Press releases

MINSK, 23 November (BelTA) – The international exhibition of contemporary art From Lisbon to Vladivostok Through Minsk will take place in the Belarusian capital in December 2016, BelTA learned from the Belarusian embassy in France.

The project initiated by the Belarusian embassy in France and Belarus’ Permanent Representation in the UNESCO. The exhibition will open at the Mikhail Savitsky Art Gallery in Minsk on 21 December to mark the end of Year of Culture in Belarus. The exposition will display works of contemporary artists from more than 25 cities in Eurasia. This large-scale is considered to become one of the brightest projects of Year of Culture, the embassy said.

“The organization of the exhibition From Lisbon to Vladivostok Through Minsk in the Belarusian capital will demonstrate the country’s determination and the leading role in the intention to build the common European house without dividing lines, borders and opposition. In fact Minsk will become a unique cultural capital of Eurasian fine arts during the expo,” the embassy said.

The exposition will feature artists’ works from the following countries and cities: Austria (Vienna), Bulgaria (Sofia), Belgium (Brussels), Hungary (Budapest), Great Britain (London), Germany (Berlin), Italy (Rome), Kazakhstan (Astana), Latvia (Riga), Lithuania (Vilnius), Moldova (Chisinau), the Netherlands (The Hague), Poland (Warsaw), Russia (Moscow, St Petersburg, Vladivostok), Romania (Bucharest), Serbia (Belgrade), Slovakia (Bratislava), Ukraine (Kiev), France (Paris), Portugal (Lisbon, Madrid), Monaco (Monte Carlo), the Czech Republic (Prague), Switzerland (Bern), Estonia (Tallinn).

The co-authors of the project are prizewinner of the Belarus State Award Pr. Viktor Alshevsky and Belarus’ Ambassador to France Pavel Latushko.

The exhibition will be held under the auspices of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in cooperation with the Minsk City Hall. Organizational support is provided by Belarus’ embassy in the countries of Europe and Asia.

The concept of the exhibition envisages its showcasing in the cities which works will be displayed. The project will emphasize Belarus’ leading role in the development of a wide cultural space that will unite the countries and peoples of Eurasia, representatives of the embassy stressed.

The concept of Greater Europe from Lisbon to Vladivostok was drawn by Charles De Gaulle who dreamed about the building of the “common European house”. In his speech in Strasbourg in 1959 French President Charles De Gaulle stated: “Yes, it is Europe, from the Atlantic to the Urals, it is Europe, it is the whole of Europe that will decide the fate of the world.” The main idea was the wish to build peace on the continent.