Customs and traditions of belarus

Belarusian culture is the product of a millennium development under the impact of diverse factors. These factors include the physical environment: the ethnographic background of Belarusians (the merger of Slavic newcomers with Baltic natives); the paganism of the early settlers and their hosts; Byzantine Christianity as a link to the Orthodox religion and its literary tradition; the country's lack of natural borders: the flow of rivers toward both the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea; and the variety of religions in the region (Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Judaism and Islam).

Literature

The development of Belorussian literature, spreading the idea of nationhood for the Belorussians, was epitomized by the literary works of Yanka Kupala (1882- 1942) and Yakub Kolas (1882- 1956). The works of these poets, along with several other outstanding writers, became the classics of modern Belorussian literature by writing widely on rural themes (the countryside was where the writers heard the Belorussian language) and by modernizing the Belorussian literary language, which had been little used since the sixteenth century. Postindependence authors in the 1990s continued to use rural themes widely.

Unlike literature's focus on rural life, other fields of culture - painting, sculpture, music, film, and theater—centered on urban reality, universal concerns, and universal values.

Museums

Studying and realization of history and culture of Belarus, education of national self-consciousness among the citizens of this republic, their familiarization with the national and universal cultural heritage are promoted largely by museums. About 1500 exhibitions guiding visitors through various topics are opened by museums every year, starting from artistic collections and ending in natural history exhibits. Many museums have computerized their museum stocks.

Theatre

The tradition of Belarusian theatre is very ancient. It has started in the early middle ages as folk puppet theatres - Batlejka - and folk drama (usually biblical and knighthood plots), played during different seasonal celebrations. In general all of the traditional Belarusian celebrations and games have a theatrical element. During such holidays as Kaliady, Kupalle, Maslianitsa - folks are dressing as fantastic animals and persons enacting different strange situations.

Belarusian theater also began gain popularity in the early 1900s. One of Belarus's most famous plays, Paulinka (written by Yanka Kupala), was performed in Siberia for the Belarusians who were being sent to the region. Documentation of Belarusian folk music stretches back to at least the 15th century. Prior to that, skomorokhs were the major profession for musicians. 27 professional theatres working in our country are an evidence of successful development of Belarus' theatrical art. Today theatre is also very popular in Belarus. Currently, there are 27 professional theater groups touring in Belarus, 70 orchestras, and 15 agencies that focus on promoting concerts.

Cinema

Most of the Belarusian cinema is made at our main feature film studio - BelarusFilm. There are also many studios and unions of amateur movie makers. Of course, some materials are made by Belarusian national TV, local TV stations. These movies are characterized by deep realism, well developed psychological portraits of the heroes, experiment and search for new artistic solutions.

Premieres of Belarusian and world's best films are regularly held in all the regions of our republic, while the areas affected by the Chernobyl NPP accident annually have the Days of the Belarusian Cinema. Meetings with visiting cinematographers from Belarus, Russia, Ukraine are arranged every two years within the framework of the national festival of Belarusian films in Brest: films from various countries participating at festivals are annually demonstrated within the framework of the International Arts Festival "Slavonic Bazaar in Vitebsk"; the International Festival of Animated Cartoon Films "Animaevka" is held in Mogilev; Minsk plays host to the International Film Festival of the CIS and Baltic States "Listapad."