Press releases

Belarus Events Calendar: DECEMBER 2019

Most exciting New Year and Christmas events of Belarus in our festive calendar!

Festive mood: New Year illumination in Minsk

A new Christmas fair in Minsk features a designer New Year tree, a food court with international cuisine and a festival of winter beverages

Oman: The Jewel of the East. Crafts Heritage

The exhibition “Oman: the Jewel of the East. Crafts Heritage” from the collection of the National Museum of the Sultanate of Oman opened in the National Art Museum of Belarus ahead of the 80th anniversary of the Belarusian main museum. The exhibition features over a hundred items which demonstrate the works of local craftsmen. The exhibition displays traditional tableware for serving food and famous Omani coffee and other items necessary for the ancient ritual of welcoming guests, as well as carpets from camel wool and other items woven by local artisans.

When: 19 September – 19 January
Where: National Art Museum, Minsk
More

National Art Museum Shows Off Gifts

The National Art Museum, the national treasury and largest gallery of Belarus, celebrates the 80th anniversary this year. In honor of the anniversary, the museum has put up the unique exhibition titled as Please Accept This Gift... The exhibition includes works of art donated to the museum over the past 20 years by various institutions, artists, collectors, organizations. All in all, visitors will see more than 170 works in such genres as painting, sculpture, graphics, decorative arts…

When: 1 November – 1 December 1
Where: National Art Museum, Minsk

JAZZinMINSK 2019 festival

Minsk will host the international jazz festival organized by Yevgeny Vladimirov for the eighth time. Organizers of JAZZinMINSK 2019 invite amateurs of jazz improvisations to meet with the best musicians from the US, the UK, France, the Netherlands, Russia, and Latvia. The festival will kick off with concerts by foreign musicians: Belarus will for the first time welcome legendary saxophonist Jesse Davis (New York) and jazz vocalist Ava Timbo (Paris) accompanied by Anderson-trio (London-Riga) who will perform jazz masterpieces of the 20th-21st centuries.

When: 28 November - 1 December
Where: Palace of the Republic, Palace of Culture of Trade Unions, Minsk

Pablo Picasso. Paragraphs in Minsk

Pablo Picasso, one of the geniuses of the 20th century, left a large legacy in various arts and genres: painting, sculpture, graphics, ceramics, and others. The exhibition at the Libra exhibition hall in Minsk will showcase the most prominent “paragraphs” of Pablo Picasso’s life illustrated by his works. It will display 61 lithographies from private collections from Germany, Belgium, and France, and ceramic works from the holdings of the National Art Museum of Belarus. The exhibition will also demonstrate sculptures and ceramic works by Belarusian followers of Pablo Picasso: Pavel Voinitsky, Aleksandr Sokolov, Mikhail Inkov, Yelena Chepeleva, Dmitry Oganov, Liliya Nishchik, and others.

When: 26 November – 26 January
Where: Libra exhibition hall, 37 Nezavisimosti Avenue, Minsk

Mitten Half Marathon in Loshitsa Park

The first Mitten Half Marathon was held in Loshitsa Park in Minsk in 2017. It was timed to International Day of Disabled Persons. The first marathon had this so-called “melting” distance: once the leader of the race reached the turning point in the middle of the track, all participants turned around, shortening their distance to the finish. This season, the organizers of the sports charity event offer to take part in the 21.097km race or in additional races.

When: 10h30–13h30, 1 December
Where: Loshitsa Park, Minsk

Ivan Sollertinsky International Music Festival in Vitebsk

Belarus’ only chamber music festival will kick off with a performance of the Vitebsk Music College named after outstanding music and theater critic of the 1920-1930s Ivan Sollertinsky. The festival will feature an eventful program that will include the string quartet of the Russian Academy of Music Chamber Orchestra. Misa A Buenos Aires will be performed by the Belarusian State Chamber Orchestra. A meeting dedicated to Georgian composer Giya Kancheli and his friends will be hosted by Belarus’ Classic Avant-Garde. The State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Belarus under the baton of Aleksandr Anisimov will wrap up the forum.

When: 3-18 December
Where: Vitebsk State Music College, Vitebsk Oblast Philharmonic, Vitebsk

Nani Bregvadze and Vakhtang Kikabidze: From Georgia With Love

Singer and actor, the main lead in Georgiy Daneliya’s Soviet film Mimino Vakhtang Kikabidze and “queen of the romance” Nani Bregvadze will bring to Minsk their concert program From Georgia With Love. Nani Bregvadze will perform in Minsk together with her daughter Eka Mamaladze and granddaughter Natalia Kutatiladze. The concert will also feature The Quintessence sextet that performed with Nino Katamadze in Minsk in May and the symphony orchestra under the baton of prominent Georgian composer and conductor Nikoloz Rachveli.

When: 6 December
Where: Palace of the Republic, Minsk

Schraga Zarfin. Leading to the Light

Schraga Zarfin’s solo exhibition in Minsk, organized to mark the 120th anniversary of the birth of the bright representative of the Paris school and a native of Belarusian Smilovichi, is the first one in the post-Soviet space. One of the major themes in his art was landscapes of France, which became his second homeland. The artist sought to depict spiritual and philosophical problems. He was also a successful designer. He was hailed by his contemporaries as a virtuoso of fabric design. He designed a series of sketches for the budding Coco Chanel. In Minsk, art connoisseurs have an opportunity to see 52 works made by the artist in different years. The exhibition includes paintings from the collection of the A-100 Group of Companies, from the National Art Museum of the Republic of Belarus, from the Center for the Creativity of Children and Youth of Smilovichi and private collections.

When: 6 December 2019 – 19 February 2020
Where: National Art Museum of Belarus, Minsk
More

New Year Tree Lighting Ceremony

As winter starts to set in, everyone gets into a holiday spirit. In line with a tradition, the first New Year and Christmas lights are lit in Belarus’ most magical place – the Estate of the Belarusian Father Frost in the Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park. The New Year Tree will be lit on 7 December, Saturday. The estate will welcome the Snowmaiden and daughters of the Father Frost. Visitors to the ceremony will be offered a diverse entertainment program that will include the Warmth of Winter Fairytale and Winter Lights festivals, a parade alle and a flash mob of Fathers Frost. Since the estate opened on 16 December 2003, it has welcomed over 1.5 million tourists from more than 100 countries.

When: 7 December
Where: Estate of the Belarusian Father Frost in the Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park, Kamenyuki village, Kamenets District, Brest Oblast

Vienna Strauss Philharmonic Orchestra in Minsk

The Vienna Strauss Philharmonic Orchestra, the keeper of Austrian music heritage and national traditions, performs sold-out concerts all over Europe, including Germany, Poland, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria and other countries. Conductor and one of the founders of the orchestra Andras Deak was named one of Hungary’s best conductors in the Hungarian Television’s János Ferencsik International Conductor’s Competition in 1995. For his internationally known artistic contribution to fine music making, Maestro Deak was awarded Hungary’s prestigious Decoration of Knight’s Cross Order in 2004. The Minsk concert repertoire will include music by Haydn, Mozart, Brahms, Johann Strauss – father and son and other Viennese classics.

When: 9 December
Where: 5 Oktyabrskaya Street, Minsk Concert Hall

Polish jazz from NEW BONE in Brest

The Polish jazz quintet NEW BONE will present a new show dedicated to the 1,000th anniversary of the foundation of the city of Brest. Founded in 1996, the music band boasts a special style, a careful attitude to the form, and strikes a delicate balance between tradition and modern sound. The jazz band’s founder and leader Tomasz Kudyk is also the author of four vinyl disks, which followed the debut album Something for Now. On the stage of the Brest Oblast theater the band will perform improvisations inspired by Henryk Wars and Bronislaw Kaper – famous Polish composers of music for movies of the early 20th century, who achieved success in the USA and Hollywood. The band will also perform famous compositions of its own.

When: 9 December
Where: Brest Academic Drama Theater, Brest

Chronicler of Fates expo at National Library

The chronicle of the 20th century in portraits of its personalities – politicians, scientists, airmen, polar explorers, performers, artists, writers, poets, ballerinas – was created by distinguished photographer and native of Minsk Moses Nappelbaum (tens of thousands of works). He created the images that are well-known to many thanks to textbooks, including those of Alexei Tolstoy, Sergei Yesenin, Anna Akhmatova, Boris Pasternak, Maxim Gorky, Sergei Eisenstein, Dmitry Shostakovich, Galina Ulanova and others. The exhibition dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the master’s birthday presents the reproductions of the photographs, the memoirs of Ida, his eldest daughter, and his book “From Craft to Art”.

When: 13 December 2019 – 15 January 2020
Where: National Library of Belarus, Minsk
More

Georgian state song and dance company KUTAISI

The Georgian state song and dance company Kutaisi is called one of the wonders of the country. Founded in 1970, the ensemble has preserved folk music traditions of the Georgian nation, passing them on from the elder generations of artistes to the younger ones. The Kutaisi ensemble has managed to combine colorful dances with moving vibrating singing, which conveys the melodics of every region of this sunny and hospitable country. Belarusian spectators will see a number of folk dances, captivating fencing, and will hear unique Georgian songs to the accompaniment of folk instruments.

When, where

14 December – Minsk Concert Hall, Minsk
15 December – Community center, Brest
16 December – Community center, Gomel

Creation of the World ballet in Bolshoi Theater of Belarus

Valentin Elizariev has choreographed a new production of the Creation of the World ballet that premiered at the Minsk Bolshoi Theater in 1976. The idea for the production emerged in 1971 after the premiere of the same-name play by Natalia Kasatkina and Vasily Vasilyev at the Kirov (Marrinsky) Theater featuring Mikhail Baryshnikov. Then, according to composer Andrei Petrov, Elisariev's work was named the country’s most successful ballet. Speaking about the relevance of the play, Valentin Elizariev says that “a man of today will always be interested in the biblical theme”. To further explore it, he took into account the individuality and creative abilities of the present-day actors.

When: 19 December 2019, 2 February, 1 and 27 March 2020
Where: Belarus’ Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theater, Minsk

Panna Dollya International Expo

The organizers of Belarus’ art doll exhibition Panna Dollya invite everyone to the kingdom of dolls and fairytale characters. Here one can find exclusive works from the best puppet designers of Belarus, CIS and non-CIS countries. The exhibition will feature 150 works made using various techniques - from textile dolls and attic bears to porcelain rarities, static expositions and portrait works.

When: 21 December 2019 – 1 February 2020 (12.00-20.00)
Where: National Center of Contemporary Arts, Minsk