The First Centre of Belarusian culture in Poland

An official opening of the Centre of Belarusian culture in Poland was celebrated in Bialostok and Warsaw. This is the first Belarusian Centre of the kind outside Belarus.

Uladzimir Chushal, a counselor of the Belarusian Embassy in Poland: “The establishment of the Centre was anticipated under the bilateral agreement between the Belarusian and Polish governments of 1995, where it is stipulated that each party had an opportunity to open cultural centres in the neighbouring country. The Polish Institute in Belarus is active since 1994. Now there is a Belarusian Centre in Poland. This is the first Belarusian Centre of the kind outside Belarus. Poland is the first. We realize that this is a very important activity for the country due to the fact that Belarusian culture is very rich. We are optimistic about the popularity of the Centre as there are historical and legal grounds for it and due to the fact that there is a demand for Belarusian culture in Poland”.  

Sergey Lukashuk, Director of the Belsk Cultural Centre: “I only know about the planned activities of the centre so far. It seems to me that this establishment will not have a permanent office and its activities will be undertaken in Bialostok and in Warsaw. I hope the Centre will provide assistance to the Belarusian minority and that its assistance will be of better quality than the one existing today”.

Andrey Stepaniuk, Director of the Belarusian Belsk Liceum: “Any new initiative, targeting Belarusian identity and setting political influences aside should provide us with assistance here, locally. I hope that Belarus decided to show its ‘other side’”.

Ch. Seniukh: “This is significant because it will be inviting Poles to walk in and to find out about the Belarusian culture, poesy and literature… The opening of this Centre is a very important fact”.

Aliaksandr Barshcheuski: “I dreamed about this for quite a while, I was expecting something of the sort to appear. May be about five years ago, my wife and I were translating a text, related to the opening of the Centre of Polish culture in Belarus and Belarusian Centres in Poland. Obviously, there is a famous Polish Institute active in Belarus, however up to this moment there was no centre of Belarusian culture under the auspices of the Belarusian Embassy in Poland. Therefore the fact that such Centre has been finally opened is extremely significant. Our students have lots of difficulties finding access to various text-books. Universities are rather poor, in particular, those which practice distance courses and I hope that this Centre would finally have a Belarusian library, which both students and professors would benefit from. I am happy that certain level of reciprocity has been reached”.

Tadeusz Struzhecki, cultural attaché of the Belarusian Embassy: “A Director has not yet been found to head the Centre and certain technical issues still require finding solutions: human resources, location, legal documents, etc. However today we officially announce the set up of the Belarusian Cultural Centre in Poland”.

After the Centre is created, will there be more concerts of Belarusian bands in Poland and Polish bands in Belarus?

T. Struzhecki: “Certainly, this will be one of the main fields of activity of the Centre: to represent the Belarusian culture and arts in Poland. It is relatively well represented in Bialostok, however it needs to be preserved and developed. Various bands are happy to come here. One of the goals of the Centre is to bring here all the bands, both professional and amateur. It is a realistic goal”.

One of the major field of the Centre’s activity is to provide support to the Belarusian minority in Poland.

T. Struzhecki: “A large number of the representatives of the Belarusian minority live around Bialostok, however Belarusians also inhabit other regions: Gdansk, Liublin, etc. Therefore the activities of the Centre should cover other regions as well. It should also provide support to the organisations that promote good neighbourhood relations between our countries. It would support cultural organizations with reach traditions. The spectre and the field of activity may be very broad. It would depend on the contacts that will be built with the local authorities, with the heads of Belarusian organizations and other minorities. Tasks are multiple and realistic”.

What about the location of the Centre? Will it be located in the Belarusian consulate in Bialostok or separately?

T. Struzhecki: “It is planned that the Centre will be located in a separate office and it will be open for all the inhabitants of Bialostok region. The Centre will have a library with Belarusian literature, audio and video materials, compact discs, movies and documentaries so that anyone could visit it and to find useful information there or to buy a book. The Centre should fill in the informational gap about Belarus and Belarusian culture. The Centre will not be dealing with political issues however it will actively promote cultural and educational activities, youth exchange and will contribute to wider brotherhood relations”.

Will the Belarusian Consul in Bialostok have new functions in this regard?

Consul Mikhail Aliakseichik: “No, that is not for me. I hope these functions will not be entitled to me. The Cultural Centre would give me an opportunity to deal mostly with the economic issues and strictly with the consular matters. I expect the Centre to be a good asset for our work here”.

Since you have been nominated as a Consul, a number of interesting bands were founded in Padliashsha. You have very good contacts in Belarus and everyone knows about it. Will you continue providing your assistance in this regard or will it be left for the Centre’s activity?

M. Aliakseichik: “No, in one way or another I will still provide my support. I am a Belarusian and I would like all Belarusians to feel proud about it and understand one another and not argue”.