National Historical Museum of the Republic of Belarus



"Belarus: the Revival of Spirituality" exhibition

  • 07.09.2017

On September 7, within the framework of the events of the Days of Belarusian Written Language, the exhibition "Belarus: the Revival of Spirituality" opens at the National Historical Museum of the Republic of Belarus.

Spiritual revival is a necessary process of development and strengthening of the country's independence, and spiritual values are of exceptional importance for the formation of the ideology of the state. In Belarus throughout its history, the formation of spiritual values occurred with the interaction and mutual influence of religion and secular culture, therefore one of the objectives of the exhibition project is to show the ways of forming the spiritual principles of the life of Belarusians at different times through folk traditions, religion, art. The next task is to reflect the positive processes of revival of spirituality in our days: the growing interest of the Belarusians to their historical and cultural heritage, the creation by the state of proper conditions for the development of culture, the functioning of religions. Finally, the exhibition will tell you about the achievements of the National Historical Museum of the Republic of Belarus and other museums of the country in the preservation, study and presentation of historical and cultural monuments. Therefore, along with the National Historical Museum, the Grodno State Museum of the History of Religion, the Grodno State Historical and Archaeological Museum, the National Polotsk Historical and Cultural Museum–Reserve, the Gomel Palace and Park Ensemble, the Museum of the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, the Museum of the Old Belorussian Culture of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus.

The status of the international exhibition is acquired through the participation in it of the State Historical Museum of Moscow, which represents a unique monument of book publishing – the Prague edition of the Skaryna Bible of 1517. Unfortunately, this book is not available in Belarus. Our Russian colleagues not only gave permission for the display of the rare book, but also scanned its individual pages so that visitors could "browse" the Bible with the help of modern digital technologies.

The exhibition introduces the history of the emergence and functioning of religions in Belarus. Opens the exposition section devoted to paganism – the traditional religion of ancient tribes in the country. The largest section of the exhibition will introduce the main religions – Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Judaism, Islam, which coexist peacefully in Belarus. For this purpose, the collections of the National Historical Museum and other museums, as well as private collections have been used: collections of archeology, icons, paintings, national costume, manuscript and early printed books, precious metals, etc. In total, the exhibition will include over 400 historical and cultural monuments, many of them Will be exhibited for the first time: the seal of Euphrosyne of Polotsk in the 12th century, the murals of the Transfiguration Church of the Spassky Monastery in Polotsk in the 19th century, a unique collection of silver cedar glasses, altar catholic paintings,

The exhibition is also attended by the Holy Elizabethan Monastery, which will provide modern samples of priestly vestments, icons, shrouds. The final section is devoted to the book culture and activities of the Belarusian educator–humanist Francis Skaryna.

According to the idea of the organizers, the exhibition will be accompanied by a number of interactive elements, in particular, a printing press, through which everyone can make a copy of Skaryna's engraving.

The exhibition is organized with the financial support of OJSC Priorbank and Japan Tabacco International in the Republic of Belarus.

National Historical Museum of the Republic of Belarus

Minsk, K. Marx, 12

Tel. 327 43 22