The "Foretype of the European Constitution" exhibition dedicated to Constitution Day is on show in the Book Museum of the National Library of Belarus. The opening ceremony took place on March 16.
Mr Roman Motulsky, Director General of the National Library of Belarus, addressed the participants with a welcome speech. He presented the main idea of the exhibition project of rarities and expressed gratitude to the partner institutions from Latvia. The cooperation with the partner institutions helped to prepare the exhibition.
Mr Einars Semanis, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Latvia to the Republic of Belarus, stressed that joint cultural activities contributed to the development of professional contacts and had a positive impact on strengthening good-neighbourly relations between our countries.
The next speaker, Mr Vyacheslav Abramov, First Deputy Director of the National Legal Information Centre of the Republic of Belarus, stressed that the exhibition allowed us to study up on the 1588 Statute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He noted that the Statute is an important source of our legal tradition and culture, its creation was a significant step in the development of the constitutional legislation in Europe and the world.
Mr Oleg Dernovich, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Senior Research of the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, drew attention to the handwritten translation of the 1588 Statute into German of the Academic Library collection of the University of Latvia and its special aspects. He stressed that the translation is the evidence of the official application of the Belarusian-Lithuanian proto-constitution on the lands of Latvia and confirms the ancient cultural, economic and political ties of our nations.
The guests of the event had an opportunity to look at the rarities of the exhibition such as unique and extremely rare copies of the 1588 Statute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from the collections of the National Library of Belarus and the Academic Library of the University of Latvia.
The exhibition is on show in the Book Museum till April 19, 2020 daily, except Mondays and public holidays. The end date is subject to change.
The opening hours of the exhibition correspond to the working hours of the Book Museum.
Admission is by library card or by the ticket of the library's social and cultural center.
Contacts for references and excursions: (+375 17) 293 27 22.
Bibliology Research Department
