The National Library of Belarus opened a book exhibition "Ukrainian Kassandra" on February 24
February 25 is the 150th anniversary of Larysa Petrivna Kosach-Kvitka, known worldwide as Lesya Ukrainka. One of the greatest figures of Ukrainian culture enriched the literature of her people with new themes and motives, introduced into Ukrainian poetry hexameter, free verse, iambic pentameter and plots of world literature. Among her famous poetry collections are: "On the wings of songs" (1893), "Thoughts and Dreams" (1899), "Echos" (1902), poems "Ancient fairy tale" (1893), "One word" (1903), plays "Cassandra" (1903—1907), "In the Catacombs" (1905), Forest song (1911) and others. The pieces of Lesya Ukrainka were translated into Belarusian by E. Agniatsvet, A. Astrejka, Yu. Gauruk, N. Gilevich, S. Grakhouski, E. Los and many other writers.
The celebration of the anniversary of the Ukrainian writer began with an international roundtable. They discussed the life, artistic heritage of Lesya Ukrainka, the Belarusian-Ukrainian literary ties of the 20th century. Speakers from Belarus and Ukraine – the Yanka Kupala Institute of Literary Studies of the Centre for Research of Belarusian Culture, Language and Literature of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Lesya Ukrainka Volyn National University, Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine, V.I. Vernadsky, I.Krypiakevych Institute of Ukrainian Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and others took part in the roundtable.
Later, the opening of the book exhibition "Ukrainian Cassandra" took place. Mr Roman Motulsky, Director General of the National Library of Belarus made a welcoming speech at the event. He stressed the significance of Lesya Ukrainka, who lived a hard and very short life of 42 years but became a classic of Ukrainian literature. "You can talk a lot about the heritage of the writer, but it is best to read and listen," said Mr Motulsky, and recited her poems in Belarusian and in the original.
Mr Igor Kizim, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Belarus thanked all those present and noted that such an event is a great contribution to the friendship between cultural institutions, the Ukrainian and Belarusian people and even the countries. The honoured guest presented the library with three unique publications prepared by the "Vidchuty Slovo" project with the support of the Ukrainian diaspora in Hungary: "Lesya Ukrainka 150. For the truth, brothers, let's unite! "," Modern Belarusian Fairy-Tales","Fairy-Tale Wonder World". The books were published in Ukrainian in Braille especially for people with visual impairments.
Ms Galina Kalyuzhnaya, Honoured Worker of Culture of Ukraine, Chairperson of the Minsk Public Association of Ukrainians "Zapovit" emphasized the high place of Larysa Petrivna Kosach-Kvitka in the sky of Ukrainian literature: “Her fame has gone beyond the borders of the country, and her work has entered the legacy of world culture. She wrote about freedom, truth, love for her homeland. This was the credo of her life. "
Ms Valentina Logvin, Head of the Center for Ukrainian Culture "Sich" also spoke at the event. She told about the contribution of Lesya Ukrainka to the history of the country and presented the National Library with a three-volume edition "History of Ukraine from Did Svirid".
The exhibition presents about 50 documents about the rich heritage of Lesya Ukrainka, showing complete collections of works, journalism and letters, memoirs of contemporaries, literary and biographical portraits. For example, a valuable edition “Larisa Petrivna Kosach-Kvitka (Lesya Ukrainka): biographical materials, memories, iconography” (2015), consisting of Lesya Ukrainka's original texts, memoirs, articles and photographs. Most of the book is the memoirs and letters from Isidora Kosach-Borisova, Lesya's sister whose legacy has never been published. The Iconography section contains unknown documents from private archives.
The exposition also presents the musical heritage of the outstanding Ukrainian: copies of musical notations of songs with the lyrics by Lesya Ukrainka, and a collection of Ukrainian folk songs recorded from her voice. The writer worked in the field of folklore, 220 folk melodies were recorded from her voice. The participants of the event had the opportunity to listen to the melodic poems of the "Ukrainian Kassandra" performed by Ms Margarita Kuchuk, Head of the Ukrainian folk choir "Krinitsa" of the Republican Centre for National Cultures, accompanied by Mr Aleksey Apanovich.
The exhibition will run until May 25, 2021 in the circular corridor of the 2nd floor.
The end date of the exhibition may be changed.
The opening hours of the exhibition correspond to the library’s opening hours.
Admission is by a library card or by the Social and Cultural Center ticket.
For more info: (+375 17) 368 37 37.
e-mail: pr@nlb.by
Public Relations Department
