A. Kosinets: "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk" is a world-class cultural forum

July 17, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk" can proudly be called a cultural forum of global scale, said Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee Alexander Kosinets on July 16 at the closing ceremony of the XVIII International Festival of Arts, as reported by a BELTA correspondent. The farewell song of the XVIII International Festival of Arts "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk" has sounded. More than 5,000 guests from 33 countries came to the city on the Dvina to participate in this large-scale cultural project of Belarus and Russia. Almost 250,000 people attended the festival events. There were 21 concerts on the main stage of the festival, the Summer Amphitheatre, attended by almost 120,000 spectators. This year's festival posters featured the names of Lara Fabian, Sarah Connor, Raimonds Pauls, Valery Leontiev, Roza Rymbaeva, Sofia Rotaru, Yadviga Poplavskaya and Alexander Tikhanovich, Boris Moiseev, Valery Meladze, Nadezhda Kadysheva. "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk" heard the triumphant "Fairytale" by the winner of "Eurovision-2009" Alexander Rybak. The Norwegian of Belarusian origin took part in the opening ceremony concert of the festival. Traditionally, the festival hosted concerts by masters of arts from Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, and Moscow. One of the largest delegations of artists, painters, and musicians was sent by Latvia - about 100 people. Creative groups and performers from Kazakhstan, Israel, China, and Vietnam became guests of the festival. For the first time, the flag of Brazil appeared on the festival flagpole. "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk" is a long-term, large-scale, interstate cultural event of Belarus and Russia, which is aimed at uniting multinational creative forces, all the most valuable that each national culture is proud of, at the interaction and interpenetration of different cultures, the spiritual unity of peoples of the world, and the creation of a peaceful community. Therefore, "Slavianski Bazaar" is one of the large-scale cultural projects of the Union State, and its Day has been held at the festival since 2003. At the current festival, on the Day of the Union State, the "Photo Chronicle of the Union State" was presented, creative meetings were held with nominees for the Union State Prize in Literature and Art for 2009-2010, and a press conference was held by State Secretary of the Union State Pavel Borodin. On behalf of the Permanent Committee of the Union State, diplomas and commemorative prizes "For Creative Implementation of the Ideas of Friendship of Peoples of Belarus and Russia" were awarded to Iosif Kobzon, Nadezhda Kadysheva, and Irina Dorofeeva. The festival of arts is open and mass in nature, contributing to the revival and development of artistic culture and art. It is designed to support young talents and innovation in artistic culture and art. Artists from 16 countries took part in the international competition of pop singers "Vitebsk-2009". The Grand Prix of the competition was won by Dmitry Danilenko, a representative of Russia of Belarusian origin. Andrei Kolosov, delegated by Belarus, won the second prize. The international jury of the competition was headed by Laima Vaikule. The Grand Prix of the VII International Children's Music Competition "Vitebsk-2009" was won by Maria from Romania. Belarusian contestant Maria Novik, like her senior colleague, was awarded the second prize. The chairman of the jury of the children's competition "Vitebsk-2009" was People's Artist of Belarus Leonid Zakhlevny. The Grand Prix winners have undoubtedly taken the first step towards the most honorable award of the festival - "Through Art - to Peace and Mutual Understanding". It was established by a decree of the head of state in 2005 and is awarded annually to cultural and art figures, creative groups, and organizations that have made a significant contribution to strengthening international cultural cooperation, promoting achievements and examples of world artistic culture based on humanistic ideals and values. This year, the award was presented to People's Artist of Russia Valery Leontiev. The first laureate of the prize in 2005 was Russian composer Andrei Petrov. In 2006, Alla Pugacheva was awarded this prize, in 2007 - Sofia Rotaru, in 2008 - Alexandra Pakhmutova. The names of these renowned artists and the 2009 laureate are immortalized on the Alley of Fame at the Summer Amphitheatre, which was opened by the adult festival. "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk" is not just pop concerts. More than 70 diverse events took place during these days. Over 800 participants gathered at the "Slavianski Podvorye" (Slavic Courtyard) of the City of Masters. There were masters of straw weaving, potters, weavers, embroiderers, and cooks from Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. The holidays of pottery and blacksmithing art became traditional for the City of Masters. This year, they were joined by the "Malyavanki" competition - painted carpets, which brought together more than 40 masters and introduced them to the original works of an outstanding representative of the "malyavanki" genre, the original Belarusian artist Yuzef Drozdoch. A huge number of unforgettable creative meetings with artists and writers took place at the festival. Yevgeny Yevtushenko and Mikhail Kozakov, performances by Moscow theaters, and meetings with masters of opera from Israel and Latvia - all this was presented by the XVIII International Festival of Arts. Guests of the festival were delighted by the exhibition of 100 etchings by Marc Chagall - illustrations for N. Gogol's poem "Dead Souls", and the artist's hometown of Vitebsk received this priceless collection as a gift from the Independent Charity Foundation "Triumph - New Century". The Vitebsk Art Museum received 6 digital copies of Ilya Repin's works from the Interstate Fund for Humanitarian Cooperation of the CIS Member States for its collection, the originals of which are kept in the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg and the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. According to specialists, this is a very valuable gift for the museum, and the copies are of very high quality. They complement the museum's collection of Ilya Repin's works from the Zdravnevo period of his creativity. Exactly 600 representatives of mass media and Internet resources from 11 countries covered the events of "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk". Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Macedonia, Germany, Great Britain, and the USA sent their journalists to learn festival news as quickly as possible. Concerts of the festival were broadcast by "Belteлерадиокомпания" and the "Russia" TV channel. For the first time, Russian viewers saw the full performances of the young performers' competition participants. In addition, Russians watched recordings of the opening and closing concerts of the festival and the days of national cultures - Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. Belarusian viewers could follow the festival extravaganza live - all concerts, except for solo night performances, were broadcast on the First Television Channel. For the first time, the opening and closing ceremonies of the XVIII International Festival of Arts "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk" were broadcast live on the TRO Union State TV channel. From the budget of the Union State, 24 million 896 thousand Russian rubles were allocated for the "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk" festival. The share of the Russian side is 9 million 300 thousand rubles, and Belarus's share is 15 million 596 thousand Russian rubles. The XVIII International Festival of Arts "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk" was held from July 10 to July 16. -0-