Press releases

MINSK, 26 March (BelTA) - Ten Centuries of Art in Belarus expo is the Project of the Year for the National Art Museum of Belarus, Director of the National Art Museum Vladimir Prokoptsov said at the opening ceremony, BelTA learned.

The expo has coincided with the 75th anniversary of the main art museum of the country. The project has become the second most significant event for the museum after the Artists of the Paris School. The exhibition has brought together about 500 items from the times of the Byzantine Empire to the present day from 29 museums, corporate and private collections. "Visitors to the exhibition will see the richness of Belarusian history and culture. Unfortunately, we did not have enough space for the project, and had to remove the permanent exhibition. I am saying that we need to build the new museum complex as quickly as possible," said Vladimir Prokoptsov.

The Ten Centuries of Art in Belarus expo was developed in nine months. Culture Minister Boris Svetlov noted that the project was made at the highest level, despite the short period of time. The expo occupies two floors including the entrance hall and the gallery.

For his part, Andrei Kruglov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Belgazprombank, Deputy Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, Head of the Department for Finance and Economics at Gazprom, said that the exposition has been made with great care and logic. Step by step it opens to visitors the pages of the Belarusian history.

Ten Centuries of Art in Belarus will be running from 27 March to 10 July. The biggest draw of the expo is Chaim Soutine’s Eva (1928). This is the most expensive exhibit. The canvas was bought at Sotheby's in New York for $1,860,000. For the first time the public will see the Rod of Governance by Simeon of Polotsk published in 1667, two paintings by Marc Chagall, and The Portrait of poet Tomasz Zahn” by Walenty Wankowicz.

The project organizers are Belgazprombank, Gazprom transgaz Belarus, the Culture Ministry and the National Art Museum of Belarus.