MINSK, 5 July (BelTA) – During his visit to the National Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theater, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko urged the artistic intelligentsia not to get involved in politics and take no more wrong steps, BelTA has learned.
Aleksandr Lukashenko expressed regret that he rarely attended theatrical performances. “I was more focused on providing people with a place where they could create. I considered this to be the main thing for me as president. If we do not create such places for you, there will be nowhere to show art,” the Belarusian leader explained. In recent years, many cultural infrastructure facilities have been built, renovated and upgraded throughout the country under the patronage of the head of state.
“But probably I lost sight of you in a sense that I rarely attended your productions, performances,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. In his opinion, this was partly the reason for the turmoil in the cultural and theatrical community last year. “For this reason, it came to the point when Magutny Bozha was about to be performed here. Not from the stage, but in the hall. When I was told what was going on in the Yanka Kupala theater and here, it did not only astound me, it killed me back then,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
Addressing cultural figures, representatives of the artistic intelligentsia, the president warned them against taking the wrong steps in the future. In this regard he recalled that during the recent graduation ball he told students not to go astray at the beginning of their journey into adulthood and cited a well-known saying: first you work hard for your reputation and then your reputation works hard for you. “The same applies to young people. If you take the right steps in the right direction, you begin to lay the foundation of your life. If you lay it right, it will work for you all your life. But if you stumble, it can ruin your entire life. It will be difficult to get out of this situation later,” the head of state noted.
“You are the face of the nation. The artistic intelligentsia is the face of the nation, people, state. I ask you: do not take any more wrong steps. If a young person has made a wrong step, it is possible to forgive and understand this person and this person has time to mend his/her ways. You cannot make amends. If you have gained and lost your face, it will be nearly impossible to restore it. Therefore, before you do something (and millions of eyes are looking at you, and not only in our country), think and mind your every step. You are talented. Don't ruin your talent,” the president said.
