MINSK, 6 March (BelTA) – The exhibition “The Paths of German Art” will go on view on 10 March, opening the Germany Weeks in Belarus, Deputy Head of the German Embassy in Belarus Anja Luther told journalists, BelTA has learned.
Over the past 17 years Belarus has played host to the Germany Weeks under the aegis of the German Embassy in Belarus. The events are traditionally held in autumn, but this year the Germany Weeks will be held in spring, from 10 March till 30 April. Its events will make Belarusians familiar with the German culture and language.
The Germany Weeks will kick of with an exhibition in the Palace of Arts that has been organized by the Goethe Institute. It will display around 400 works of more than 100 artists. “It is 16 tonnes of art brought to Belarus. The exhibits of The Paths of German Art are installed by mountaineers who are mounting the paintings just below the ceiling,” Director of the Goethe Institute Jakob Racek said. He added that the installation team includes five Germans and five Belarusians.
The exhibition will give a glimpse into the post-war art of East and West Germany, starting from 1949. For example, it will feature works of worldwide famous artist Joseph Beuys and Sigmar Polke's paintings. The exhibition will showcase 60 types of modern art, including painting, graphics, photography, video art, sculpture, and installations.
The exhibition has been organized by the Goethe Institute, the Institute of Ties with Foreign Countries, and the Palace of Arts.
The organizers expect the unusual exhibition to draw a lot of Belarusians, including art lovers.
The program of the Germany Weeks includes various other events. For example, the oratorio The St Matthew Passion, Johann Sebastian Bach's masterpiece for an orchestra and two choirs will be performed in the Belarusian State Philharmonic. The concert will be held on 21 March, on the composer's birthday.
The Beethoven Anniversary Tour festival will also surprise with an interesting program. The festival will celebrate Ludwig van Beethoven's 250th anniversary. On 26 March, the Upper Town concert hall will host a chamber music concert of cellist Florian Arnicans and pianist Arta Arnicane. Another event in the Belarusian State Philharmonic is scheduled for 29 April. The State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Belarus will perform a concerto for piano, violin, and cello with an orchestra under the baton of the conductors Murad Assuil (Belarus) and Aziz Jumaniyazov (Turkmenistan). More concerts and master classes will be held in Gomel, Brest, and Grodno.
The exhibition Maly Trostenets Death Camp. History and Memory will be on show in the exhibition hall of the Belarusian State Academy of Arts during the Germany Weeks. On 24 April, the Leonid Levin History Workshop will play host to a presentation of the website launched under the project “Transnational Remembrance of Nazi Forced Labor and Migration”. Plans are also in place to hold the master class “Stereotype of already antisemitism?”, the presentation of didactic materials “Unforgotten war victims”, and the opening ceremony of a namesake exhibition.
The program also includes a meeting with German author Matthias Nawrat in the Goethe Institute, traveling and poster exhibitions. One of them – “Family is everything! Family Portraits in modern illustrated books” – will be demonstrated in the Ostrovsky Central Children's Library. The photo exhibition Nano Art from Germany will illustrate the incredible world of nano space with the help of photos made in laboratories of the Center for Nanointegration Duisburg-Essen (CENIDE). The Goethe Institute also intends to organize the exhibition “At the mercy of feelings” that will be centered around events in Germany's public and political life over the past century and the feelings they evoke.
The organizers promise many more events and interactive campaigns in libraries of Brest, Baranovichi, Borisov, and Molodechno.
The Germany Weeks are held by the German Embassy in Belarus together with the Goethe Institute in Minsk, representatives of German cultural organizations in association with Belarusian establishments and partners. The Germany Weeks have become a traditional event in Belarus and always arouses huge interest.
