Press releases

MOSCOW, 22 April (BelTA) – Nominees for the Union State Literature and Art Award 2015-2016 will be announced in Minsk on 26 May. On this day the Belarusian capital will host a session of the council of experts for the award, BelTA learned from the Union State Permanent Committee.

Three awards of the Union State in the field of art and literature are awarded every two years. The main selection criterion is the importance of the contribution of artistic works towards the strengthening of relations of brotherhood, friendship and cooperation between Russia and Belarus.

Works for the award are nominated by artistic associations, government organizations and public associations in culture and art. In accordance with the regulation on the award approved by the Council of Ministers of the Union State, the nominated works are reviewed by the Belarusian and Russian culture ministries and submitted to the Permanent Committee of the Union State.

A council of experts from a number of famous figures of literature and arts, representatives of artistic associations, government bodies and institutions of the two countries has been set up at the Union State Permanent Committee to select the nominees.

At the first phase the works selected by the Council of Experts are published in mass media for public discussion. Taking into account the outcome of the public discussions the Council makes a decision to recommend the work for the Union State award. The decision on the award is taken by the Supreme State Council of the Belarus-Russia Union State.

The awards ceremony is by tradition held at the International Festival of Arts Slavonic Bazaar in Vitebsk. The amount of prize money is fixed and equals RUB5 million. In addition, all nominees for the prize are awarded commemorative diplomas.

The first award was presented in 2002. Back then, its winners were Russian actor Alexei Petrenko, Belarusian playwright Alexei Dudarev and People’s Writer of Belarus Ivan Shamyakin. Other winners include artist Mikhail Savitsky, Leonid Shchemelev, Georgy Poplavsky and Valentin Sidorov, actors Alexander Kalyagin and Rostislav Yankovsky, composer Alexandra Pakhmutova, conductor Mikhail Finberg and other famous cultural figures from Belarus and Russia.