factor alien to the nature of fine arts. They strive to embody

PHENOMENON IN ART

Three different works of one author (Zoya Litvinova)

their idea of the world, using, first of all, the internal figurativeplastic resources of painting and sculpture.

Each artist, undoubtedly, had own motives and own path to making this or that decision. Nikolay Buschik in his early figurative works, to a greater extent than his other colleagues, was focused on the problem of the national and cultural identity of his own work, on the visual specificity of an everyday plot or landscape motive. In the artist's recent paintings there is a noticeable desire to expand the horizons of vision and work with the themes of a supranational nature, which today have acquired paramount importance for him, to understand himself and his work in the context of universal human values. And therefore, his search for another imagery and another language. The abstract form helped him to liberate himself, gave him not only freedom of self-expression, but also brought him to the level of a new, in his own words, specificity of artistic expression.

And even more impulsive and improvisational are the paintings by Anatoly Kuznetsov. He was one of the first in "Nemiga" to come to abstraction and distinguished himself in his methods of working with sensually plastic material.

However, Kuznetsov calls his painting not abstract, but pointless, emphasizing precisely its sensual basis. In his opinion, abstract

art presupposes the presence of a certain abstractly regulated concept, and this is absolutely alien to his creative nature.

Of course, for all the impulsive spontaneity, there is also a certain organizing moment in Kuznetsov's painting, that unites the plastic leitmotif. However, the alignment of color spots, the search for the rhythm of movement of "light" and "heavy" surfaces, spatial moves, and play with texture are created exclusively on an intuitive level. The artist also intuitively manifests such a quality of his creative consciousness as the creation of beauty, which, in general, he never consciously strives for, but which he values as an equivalent to excellent harmony, which has not lost in our century its deep meaning and relevance.

Sometimes strange things happen in the art world. Political technologies are increasingly penetrating its territory, blur the boundaries of art and turn it into documentation of certain phenomena and events of life, and the artist into a publicist, politician, sociologist, who is less and less interested in questions of aesthetics. The problems of form and beauty are relegated to the background, giving way to the pseudo-social pathos of discussions about the processes of the present moment.

As we can see, the artists of "Nemiga" in their search for eternal and not momentary values and truths in art and life, are again not in the mainstream. But this does not bother them any more. And not at all out of powerlessness, because swimming against the stream, maintaining the balance of mental and physical forces, is much harder and more dangerous than simply surrendering to this stream. They are very strong personalities in their views, who understand art as individual activity and individual responsibility. By the way, this tendency is beginning to be seen more and more clearly in the modern world art process, and, perhaps, it is from these positions that some new directions and new main ideas will emerge in the future. In the context of this tendency, the further paths of "Nemiga" participants are also outlined.

This is how the now well-known Belarusian artist Nikolay Buschik explains his participation in the creative association: – Then, in the eighties, art moved towards excitement. It began to offer more themes of experiences, of emotional perception of objects: the way you feel them or want to turn them into some kind of feeling. Make something blue red, combine other unusual colors. And together this will create either a drama situation, or a lyric situation, or a situation of some kind of exciting experience.

Because of this, by the way, the very tasks and approaches in art changed, starting from the 1910s-1920s: let's take the work of Petrov-Vodkin, the Suprematists with Malevich, artists of the thirties, Konchalovsky... I take the art close to us, without the European one. And in Europe there were Mathis and Van Gogh, who worked adequately with their impressions and images. Of course, art has become more plastic, artists began to look for an appropriate style that would reflect the mood. And today the artist is looking for such states on the canvas with rhythms and light voltage that excite us. Of course, a lot happens at the subconscious, associative level, since the artist chooses the most active and characteristic from a range of visible, something that reflects exactly a feeling or emotion. And the audience understands it and is drawn to such fine art. They say: "This really looks alike." The creative imagination begins to awaken in them together with the artist. This gives them more pleasure than looking just at a particular object or a real landscape. Hence, a completely different direction in color is born, where art begins БЕЛАРУСЬ.BELARUS OCTOBER 2021

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to acquire a style. Each artist develops own style, which helps him/her to create space the way he/she sees and understands it.

This is how artists differ from each other.

– Still, how would you define your own style?

– I can certainly give an explanation to myself. Although a more capacious designation will someday be given by art critics. Or some of the art lovers. In my works, I strive for what ultimately creates a feeling of joy and tranquility, a mood that brings a person into good, life-affirming harmony.

Yes, Nikolay Buschik hasn’t not changed in his work over the years. This is how he formulates his contemporary creative credo:

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БЕЛАРУСЬ.BELARUS OCTOBER 2021

– It seems to me that today artists are divided into two directions in creativity.

Some work for black, and the others for light. I work for light. I am interested in what my homeland is in its wonderful creation of God. Everything bad – bad moods, bad deeds – we build it ourselves.

All our displeasure is caused only by the inconsistency of our desires with what is happening, that's all. Why, who needs it?

Everyone should cope with oneself, and with the blackness within oneself. In my work, I would like to assert beauty, harmony, purity of morning and evening, summer shower or wonderful winter snowfall. And when it is obtained, I'm delighted.

They are different – members of the creative association "Nemiga", veterans of the Belarusian avant-garde. They express During exhibition their thoughts and feelings in their works in different ways. They are individual – and this is what arouses interest in them.

In the Belarusian art, in general, there is a strong influence of such a phenomenon as "artistic community", rich in formal or figurative research and experiments. The artistic avant-garde manifested itself in painting, architecture, design, music, theater and cinema. It influenced the entire lifestyle of the 20th century.

That is why the comprehension of the art and culture of Belarus in its avant-garde manifestations remains relevant now, in the 21st century, as the comprehension of the origins of modern culture.

Veniamin Mikheev Photo credit: author

VIKTOR MIKHAYLOV

This is autumn in October. In one of the capital's parks.

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