The Culture Unity Declaration*

This is the common opinion reached by representatives of various Belarusan intellectual movements and environments during the meeting** in Mariaspring near Göttingen*** (Germany) in February 2010.

We, active persons of the cultural process in Belarus, are not divided and not turned into enemies by anything that would appear in Belarusian culture, traditions, language, and mentality. 

We realize that the highest purpose of the modern cultural policy is to form the Belarusian nation in the conditions of the global world. All divisions between us arise from other spheres of the public and state arrangement. 

Conflicts and tensions in cultures started to be outlined back in the late 1980s. Sometimes, they had a social origin when, for example, the national writer Janka Bryl had to publicly justify why he “eats bread of workers and peasants”. Sometimes, they were of a propaganda character, when the population was browbeaten by “totalitarian Belarusization”, and reminded terribly Belarusization in the 1920s which was ended with the big blood of its initiators. Sometimes, they were games of “the Royal Household” that organizationally divided creators into camps of “ours” and “not ours”. Poets, musicians, and artists were “marked” not according their talent and cultural competence, but according to their loyalty or infidelity to the authorities. More often than not, those who “marked” remained anonymous. Due to all that, the very concepts of the language, nation, and culture were imprinted by conflict. 

Today we admit that this conflict is over. The historical stages when it was artificially supported, are over. The Belarusian nation ought to finish the process of its formation in the face of globalization in order to become its participant, not a victim. Only united Belarusian culture can do it. 

We state that culture should not be a hostage of politics and that politics is an integrated part of culture. We understand Belarusization as the contents of the Europeanization process. To exist between Poland and the Baltic states, on the one hand, and Russia, on the other hand, as an equal among equals, is only possible in the most national, cultural, and civilized condition, but not in the state of something evolutionally lower and non-formed. 

Some of us speak Belarusian, some of us speak Russian. A half of us support the official policy, a half of us criticize it. Some cooperate with the state structures, others work in the public sector. However, all these do not influence at all the way we think, the idea of united culture, based on our deep love to our Native land – Belarus, and our cares about its future. 

The conflicts which dominated in the sphere of the language, cultures, and nation’s formation for many years, aimed at decreasing the general level of actual culture. It started to suffer from provincialism and second-hand-ness, moving the centers and prototypes of culture in consciousness of active persons from Belarus to somewhere abroad - to Russia or the West. We are sure that this secondariness will be overcome together with our returning to the principle of the culture unity. 

We do not want our words to become an empty declaration - therefore we propose all subjects of culture in Belarus to join our initiative of the Culture Unity which we have named the Göttingen process. 

Göttingen -2010 

[email protected] 

* This text is originally written in the classical Belarusian spelling, but it can be distributed in any otherspellings or languages. 

** The Workshop in the format of Organizing Activity Game called “The Sphere of Culture: the Estimation of the Condition, Prospects of Development” in the frames of Human Rights theme took place on 8-13 February 2010. In addition to a group of methodologists headed by Uladzimir Matskevich (Center for Social Innovations - HTA), there were representatives of public associations: Tatiana Poshevalova, Irina Sukhij, Alaksandar Karalevič, Valancin Gefter, representatives of the mass media: Alaksiej Bratačkin, Źmicier Karenka, Siarhiej Makarevič, Alaksiej Andrejeŭ, Andrej Rasinski, sociologists: Sergei Gotin and Alaksiej Lastoŭskі, as well as writers, musicians, and artists: Valancin Akudovič, Sieviaryn Kviatkoŭski, Jaś Kałmykoŭ, Michał Aniempadystaŭ, Alaksiej Łosik, Aleh Chamienka, Hanna Kiślicyna, Siarhiej Dubaviec, Nastaśsia Chmiel. 

*** A town in Lower Saxony with old university traditions, which produced about fifty winners of the Nobel prize. 
 

GÖTTINGEN PROCESS 

The Culture Calendar 

It would have been strange if, having invited all to the Culture Unity, we had not suggested any mechanisms which would help everyone who shares these ideas to join and declare this position. 

We have named our first mechanism – the Culture Calendar. It covers all without exception translators of culture – the mass media, events, and projects. The aim is to unite all Belarusian "screens" of translation - from a party in a rural club to a Belarusian TV-channel, from pages of a mass newspaper to a private page in the Internet, from a concert at a capital stadium to personal communication. 

Without any intervention in translators’ sovereignty, we ask everybody to respond to our declaration with the help of the Culture Calendar. One day all of us, in any form we might wish, shall recall the active persons of culture who today are truly recognized as contributors to riches and prosperity of Belarusian culture, irrespective of what “camp” he or she is said to belong to. Let this or that day be a birthday of an actual Belarusian creator and successful manager. 

This day, someone will mention his/her name once; some others will interview him/her, publish a photo session or an article, make a documentary film, print or show something from his/her works. Every translator will chose a form he/she likes. The main thing is that this day the name of an actual creator will sound with the help of hundreds and thousands of small and big "screens", and as a result – it will appear on the biggest "screen" of the Belarusians’ public attention. At last, it will promote the unification of not only participants of the cultural process, but also the whole Belarusian nation, around of such clear concepts as "our cultural hero", "birthday", "an excellent work of art". 

The Culture Calendar is only a first step, a first practical initiative of the Göttingen process. 

If necessary, the information help is rendered by the Budźma! campaign. 

[email protected]

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