The Belarusian National Library opened , on 12 April, in Minsk, the documentary and photo exhibition on the “Past and Contemporary Cultural Relations between Italy and Belarus”. It is an initiative of the Italian Embassy in Minsk, in collaboration with the National Library and the Belarusian State Archives-Museum of Literature and Art. The event looks back to the time when formal diplomatic relations were established between the Republic of Italy and the Republic of Belarus (13 April 1992), hence the two countries will be celebrating, this year, the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations. It takes place also in the Year of Italian Culture in Belarus, promoted by the Italian Embassy in Minsk.
The exhibition features exclusive and rare photos and documents, thus narrating the evolution along 25 years of institutional and economic relations between Italy and Belarus, on a backdrop of historic contacts between two peoples and two cultures, with artistic, musical and literature exchanges. Alongside the evolution of the cultural exchanges which have strengthened, in time, the kinship between the two peoples, worthy of mention are Italian 30-year solidarity projects including the humanitarian support to Belarus children from the regions affected by the Chernobyl disaster.
Photographs and documents come from the Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Italian Republic, the Minsitry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus and BelTA, the Belarus news agency, the Belarus National Library, the Belarusian State Archives-Museum of Literature and Art, as well as from the private archives of Ambassador Pyotr Krauchanka, former Foreign Affairs Minister and one of the signatories for the Republic of Belarus, in 1992, of the Protocol for the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations.
