Unique rarities of ancient Belarusian culture can be seen in Vitebsk

A unique exhibition from the collection of the Museum of Ancient Belarusian Culture has opened at the Vitebsk Art Museum. As explained by Boris Lazuko, director of the cultural institution established under the National Academy of Sciences, such an exposition is being held in our regional center for the first time. Some rarities have never left the Minsk museum hall before, and there are also those that have not been exhibited at all since their restoration. This is undoubtedly a great gift to Vitebsk. By the way, Boris Lazuko is originally from the Braslav district, and as our countryman, he tried to bring truly the most valuable items, including those collected in the territory of the Dvina region.

Among them is the famous Slutsk belt, dated to the second half of the 18th century. It was once found in a Glubokoye church in a cut-up state. Restorers have restored it. It was this specimen that served as the basis for creating a copy, which was presented to the President of Belarus. And the technology of unique hand weaving of the masters of Radziwill's Slutsk manufactory was revived by teachers and students of the design department of the Faculty of Arts and Technology of VSTU.

Another rarity is a shroud, which was brought to the museum in the form of rags. Visitors can be the first to see this restored work of Belarusian masters, as well as the restored icon of the early 19th century "Our Lady of Ostrobrama". The exhibition widely features items of religious worship, such as an ornat (vestments of Uniate priests), the Royal Gates, an altar cloth, a wooden sculpture, and artistic carving used in the decoration of churches. The basis of the exposition consists of icons of the Belarusian icon-painting school. This collection is one of the richest in the Museum of Ancient Belarusian Culture; it consists of icons and altar paintings from the early 16th to 19th centuries and reflects the main stages of the formation and development of the national art school, and the complex confessional and cultural situation in Belarus in different historical periods. In total, the exhibition features 36 icons, metal covers, and triptychs.

As the Director of the Art Museum, Olga Akunevich, recounted, in the pre-war period, Vitebsk also had a large collection of Belarusian icons and wooden altar sculptures, but it was almost completely lost during the war years. Today, thanks to the exhibition, one can see monuments of national culture, some of which once adorned churches in Braslav, Postavy, Glubokoye, Dokshytsy, and Polotsk districts.

A separate hall is dedicated to the history of national costume and Belarusian ethnography. Here, in particular, are presented rushnyks (embroidered towels) by craftswomen from Miory and Sharkovshchina, and painted carpets characteristic of the Postavy region.

Each of the 108 museum exhibits displayed in the exposition is part of the treasury of Belarusian culture. You can see the rarities with your own eyes at the Vitebsk museum until March 5.

Tatyana Pasternak, "Vitebskiye Vesti"