"Traditional artistic culture of Belarus" exhibition

On February 8, 2018, the National Historical Museum of the Republic of Belarus will host a presentation of items from the collection of the Doctor of Arts, E.M. Sahuta, acquired by the museum last year, and the opening of the temporary exposition "Traditional artistic culture of Belarus". The project is implemented with the support of the general partner of the museum – Japan Tobacco International (JTI) in Belarus.

The collection of Evgeny Mikhailovich Sahuta primarily has a memorial value, which is caused by the importance for the Belarusian culture and science of the collector's personality. Sahuta is the first doctor of art history in the field of folk art (since 1996), professor, chairman of the Belarusian Union of Folk Arts (since 1992), laureate of the State Prize of the Republic of Belarus (1996) and laureate of the Republic of Belarus Prize "For Spiritual Revival" (2008 ). As an outstanding connoisseur of traditional folk crafts, during the expeditions to various regions of Belarus, Sahuta formed its collection on the basis of works of decorative and applied art, most significant for the national art culture. It includes samples of almost all directions of traditional folk art of Belarus – ceramics, icon painting, carving, artistic metal, etc.

The exposition will showcase items of traditional and domestic ethnography (plates, breadcrumbs, tortillas, wicker baskets, snuffboxes, spinners), a collection of ceramic products (whistle–blowing toys, various kinds of ceramics: black–smoked, irrigated and non–pourable, scalded), artistic metal (Valdai bells , doorblocks, keys), masterpieces of icons of different periods of Belarusian history, wooden carved sculpture. Among the presented exhibits you can also see Easter egg–eggs, which are rarely shown in museums due to their fragile structure and storage difficulties.

The icons on the glass are of great historical and cultural importance, which represent a specific example of later folk art (the tradition appeared only at the beginning of the 20th century and did not last long). In the National Historical Museum of the Republic of Belarus this painting on religious glass will be presented for the first time.

"Promoting the preservation and popularization of the national historical and cultural heritage is one of the priority activities that our company, within the framework of corporate social responsibility, carries out in the socio–cultural sphere. The Belarusian folk art, presented in the collection, preserves the cultural code of Belarus, and we are proud of being involved in this significant project, "said Gennady Brusnikov, Deputy General Manager of JTI in Belarus.

The exposition is available for visits from 8 to 25 February 2018.

National Historical Museum of the Republic of Belarus

Minsk, K.Marx str., 12

Tel .: 327–43–22