The staff of the Vitebsk Center for Modern Art has been awarded a special prize of the President of Belarus
The staff of the cultural institution "Museum "Vitebsk Center for Contemporary Art" has been awarded a special prize of the President of Belarus for the creation of the exposition of the Museum of the History of the Vitebsk People's Art School and for holding large-scale exhibition projects "Ossip Zadkine. Return," "Alexander Rodchenko. Photography from VKhUTEMAS." The museum director noted that the special prize of the President was the result of joint work by the city authorities, museum staff, and art critics from various countries. "It is important that these exhibitions were implemented in collaboration with other museums and the international photo festival in Vitebsk "Photokrok." The most important thing is that our museum attracts major projects, and many more are yet to come," said Andrey Dukhovnikov.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the art association UNOVIS ("Affirmers of New Art"). In the near future, thematic exhibitions will be organized, including children's works from different countries. In February, an international conference will be held, bringing together the best specialists on the UNOVIS topic from around the world. For the anniversary of the association, the National Bank plans to issue a commemorative coin, and "Belpochta" will issue an envelope.
Andrey Dukhovnikov added that the team has many ideas for the future. Among the priority tasks, he named the creation of a permanent exposition of contemporary art in Vitebsk. "We have very good artists in our city, but there is no venue for a permanent exhibition yet. This matter needs to be promoted, to value our own, so that in a hundred years it doesn't turn out that there are no works by talented countrymen in Belarus," the director added.
The Museum of the History of the Vitebsk People's Art School was opened in February 2018 after a major renovation. It is located in a historic building constructed in 1913 (it was the mansion of banker Israel Vishnyak). In 1918, the house was nationalized and transferred for the needs of the Vitebsk People's Art School, founded by Marc Chagall. During that period, the artist held the position of Commissioner of the Collegium for Arts Affairs in the Vitebsk Governorate. The official opening of the school took place in Vitebsk in January 1919. It was the first art educational institution in the territory of modern Belarus. Today, the VNHS Museum is not just a cultural institution, but an entire exhibition and scientific center.-0-
