As part of the subprogram “Belarusians in the World,” which is included in the state program “Culture of Belarus” for 2021–2025, the mixed-type state cultural institution “Republican Center for National Cultures” organized the visit of the delegation from the Regional Public Organization “National-Cultural Autonomy of Belarusians of Karelia” (headed by Bartashevich S.V.) to Minsk and various regions of the Republic from February 9 to 14, 2025.

 

The program focused on studying Belarusian culture and history to further promote them among Belarusians and other nationalities living in the Republic of Karelia.

 

The cultural and educational program for the Belarusians of Karelia began on February 10 with visits to the Zhlobin, Svetlogorsk, and Oktyabrsky districts of the Gomel region. In the Zhlobin district, participants visited the “Children—Victims of War” memorial complex, where a video memoir by Alexeyeva V.T. (mother of the chairman of the RPO NCA of Belarusians of Karelia, S.E. Bartashevich)—a native of Lazovatka village, Vitebsk region, and a former underage prisoner of the Rozwald concentration camp from 1944 to 1945—was handed over to the Zhlobin historical museum complex. In the Svetlogorsk district, compatriots visited the “Ola” memorial complex and the commemorative sign dedicated to “Operation Bagration,” where documentary materials from Operation Bagration participants Khusainova V.V. and Leonova O.I. (natives of Belarus and Russia) were transferred to the Svetlogorsk Museum of Local History. In the Oktyabrsky district, Belarusians from Karelia took part in a series of workshops on traditional Belarusian crafts, vocal techniques, folk dances, and national cuisine.

 

On February 11, the delegation visited “Kommunarka,” “Skarbnitsa,” and the “State Literary Museum of Yanka Kupala.” On the same day, a press conference titled “Cooperation of Belarus with Diasporas: Joint Projects with Belarusians of Karelia” was held at the National Press Center of the Republic of Belarus.

 

On February 12, a capsule containing soil from the sites of Finnish concentration camps in Karelia, where Belarusians had perished, was placed in the crypt of the All Saints Memorial Church. A roundtable discussion with representatives of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, the Belarusian Peace Foundation, the Belarusian Association of Former Underage Fascism Prisoners, state cultural institutions, and the media was held afterward.

 

On February 13, the delegation visited the town of Mir and the city of Nesvizh. They toured the “Mir” castle complex and the National Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve “Nesvizh,” where they were introduced to unique monuments of national culture.

 

On February 14, the delegation of Belarusians from Karelia explored the activities of the Faculty of Aesthetic Education of the Belarusian State Pedagogical University named after M. Tank. Workshops on traditional Belarusian crafts were conducted for them.