Press releases

12 Jun 2019

Art of Book winners to go on show on Belarusian Written Language Day

MINSK, 12 June (BelTA) – Winners of the 16th edition of the CIS international contest The Art of Book and the 58th national contest The Art of Bok will go on display during Belarusian Written Language Day in Slonim, head of the publishing and printing department of the Information Ministry Yelena Pavlova told the media, BelTA has learned.

“We are going to showcase several thousands of Belarusian publications on Belarusian Written Language Day. All the best books, the winners of The Art of Book contests will go on display,” said Yelena Pavlova.

Taking part in this year’s contest in Baku on 30-31 May were about 80 publishing houses from seven CIS countries: Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan Russia, Azerbaijan ad Turkmenistan. Belarusian books won 20 awards, including the Grand Prix that went to the Yanka Kupala encyclopedia published by the Petrus Brovka Belarusian Encyclopedia Publishing House. “Out of 11 nominations we won eight of them, finished second and third in two more. Nine publications got special diplomas. One of them, The Pearl of Cultural Heritage, went to the three-book publication The Primer. Facsimile Reproduction,” she added.

Belarus ranks first in the number of awards got through 16 years of the CIS contest The Art of Book. “Every year our works receive awards. We have won a total of 151 diplomas and nine Grand Prix awards over the history of the contest,” Yelena Pavlova stressed.

Director of the Petrus Brovka Belarusian Encyclopedia Publishing House Vladimir Andriyevich stressed that it is not easy to win at such an international contest. “Belarusian books always stand out not only with their design but also with their social themes and research. We even were unmatched in some of the nominations,” he said.

Director of the Mastatskaya Litaratura Publishing House Ales Badak noted that both the national and international contests The Art of Book are competitions among professionals. “We often win because we have preserved a good school of professional designing and book publishing. Today, there are a lot of books available in any book store. Most often they are all short-lived things. Many produce colorful covers to catch the reader’s eye. The Belarusian book, as foreign partners always say, is first of all a professional design. This is important. We need to preserve and further develop it,” he said.

Director General of Belkniga book retailer Aleksandr Vashkevich announced the opening of a new Belkniga store - Sonnet bookshop in Slonim. “According to the well-established tradition new cultural facilities, including bookshops, open in the cities that host the Belarusian Written Language Day. Sonnet is one of them. It will come on stream on 15 June in the test mode. The official launch ceremony will take place on the Belarusian Written Language Day,” he said.

Aleksandr Vashkevich also recalled that the festival “Book Meetings in Mir Castle” will debut on 15 June. It might become a regular event. “The Information Ministry of Belarus and the publishers put a lot of effort to ensure patriotic books match the highest modern requirements: “decorated in style, with relevant content, true historical information, and a proper launch ceremony,” he noted.