By Yelena Stasyukova
Adam Mickiewicz and the Theatre project launches in Novogrudok to mark 215th anniversary of poet’s birth
The Adam Mickiewicz Museum is welcoming various theatrical groups to give performances based on the life and works of the famous Novogrudok-born poet.
Svityaz — A History of a Drowned City, a puppet show based on Adam Mickiewicz’s Svityaz, was recently presented by Grodno’s Maria Iskusnitsa Theatre. Lonely Ptakh, a monologue dedicated to the poet’s life in Novogrudok, is soon to be presented by the Znich Belarusian One-Actor Poetic Theatre, at the Belarusian State Philharmonic. Other performances are planned as part of the Live Word Folk Literary Theatre — hosted by the Maxim Tank Belarusian State Pedagogical University and Minsk’s Theatre Ch.
Novogrudok is also to host an international conference involving museums from Warsaw, Opinogуra (Poland), Vilnius and Kaunas (Lithuania), marking the 75th anniversary of the Adam Mickiewicz Museum (in September) and the 215th anniversary of the poet’s birth (in December).
The first attempt to set up the Adam Mickiewicz Museum in Novogrudok was made in 1920. It finally launched in 1938, only to be destroyed by a German bomb in 1941. It was rebuilt in 1955 and received its contemporary appearance in 1990, following more reconstruction, which included an annex connected to the main building by an underground tunnel.
Five rooms detail the life and works of the poet while others recreate the family’s home: a children’s room, the father’s study and a sitting room. Among the exhibits are personal items once belonging to the poet, with some from his homeland of Zaosie: books, manuscripts, portraits of friends and acquaintances and a bronze model of the A. Mickiewicz monument in Paris (the only exhibit from the pre-war museum). There are nine anthologies of his poetry, translations of editions in various languages, 120 rare editions and many photographs among the 7,000+ items stored.
