Minsk, 9 December 2021 (TDI): Today Ambassador Sajjad Haider Khan accompanied the DHM Muhammad Abdullah Amin visited the National Art Museum of Belarus and held a meeting with its Director-General Mr. Vladimir Prokoptsov.
The Head of the Marketing Department Ms.Svetlana Voropay briefed the Ambassador about the history and ongoing expositions of the museum which was established in 1939. The two sides discussed the possibilities of bilateral cooperation including the possibility of holding an Art exhibition of Pakistani artists as well as a concert of Pakistani instrumentalists at the premises of the museum during 2022.
BACKGROUND OF THE MUSEUM
The National Art Museum of the Republic of Belarus has the largest collection of Belarusian and Foreign Art. According to the Museum, they have around 30,000 art pieces, which means twenty collections, divided into two main representative ones. Those two are the national art, and the second are the monuments of art of the nations. The Museum is in the center of Minsk, the capital of Belarus.
The Museum opened its doors in 1939, under another name, due to the resolution of the Council of People’s Commissars of the BSSR. During World War II, the collection disappeared even though the personnel had an evacuation plan but weren’t able to execute it.
When the war ended, a part of the art pieces returned to the Museum, like those that were in Russia; or the pieces that the Soviet Army found in the cities of Eastern Prussia. Then as a result of the Belarusian Independence, and almost immediately to the collapse of the Soviet Union; the status of the Museum and its cultural policy changed.
Later in 1990, the Museum turned to be a scientific, cultural, and educational center, and in 1994 they opened their archive. The Museum opened another branch in Minsk named The Vankoviches’ House. Culture and Art of the first half of the 19th century. Currently, the Museum has a staff of more than two hundred people.
PAKISTAN-BELARUS RELATIONS
As mentioned before with the history of the Museum, after the breakup of the Soviet Union; Pakistan recognized Belarus in 1991. 3 years later both established diplomatic relations. Pakistan opened its Embassy in Minsk in August 2015. On the other side, Belarus opened its Embassy in Islamabad in July 2014.
The countries have signed a total of 77 Agreements/memorandums of understanding to advance cooperation in their relations. According to the Embassy of Pakistan in Belarus, those agreements include commerce and trade.
Both countries signed the Islamabad Declaration of the Pakistan-Belarus Partnership in 2015. In 2015 and 2016, Pakistan and Belarus also signed the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation; and the Joint Statement of the Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and President of the Republic of Belarus.
Regarding economic cooperation, both countries have the Pakistan-Belarus Joint Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation. The Embassy also mentioned that during 2019, their trade turnover was 50.2 million.
With the exchange of scientists, scholars, and students of both countries, their close cooperation in culture and education is reflected. In 2019, Pakistan and Belarus celebrated the 25th Anniversary of bilateral relations, and both held events to commemorate it.
