The facsimile edition of the Polotsk Gospel by the publishing house of the Belarusian Exarchate of the Moscow Patriarchate was awarded the Grand Prix at the 53rd national competition "The Art of the Book".

The Polotsk Gospel is a unique ancient monument of Slavic writing. The original of the shrine, taken from Polotsk in the 16th century, is kept in Russia. According to the Belarusian Orthodox Information Portal, the release of the facsimile edition is the result of joint work by the publishing house of the Belarusian Exarchate, the National Library of Belarus and the National Academy of Sciences, as well as the Russian State and National Libraries.

In total, 31 publishing houses presented 134 remarkable examples of book art for the competition. Among them are projects conceived and implemented in Vitebsk, which were among the best. In particular, the Main Department of Ideological Work, Culture and Youth Affairs of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee was awarded a first-degree diploma of the National Competition "Book Art-2014" in the thematic nomination "Art Book" for the preparation of the popular science publication "Art insita: from the history of holding exhibitions of non-professional art". Recall that at the beginning of the year, the Vitebsk Regional Methodological Center for Folk Art hosted a presentation of this first encyclopedia of naive art with the participation of its compiler, art critic Lyudmila Vakar.

The first-degree diploma in the nomination «Eureka» was also awarded to the book by Lyudmila Khmelnitskaya «A Walk with an Old Map: An Essay on the History of Vitebsk in the Early 20th Century», for the publication of which the efforts of the Marc Chagall Museum, the State Archive of the Vitebsk Region, and the Vitebsk Regional Museum of Local Lore were combined. The book has had two editions.

Nataliya Krupitsa, "Vitbichi"