LIDA, 11 January (BelTA) – BelTA has presented its exhibition called Belarus. Take Off in the LidaPark shopping mall within the framework of the Marathon of Unity in Lida, BelTA informs.
At the opening of the exhibition Director General of the Belarusian news agency BelTA Irina Akulovich noted that the agency prepares stories about the region where it showcases its exhibition.
“Every district newspaper has heart-wrenching stories from the 1990s. One of them is about two people from the same enterprise who were at loggerheads over who should buy a bedroom furniture set. At that time people had to sign up for a waiting list to buy it. There was a huge trade union meeting at the enterprise over this matter. They accused the person of putting herself first in the waiting list and mis-distributing humanitarian aid and - attention! - metal jar lids! Such trifles are very eloquent. They speak volumes about how people lived in the 1990s. In the end, the furniture set was taken away from this person, moved to another apartment, and then returned back by a court decision. Imagine, this is what life in Lida was in the 1990s,” Irina Akulovich gave one of the examples.
At the opening of the exhibition Director General of the Belarusian news agency BelTA Irina Akulovich noted that the agency prepares stories about the region where it showcases its exhibition.
“Every district newspaper has heart-wrenching stories from the 1990s. One of them is about two people from the same enterprise who were at loggerheads over who should buy a bedroom furniture set. At that time people had to sign up for a waiting list to buy it. There was a huge trade union meeting at the enterprise over this matter. They accused the person of putting herself first in the waiting list and mis-distributing humanitarian aid and - attention! - metal jar lids! Such trifles are very eloquent. They speak volumes about how people lived in the 1990s. In the end, the furniture set was taken away from this person, moved to another apartment, and then returned back by a court decision. Imagine, this is what life in Lida was in the 1990s,” Irina Akulovich gave one of the examples.
Another article chronicling the harsh realities of the early 1990s was published in one of the newspapers in the "What? Where? When?" section. It read that in one day the cost of bath services soared 17 times and it became 17 times more expensive to fix wristwatches, and 20 times more expensive to repair alarm clocks.
"One of the articles published in a Lida District newspaper told a story of a local catering facility where people stopped buying whole cakes. Local residents bought only half or a quarter, and sometimes just a piece. Thus, the facility could not sell even 12 cakes a day because people could not afford them. They could buy such things only on very special occasions," Irina Akulovich remarked.
According to the BelTA director general, "Belarus. Takeoff" is not just an exhibition, but a full-fledged Internet project that continues to expand as it travels from one place to another. By clicking on the QR code, you can learn more about the life in Belarus in the 1990s.
“I was recently asked: Did you make this exhibition for the marathon, about the host cities only? No, it is about all the cities of our country. We highlight the cities where we travel together with the marathon. It is about our entire country, our journey. Because for the past 30 years our country has come a very long way. This is a true takeoff,” Irina Akulovich concluded.
BelTA's exhibition Belarus. Takeoff reflects the country's milestones over 30 years of its independence. These are 40 posters with the photos taken in the early 1990s by BelTA photographers Arkady Nikolayev, Vladimir Shuba and Aleksandr Didevich. Unique photos of the Dzerzhinsky archive of film and photo documents were also used in the exposition.
Follow us on:
