MINSK, 13 November (BelTA) – Belarus and Russia seek UNESCO World Heritage status for the memorial complexes Brest Hero Fortress and To the Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad, Secretary-General of the National Commission of the Republic of Belarus for UNESCO Natalya Schasnovich told BelTA.
“Together with the Russian Federation, we are now preparing a joint application to have Brest Hero Fortress and Mamayev Kurgan memorial complex ‘To the Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad’ included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Initial progress has been made. In May 2024, this application was added to UNESCO's tentative list of potential heritage sites,” Natalya Schasnovich said.
The 43rd session of the UNESCO General Conference is currently being held in Samarkand for the first time in 40 years. During the session, UNESCO has approved a list of anniversaries, including two Belarusian events: the centenary of the birth of 19th-century folklore scholar Pavel Shein and the centenary of the birth of Belarusian writer and publicist Ales Adamovich.
In addition, Vitebsk has been included in UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities, and work is underway to include Braslav District in UNESCO Global Geoparks network.
Irina Dashchinskaya, Head of the Department for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Heritage at the Belarusian Culture Ministry, added that six Belarusian elements have already been included in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list: the Christmas rite Kolyady Tsars; the celebration to honor the icon of the Mother of God of Budslav (Budslav Fest); the spring ritual Yurievsky round dance; the tradition of beekeeping; Belarusian straw weaving; and Vytsinanka (a traditional art of paper-cutting). Consideration is also expected for the inclusion of the Neglyubka textile folk tradition (Vetka District, Gomel Oblast) in the list of intangible cultural heritage, while in March 2024, UNESCO received a new application for the Belarusian bagpipe tradition, which will be reviewed in 2027.
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