Culture Code introduced in Belarus

7 февраля 2017

By Elena Bormotova: The Culture Code adopted in Belarus for the first time has no counterparts in the former Soviet Union. The document is a systematised set of laws, decrees and regulations governing the activities of various institutions of the culture sphere. One of the most important and critical areas is the national valuables currently located outside the country and their return.

Along with gaining independence, Belarus got down to bringing the national valuables back to its territory. Within a quarter century, hundreds of national heritage artifacts have been found in foreign collections. This work has been systematically described in the specialised eight-volume collection The Return, which resulted in the Council of Ministers setting up a special state commission. The commission has managed to bring back the Statute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, The Small Travel Book by Francysk Skaryna, the Slutsk Gospel, several Slutsk belts and more. Such historical artifacts as the libraries of the Khraptovichs and Radziwills or Skaryna’s heritage were retuned in electronic form.

Today, Belarusian valuables can be found in museums, libraries and archive collections all over the world.

Returning Belarus’ cultural artifacts is a joint activity of the country’s ministries and agencies, coordinated by the commission. Many historical treasures were taken out of Belarus illegally during hostilities or evacuation. Tens of people are currently working to bring those items back. 

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