«VITEBSK BANNER»
The history of our Motherland, even today, is full of unsolved mysteries and blank spots. Over the long years of Belarus's membership in the Soviet Union, entire historical periods were erased from people's historical memory. And our task today is to recreate and research the glorious pages of the past, which for decades remained outside the attention of researchers.
Engaged in historical reconstruction and experimental archaeology for almost 10 years, the folk club of historical reconstruction "VARGENTHORN" of the State Cultural Institution "Center of Culture "VITEBSK"" has reached such a scientific and practical level that it finally felt capable of addressing the study of new blank spots in the history and culture of our region. We are talking about such an interesting phenomenon as the reconstruction of the material culture of Belarus in the 17th century. It is significant that almost no one in our country is engaged in this issue.
The first stage and at the same time the result of studying the material culture of Belarus in the 17th century was the organization of the exhibition "NOTES OF A VITEBSK NOBLEMAN" (June 2011) within the framework of the new scientific project "VITEBSK BANNER". The exposition was dedicated to the reflection of the image of a Vitebsk nobleman of that time. The new exhibition of the "WARGENTHORN" club is the second stage in this direction. And therefore, it was decided to name it in accordance with the name of the entire project. Over the past year, the "VITEBSK BANNER" exposition has been significantly expanded: many interesting reconstructions of clothing, accessories, and other material artifacts have appeared. In particular, members of the team recreated two women's costumes, and also, thanks to the fund materials of the Vitebsk Regional Museum of Local Lore, serious work was begun on the reconstruction of a number of 17th-century items found specifically in our famous city.
Thus, the "WARGENTHORN" club invites everyone interested in the history of Belarus to the presentation of the exhibition "VITEBSK BANNER", which will take place on January 31 at 16:30 in the "DUKHAVSKI KRUGLIK" exhibition hall. The team members will talk in detail about the main stages of the exposition preparation, inform about the specifics of the historical period being studied, and also answer all questions.
The exhibition is presented by Sergey BABENKO, head of the historical reconstruction club "Wargenthorn" of the Vitebsk Culture Center; Petr PODGURSKI, chief specialist of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee Department of Culture; Gleb SAVITSKI, director of the Vitebsk Regional Museum of Local Lore; Tatyana BUBENKO, archaeologist, Candidate of Historical Sciences, associate professor of the Department of History of Belarus at VSU named after P. M. Masherov; Anatoly DULOV, Candidate of Historical Sciences, head of the Department of History of Belarus at VSU named after P. M. Masherov.
The exhibition will be open from February 1 to 28 from 10:00 to 17:30.
Inquiries by phone: 35-81-38.
Sergey BABENKO,
Head of the historical reconstruction club "Wargenthorn"
State Institution "Vitebsk Culture Center"