The art exhibition “Ancient Belarus” dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Mikola Jermalovich, Belarusian historian opened in the “Mobile” Gallery (3rd floor) as part of the Year of National Unity on April 28. The organizers of the exhibition are the National Library of Belarus and the Belarusian Union of Artists.
Ms Alena Dalgopolava, First Deputy Director General made a welcome speech at the opening of the exhibition. Ms Jauhenija Galijeuskaja, Leading Librarian of the Special Collections Service Department, shared warm memories of the researcher's fate. Mr Mikalaj Pahranouski, art critic, curator and gallerist, chairperson of the criticism and art history section of the Belarusian Union of Artists, Mr Uladzimir Sosna, Ph.D. in History, Associate Professor of the Department of History of the Ancient and the Middle Ages Belarus of the Belarusian State University and Mr Mikola Kupava, artist, member of the Belarusian Union of Artists, cultural activist, curator of the exhibition spoke about the artworks on display. The speakers emphasized the contribution of Mikola Jermalovich to the culture and history of the country.
Publicist, writer, poet, teacher of Belarusian literature, Mikola Jermalovich created critical and literary articles, studied historical primary sources and worked on essays about ancient Belarus. The researcher was the founder of a new romantic historiography, denied the version of the conquest of the Belarusian lands by the Aukshtaites (later the Lietuvis), surmised about the already confirmed borders of ancient Belarus. The result of his research work were the books "Following the Footsteps of a Myth", "A Name, Dear to Belarusians", "Ancient Belarus: Polack and Navahrudak Periods"," Ancient Belarus: Vilnia Period", "Belarusian State the Grand Duchy of Lithuania", kept in the collection of the National Library of Belarus. He received the State Prize of the Republic of Belarus, the Uladzimir Karatkievich Prize, and the Francysk Skaryna Medal.
It is difficult to overestimate the discussion ignited by Jermalovich and his contribution to the academic history of Belarus. An outstanding cultural figure, it was he who encouraged to look at the numerous events and dates in national history from a new angle, revised the evaluation of the ancient and medieval figures of Belarus, returned the legacy to the Belarusians – the past of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Mikola Jermalovich's research had a great impact on the cultural life, a new perception of the country's history was reflected in literature and art.
The exhibition "Ancient Belarus" presents paintings and drawings by Belarusian artists as a response to the research of Mikola Jermalovich. The subjects of the artworks were not only events of ancient times, but also images of the late centuries, united by an interest in the history of Belarusian Lithuania: publishing houses that published books by Belarusian authors, ethnographic materials, the first newspaper in the Belarusian language “Nasha Dolya”, illustrations for “Pan Tadevush”, encyclopaedias of gentry life… The works by Pavel Tatarnikau, Mikhail Basalyga, Vasil Sharanhovich, Kanstantsin Vashchanka, Safija Piskun, Aliaksandr Koshaleu, Tatsiana Famina, Viktar Varankievich, Jauhenija Sukhaverkhava and others create a unison with the pages of the researcher's books.
You can feel the atmosphere of the images of ancient Belarus, filled with exquisite and delicate dignity, familiar figures, personalities, outlines of buildings, plots of chronicles and literary works, until June 22, 2021.
There is also a book exhibition “The Path to Eternity” dedicated to the research activities of the historian and literary critic in the Belarusian Literature Reading Room (room 205). It is open until May 17, 2021.
Admission is by the library card or by the Social and Cultural Center ticket.
The opening hours of the exhibitions correspond to the library’s opening hours.
For more info: (+375 17) 368 37 37.
E-mail: pr@nlb.by
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