Press releases

MINSK, 11 December (BelTA) - The exhibition timed to the 95th anniversary of the establishment of the BelTA news agency under the name “The history of Belarus in the photographs of our photojournalists” opened at the National History Museum in Minsk on 11 December, BelTA has learnt.

The exposition features the collection of 42 unique photographs taken by BelTA’s photojournalists from 1919 to 1991.

Taking part in the opening ceremony of the exhibition was BelTA’s Director General Dmitry Zhuk. He said that selecting photos for the exposition was an uneasy task considering that BelTA’s archives include about one million photos. “A photograph should arouse people’s emotions. I think we have succeeded in selecting the photos, not only because the whole collection covers the period from 1919 to the last days of the USSR. Here we can see how our fathers and grandfathers lived, which is extremely important,” said Dmitry Zhuk.

The exhibition depicts the key moments of Belarusian history: the adoption of the third Constitution of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR), the signing of the UN Charter by the BSSR, the signing of the agreement on the termination of the USSR treaty and on the establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The rare photos also reflect the history of the Belarusian capital (the building of the first major department store GUM and the construction of Minsk’s main street).

The exposition features a collection of photos which depict everyday life: a package of smoked eel at the Braslav fish farm, rest and recreation on the Soviet beach on the bank of the Sozh River in Gomel, interior decoration of the Gomel Drama Theater, a batch of watermelons delivered for Gomel residents from other USSR republics and an unusual photo of Yakub Kolas standing in his garden with a cigarette.

Large-format photos (40x60cm) are exhibited for the first time. The exhibition is unique because all photos are stored in BelTA’s archives and are of historical and cultural value.

Director of the National History Museum of Belarus Oleg Ryzhkov noted that BelTA has always considered photographs part of historical events. “BelTA is an institution which has been showing and highlighting all events connected with the history and the development of our country and our people for 95 years,” he said. Oleg Ryzhkov added that BelTA assists in holding most of exhibitions at the National History Museum and expressed hope for further cooperation.

The photo exposition will be open at the museum until 22 December. It will then move to the lobby of the cinema Salyut where it will be open to public until 1 February 2014.

The exposition “The history of Belarus in the photographs of our photojournalists” is the first one in a series of exhibitions timed to the 95th anniversary of the establishment of BelTA. On 23 December the Modern Belarusian Statehood Museum will present a photo project about the development of the BelTA news agency in recent years.

BelTA is Belarus’ largest news agency and the most respected source of up-to-the-minute news about Belarus’ supreme authorities. BelTA was established on 23 December 1918. Being de jure an independent news agency, BelTA worked in tight cooperation with the Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union (TASS) for a long time. In 1991 BelTA became the official news agency of the sovereign Republic of Belarus. Every day BelTA produces and distributes news items to highlight the most important events in the field of politics, society, economy, culture and sport.

The exhibition has been organized by the BelTA news agency and the National History Museum of Belarus.