Press releases

19 May 2021

Yakub Kolas and Omar Khayyam exposition opens in Minsk

MINSK, 19 May (BelTA) - The exhibition “Yakub Kolas and Omar Khayyam: life wisdom in the word of poetry” opened at the Yakub Kolas State Literary and Memorial Museum on 18 May, BelTA has learned.

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Iran to Belarus Saeed Yari said that the fact that the exhibition was presented on International Museum Day had a very symbolic dimension. The diplomat emphasized that the works of classics of Belarusian and Iranian literature Yakub Kolas and Omar Khayyam are carefully preserved by the people of the two countries and passed from generation to generation.

It was stressed at the opening of the exhibition that Yakub Kolas and Omar Khayyam are strong dominants of Belarusian and Iranian cultures. Their works are a peculiar collection of philosophical thoughts and approaches to reality. The poetry of Yakub Kolas and Omar Khayyam is the culmination of their long and difficult journey to the truth. Although they lived at different times, in different countries, and belonged to different religions, the center of their work was man. They created an encyclopedia of life, a wise code of life in poetic form.

The poetic wisdom of Omar Khayyam is demonstrated in one of the most complex genre forms of Persian rubai - original philosophical and lyrical quatrains. Omar Khayyam is the unsurpassed master of this genre. His works are characterized by accuracy of observation and depth of understanding of the world and the human soul, the brightness of images and refinement of rhythm. Yakub Kolas' poem The New Land is a wise encyclopedia of the Belarusian rural life in the late 19th-early 20th century. The wisdom of Yakub Kolas' life lies in the very view of the world and is embodied in the detailed description of many realities of life. The New Land is a personal universe, where everything exists in a harmonious “nature-man” formula.

Maria Mitskevich, the granddaughter of the Belarusian classic, pointed out at the meeting that poets Yakub Kolas and Omar Khayyam are humanists, the human being and his/her spiritual world are above all for them. Their poetry reveals the value of every moment of human life. Omar Khayyam reveals it through generalization, while Yakub Kolas - through details.

Yakub Kolas’ library has a book by Alisher Navoi, the poet and thinker, who created his literary works in Persian, Turkic, Uzbek and Uighur. This book was brought from Tashkent, where Yakub Kolas and his family were evacuated in 1941-1943. It is likely that the Belarusian classic knew about Omar Khayyam. Moreover, the Persian poet's philosophical lyrics were of interest to Yakub Kolas' youngest son Mikhail Mitskevich. He loved reading Omar Khayyam and brought one of the poet's books translated into Russian from Tashkent in the 1970s.

The presentation was attended by representatives of the Embassy of Iran in Belarus, the Culture Ministry of Belarus, foreign diplomats and the creative intelligentsia.