The exhibition presents the diversity and uniqueness of variations of the book, used by different nations for the initial teaching of reading and writing. The exposition project is timed to the remarkable date – the 400th anniversary of the world’s first book entitled "Bukvar" (“ABC-Book”), which was created by our ancestors.

The exhibition is organized with the participation of the Embassy of the Republic of Latvia to the Republic of Belarus, the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus to the Republic of Latvia, and the Project MOST (the Mobility Scheme for Targeted People-to-People-Contacts).

First in Belarus, about 1,400 primers will be presented in 587 languages of different nations from the five parts of the world: Europe, Asia, America, Africa, Australia and Oceania. Each exhibit is a miniature encyclopedia, which gives knowledge about the history, geography and culture of a nation in pictorial and fascinating form.

The centerpiece of the exposition is the private collection of the Latvian teacher, author of primers and books about the nations of the world and their languages, collector, Yuris Tsibuls, which includes over 10,000 editions in more than 1,000 languages. A special place is given to the Belarusian books for teaching reading and writing of the 16th–21st centuries from the stocks of the National Library of Belarus. Different in structure, graphics, design and methods of teaching, they show the 400-year history of the Belarusian ABC-book.

Only on the exhibition opening day, you have a chance to meet the known collector and owner of the world’s biggest collection of ABC-books, Yuris Tsibuls, and view the opening of an original monument dedicated to the first “Bukvar”.

The official opening is at 16:30, in the atrium (2nd floor).

Opening of the International Exhibition “The Peoples of the World and Their Primers”

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