Exhibition about history of President Administration building opened in Minsk
The History of Belarus’ President Administration Building in Archival Documents and Materials opened in the President Administration building, BelTA reports
"This building has a really complicated history – as, probably, all the events that took place in the 1930-1940s," the Director of the National Archive of Belarus, Andrei Demyanyuk, said. “Initially, the Central Committee House was planned to be built in Mogilev, but then a decision was made to construct it in Minsk – due to the reunification of Western Belarus with the BSSR in 1939. Everything was not simple, as times were such then. The Great Patriotic War interrupted that process, and only four storeys were built. After the war, construction resumed and, in 1947, the building was ready. This year celebrates the 75th anniversary of that date. With this in view, we have timed our exhibition to that event and to the Year of Historical Memory. Our archive industry is 100 years old in 2022, and the National Archive has celebrated its 95th anniversary. Therefore, we practice a cycle of such exhibitions – demonstrating the originals of documents. Exhibitions of the kind were previously held in Parliament, the Defence Ministry, and on occasion of the state agencies’ centenaries. This is in our interests, since this enables us to promote documents. The task of archivists is not just to preserve them, but also to show them to public."
The exhibition presents documents starting from the decision on construction of a building in Mogilev – ‘up to the objects and types of interior: what decoration should have been used, and what chandeliers should have been placed’. As informed by the exhibition organisers, samples of wood species have also preserved in the archive.
A departmental head of the National Archive, Margarita Starostenko, added that the preparation of the exhibition began in the spring. “A small share of all documents is presented here, but the array of all papers is impressive: more than 150 memos, correspondence, telegrams, various resolutions, orders, and minutes of meetings are sometimes are filed in a single case. After all, meetings were held almost every two weeks, and reports were made on the work done each time. These included diagrams, sketches, plans, reconstruction of absolutely the entire Central Committee House with a detailed description of where the offices were located, what materials were to be used, and how rooms had to be decorated. This information is kept in a single case, but each document is unique in its own way – since it reveals its own page in the history of the construction of this building. We see what difficulties existed – due to the lack of money, materials, cement, workers, and cabinetmakers," she explained. “We can even read in reports that windows or doors were made of pine, but they were later painted to look like mahogany – to make them look solid. It was instructed not to make carvings on furniture everywhere, but only on the sections that faced viewers. The window sills were decorated with white marble. Frameless, showcase glass was used here for the first time. We want to show how much effort was needed to construct this building, and how much preparatory work was done."
The exhibition will be on show at the Belarus’ President Administration building until late December 2022.
