Tatsiana Vadalazhskaja: People meet Belarusan thinking with support

The book of quotes of Belarusan thinking will soon be published.

We, Belarusans, don’t know our thinkers, their deep thoughts and ideas; we perceive ourselves through foreign images and thoughts. However, unless a person recalls the most important Belarusan thinkers, we cannot say that Belarus went through the point of no return in building its independence.

The “Quote Your Own!” campaign that started last May is trying to solve this problem. This campaign has actualized the best examples of Belarusan thinking and gathered the quotes of our thinkers of different ages. All that assembled into the idea of creating and publishing the book of quotes of Belarusan thinking. Just before the New Year the campaign to crowdfund this idea has finished. Tatsiana Vadalazhskaja, the leader of the campaign, told the “EuroBelarus” Information Service about the course of campaign and its estimated results.

- Can you tell how the crowdfunding campaign for publishing the book of quotes of Belarusan thinking went and what stage is it now?

- The campaign was quite short and lasted only a month. We were trying to publish the book during the holidays so that to make happy those who joined the campaign. Within the course of these days we hope to receive first books and thus, continue the festive mood.

The decision to crowdfund money was the continuation of the “Quote Your Own!” campaign and was aimed at recalling, accepting, and mastering the intellectual legacy of Belarusan culture. Unfortunately, this legacy now only belongs to a small part of Belarusans. But actually, it is not only images, language, and history but also thoughts and deep ideas that have been born on this land that form our identity and self-understanding. It was very important for us to include and inspire the biggest circle of people with it. And crowdfunding is a good opportunity for that.

More than 80 people made their contributions and within a month we gathered around 29 million Belarusan rubles. We are very grateful to everyone who joined; all their names will be included into the book. Let me also say that during the crowdfunding campaign we got one more partner – the “Belarusskij Zhurnal” (Russian “the Belarusian Magazine” – EuroBelarus) with Andrei Aliaksandrau that also made a considerable contribution, which is a big pleasure for us.

If assessing the campaign, to me it seems to be very energetic and successful. We addressed some not very understandable or popular issue; however, people supported us, which means that people meet Belarusan thinking with support.

- All in all, what will the book of quotes of Belarusan thinking look like and what use can it be of for Belarusans? Who is its target audience – broader public or a narrow circle of intellectuals?

- The book of quotes of Belarusan thinking is a small book that includes about 150 quotes of 80 thinkers, cultural actors, and historical personalities. We were choosing quotes from what has been sent to us via e-mail and via social networks, trying to cover a broad number of topics and epochs. You’ll find a lot of contemporary thinkers in the book, whose thoughts worth knowing. You’ll also find quite popular sayings, though we were rather looking for new ones. We were trying to choose not only beautiful sayings, but also such words that inspire people to think.

It doesn’t mean, though, that the book is targeted at a narrow circle; quite the opposite, thinking is something that the broader circle needs. We strive to orient common people, who are looking for meanings, to find a path to themselves and to Belarus They might see new names, new thoughts, new ideas and build their path to the Belarusan intellectual area.

- Where can one find the book and how much does it cost?

- We decided that we won’t be selling this book, but rather make it a present. It can be found at our presentation, as well as at the events of all the partners of “Quote Your Own!” campaign: “EuroBelarus”, the Flying University, “Budz’ma Belarusami!” campaign, language courses “Mova Nanova”, as well as in the Belarusian Collegium.

- Will the “Quote Your Own!” campaign end with the publication of the book of quotes or should we wait for the Belarusan thought’s popularization to be continued?

- Actually, this campaign is only a part of what we call the Year of Belarusan thinking. It’s very important for us that this campaign gradually grows from what seemed topical and adequate to the cultural situation. We will keep moving. On the one hand, we will be aiming for something that empowers popularization of Belarusan thinking at a bigger level – books, lectures, discussions, and readings of intellectual legacy. On the other hand, it is very important to make intellectual legacy fashionable. Of course, there is a risk of simplification there, but until any person can give at least several main ideas to the question “Who are the most important Belarusan thinkers?” we cannot say that Belarus went through the point of no return in building its independence.